STTR Phase I: Robust High-Performance Organic Electro-Optic Materials

这个小企业技术转让（STTR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是实现计算和通信系统中光子和电子元件的大规模集成。光计算代表了计算能力扩展的一条潜在的前进道路。 利用有机电光（OEO）材料的混合器件是电子-光子数字计算（EPDC）的潜在使能技术，在电信，量子计算和量子网络中具有进一步的应用。与现有的硅光子学和微波光子学系统相比，混合光电技术提供了关键的性能增强，具有提高计算和5G电信系统能力和降低运营成本的潜力。EPDC的增长还将降低高性能计算和云计算的功耗和碳足迹，特别是人工智能和机器学习等密集型应用，该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目直接解决了将高性能混合有机电光（OEO）能够与传统的硅基半导体技术直接集成的组件推向市场。 与现有技术相比，利用OEO材料的混合器件在速度、尺寸和功耗方面具有显著优势。然而，严格定义材料特性、优化长期热稳定性和光稳定性以及将新的OEO材料概念转化为商业材料的能力对于建立市场可行性至关重要。该项目包括评估稳定性和封装技术，以确保下一代材料的长期可靠性和商业规模合成，将最新的学术发展从理论辅助设计转化为商业供应链。 这些成果将降低采用基于OEO的混合技术的风险，并通过更高的性能和更好地理解热约束和封装要求来实现更广泛的应用。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 Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I Project is to enable large-scale integration of photonic and electronic components in computing and communications systems. Optical computing represents the a potential path forward in the expansion of computing power. Hybrid devices utilizing organic electro-optic (OEO) materials are a potential enabling technology for electronic-photonic digital computing (EPDC), with further applications in telecommunications, quantum computing, and quantum networking. Compared to existing silicon photonics and microwave photonics systems, hybrid electro-optics deliver critical performance enhancements, with potential for improved capabilities and lower operating costs for computing and 5G telecommunications systems. The growth of EPDC will also reduce power consumption and carbon footprints of high-performance computing and cloud computing, especially intensive applications such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, where operations are particularly conducive to being performed optically.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project directly addresses key challenges in bringing high-performance hybrid organic electro-optic (OEO) components capable of direct integration with conventional silicon-based semiconductor technologies to market. Hybrid devices utilizing OEO materials have demonstrated significant advantages in speed, size, and power consumption compared to existing technologies. However, rigorous definition of materials properties, optimization of long-term thermal and photostability, and ability to translate new OEO material concepts into commercial materials are essential for establishing market viability. This project includes evaluating stability and encapsulation techniques to ensure long-term reliability and commercial-scale synthesis of a next-generation material for commercial applications, translating recent academic developments from theory aided design into a commercial supply chain. These results will de-risk adoption of hybrid OEO-based technologies and enable a wider range of applications via higher performance and better understanding of thermal constraints and encapsulation requirements.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.