NIRT: 3D Hierarchical Nanomanufacturing for Active Photonics-on-chip

该纳米级跨学科研究(NIRT)项目的目标是在纳米制造领域建立一个跨学科的研究和教育计划，用于制造光学、磁学或电光都可以控制的芯片上的有源光子学。几种方法将结合在一起，以制造光子带隙晶体和有源光子器件。压印光刻将被用来制造含有点缺陷的二维光子晶体，用于产生激光光源的腔体和用于平面波导的线缺陷。三维光子晶体将通过多光束全息光刻技术来制造，其中所有光束都来自相同的半空间。然后，将使用双光子立体光刻技术在三维光子晶体内部制造缺陷，以进行光学处理。二维和三维光子带隙晶体将被杂化，形成包含工程缺陷的光子带隙异质结构，从而实现对光电路中的光产生、光子传播和光子信号处理的主动控制。如果这些技术成功，今天的硅电子的经济性和可扩展性可以延续到明天的硅光子学中。总体而言，这些技术可以使光学电路制造在商业上可行，并有助于美国在光电子技术方面的全球竞争力。德克萨斯大学泛美分校(UTPA)是一所少数族裔大学，在向拉美裔授予学士学位的数量上位居全国第二。通过这个合作项目，UTPA的教授和学生可以使用德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的独特设施，该大学是德克萨斯州排名最靠前、设备最好的大学之一。这项研究将为拉美裔学生提供一个从事多学科研究和攻读高级学位的绝佳机会，从而增加未被充分代表的科学家的数量。

The objective of this Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research (NIRT) project is to establish an interdisciplinary research and education program in the area of nanomanufacturing for the fabrication of active photonics-on-chip where optical properties can be controlled either optically, magnetically or electro-optically. Several approaches will be combined to enable fabrication of photonic bandgap crystals and active photonic devices. Imprint lithography will be employed to create two-dimensional photonic crystals containing point defects for creation of the cavity of laser sources and line defects for planar waveguides. Three-dimensional photonic crystals will be fabricated through multi-beam holographic lithographic techniques in which all beams come from the same half-space. Two-photon stereolithography will then be used to fabricate defects inside the three-dimensional photonic crystal for optical processing. The two-dimensional and three-dimensional photonic bandgap crystals will be hybridized to form a photonic band gap heterostructure containing engineered defects, which enables active control of light generation, photon propagation, and photon signal processing in optical circuits.If these technologies are successful, the economies and scaling of today's silicon electronics can be carried forward into tomorrow's silicon photonics. Overall, these technologies can make optical circuit manufacturing commercially feasible and contribute to the United States' global competitiveness in photonics technology. University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA) is a minority university which is second in the nation in the number of bachelor's degrees awarded to Hispanics. Through this collaborative project, UTPA professors and students can access the unique facilities at the University of Texas at Austin, one of the top-ranked and best-equipped Universities in Texas. The research will offer an excellent opportunity for Hispanic students to engage in multi-disciplinary research and to pursue advanced degrees, increasing the number of under-represented scientists.