PFI-TT:Development of an efficient fiber interface for Integrated lithium-niobate Modulators.

这个PFI项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是实现更好的连接和大数据革命。高速光纤链路负责传输大量数据，是互联网的骨干。然而，现有的光网络，传输我们的多媒体电子邮件，音乐和视频流，不能满足更多的带宽和降低能耗的需求。限制因素之一是将信息从电域转换到光域的调制器设备。该计划将解决这一问题，并开发一个完全集成和封装的调制器原型，以满足社会对更好连接的需求。该技术的目标市场将是计算机和电信网络设备提供商、数据和计算中心所有者以及网络服务提供商。此外，研究界、专业测量设备制造商和国防承包商将从开发的技术中受益。该计划有一个理论和实验组成部分，并解决光子学，光电子学和通信系统的基础和工程方面。拟议的项目将解决光可以带到锂酸盐调制器芯片的效率。如最近所展示的，薄膜锂酸盐光子平台允许实现高速调制器（100 GHz），其在低电压（~1 V）下操作并且具有非常低的损耗，并且因此可以满足对更好的连接性和更高的数据速率的需求。然而，由于它们的亚微米尺度，这些调制器不能有效地连接到光纤，这导致大的光损耗（7dB/面）。这大大影响了这些设备的实用性，并将其限制在实验室演示中。为了解决这个问题，该团队将开发技术，将耦合效率降低到约1dB/面，并使用它来开发完全封装和尾纤调制器原型。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this PFI project is to enable better connectivity and big data revolution. High-speed optical fiber links are responsible for transmitting enormous amount of data and are the backbone of internet. However, the existing optical networks, that transmit our multimedia emails, music and video streaming, cannot meet the demands for more bandwidth and reduced energy consumption. One of the limiting factors is a modulator device that converts information from electrical to optical domain. This program will address this, and develop a fully integrated and packaged modulator prototype that will meet the societal needs for better connectivity. The target markets for the technology will be providers of computer and telecommunication network equipment, data- and computing-center owners, and network-service providers. In addition, the research community, specialty measurement equipment manufacturers, and defense contractors, will benefit from the developed technology. The program has a theoretical and experimental component and addresses both fundamental and engineering aspects of photonics, optoelectronics, and communication systems.The proposed project will address the efficiency with which light can be brought onto a lithium-niobate modulator chip. As recently demonstrated, thin film lithium-niobate photonic platform allows for realization of high speed modulators ( 100 GHz) that operate at low voltages (~ 1 V) and feature very low loss, and that therefore can meet the demands for better connectivity and higher data rates. However, due to their sub-micron scale, these modulators cannot be efficiently connectorized to optical fibers, which results in large optical losses ( 7 dB/ facet). This significantly affects the usefulness of these devices, and limits them to laboratory demonstrations, only. To address this, the team will develop techniques to reduce coupling efficiency to ~ 1dB/ facet, and use this to develop fully packaged and pig-tailed modulator prototype. These will then be benchmarked against the state of the art technologies, as well as for customer development activities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.