CAREER: Mid-Infrared Photonic Devices and Integrated Circuits on Silicon

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Objective: The objective of this program is to expand the realm of silicon photonics into the mid-infrared wavelength range. The common silicon-on-insulator platform is not suited due to silica loss in the mid-infrared. Sapphire is transparent in this wavelength range, thus all the proposed devices will be fabricated on silicon-on-sapphire wafers. The expected outcomes are: (a) Passive coherent beam-combiners pumped by quantum cascade lasers; (b) Active coherent beam-combiners based on silicon Raman lasers; (c) Wavelength-tunable version of the active beam-combiner; and (d) Parametric optical amplifiers and continuum generation sources.Intellectual merits: The intellectual merit of this program is: (a) It will develop a novel mid-infrared photonics platform; (b) Instead of mechanically duplicating the existing near-infrared architectures, new photonic devices that carefully target the specific needs of mid-infrared integrated photonics are envisioned; (c) The proposed device architectures take into account the requirement of their monolithic integration on the same silicon chip; and (d) Rather than trying to compete with existing technologies on III-V compound semiconductors, silicon photonics will be employed as a complementary technology to advance the field of mid-infrared photonics. Broader impacts: The broader impacts are providing: (a) Photonics solutions with potential applications in environmental and biochemical sensors, biomedical equipment, free-space communications and homeland security and surveillance systems with direct impact on the daily life of our society; (b) Interdisciplinary research context for Ph.D. students; (c) Integrated outreach activities that span K-12 and college-level women and other underrepresented minorities in collaboration with local educational institutions.