Rapid Programmable Photonic Integrated Circuits

Introduction

Photonic integrated circuits enable trapping of photons, the fundamental particles of light, in a waveguide on a chip to allow their manipulation, similar to electrons in classical integrated circuits. While photonic circuits offer superior performance in speed and energy efficiency, their application in computing has so far been limited by their programmability.

Limitations of Current Technologies

Electronic integrated circuits are based on transistors that until recently have become both smaller and more energy-efficient according to Moore's law. Photonic circuits, on the other hand, are controlled through phase modulators that typically rely on the same materials used in the electronic industry but suffer from fundamental limitations. These limitations have hindered the implementation of dedicated scalable photonic computing hardware.

Proposed Solution

We propose to explore an innovative and efficient phase modulation technology utilizing the novel material platform of atomically thin semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides. This technology promises to outperform conventional technologies in all key performance metrics, including:

1. Energy consumption
2. Modulation efficiency
3. Optical losses

Integrated Photonics Platform

One promising integrated photonics platform to host these novel devices is represented by laser-written waveguides. This approach allows for a rapid design cycle, thereby drastically reducing timescales compared to those provided by conventional semiconductor foundries.

Project Aim

This ERC Proof of Concept project aims at leveraging atomically thin semiconductors to implement programmable photonic integrated circuitry.