PIC Technology Research Articles

Multilayer Reconfigurable 3D Photonics Integrated Circuits Based on Deposition Method

AbstractPhotonics integrated circuits (PICs) can overcome the bottlenecks in communication capacity. 3D PIC technology is an attractive method for increasing density effectively and combining different materials on one chip for functional integration. In this study, a low‐cost and reconfigurable 3D integrated silicon photonics (SiPhs) platform is proposed fabricated by depositing polycrystalline silicon (poly‐Si) on crystalline silicon (c‐Si), which is patterned through deep ultraviolet (DUV) stepper‐based manufacturing process. The high mobility of poly‐Si ensures high‐speed and power‐efficient modulation. Based on the proposed 3D SiPhs platform, an 8 × 8 optical switch whose units are separated in different layers is fabricated and packaged. The switch shows average insertion losses of −13.98 and −15.86 dB, while working in “all‐cross” and “all‐bar” states, respectively. The crosstalk is lower than −19 and −11 dB for “all‐cross” and “all‐bar” states. Additionally, an overlayer switch located on the 1st and 3rd layers is proposed and experimentally demonstrated, which offers overlapping capabilities that are more compact compared with switches in a single‐layer platform. This validates the possibility of the large‐density integration scalability of the platform.

“Focus on sales by developing something unique”

AbstractEPIC's technology manager Antonio Castelo met Bjorn Andersen from a Danish developer of novel polymer optical fiber sensor systems.

Photonics Packaging Made Visible

AbstractPhotonic integrated circuit technology for visible light enables new applications which are not possible to realize with existing discrete components [1]. As PIC technology has a more mature status in the infrared wavelength range around 1550 nm for telecom applications, certain assembly and packaging standards have already been implemented. However, the broad application scope, ranging, for instance, from confocal microscopy to biosensors and display applications, requires a different set of packaging technologies in creating the PIC into a robust and usable product. In this article, we describe – via a set of application examples different options – on how interfaces can be made to PICs for visible light which meets the requirements for these emerging applications.

PIC your own pet

The author explains how pupils can now create their own virtual pets, thanks to PIC technology.