PIC: Charge Trapped Photonic Devices for Computing, Sensing and Sequencing Applications

该提案旨在开发新型混合硅电荷捕获光子波导器件，用于低（几乎为零功率）片上光存储器，计算，无标记传感和基因测序应用。该计划将使学生接触到光子学，电气工程，生物化学和微生物学的跨学科研究。与硅光子学中的新型铁电集成一起，使用集成光子学的无标记基因测序的演示将在集成硅光子学与微生物学的多学科保护伞下培训本科生和研究生。在商业CMOS代工厂运行的多项目晶圆（MPW）中制造的器件将使学生接触无晶圆厂公司的关键任务，即将成品设计的布局提交给商业代工厂进行制造。该项目将以电荷捕获硅光子器件在下一代片上计算的各种应用中的可行性演示以及实现DNA中生物存储数据的光子读出的潜力而告终。项目成员将参与针对俄亥俄州大代顿初中和高中学生的STEM外联活动，并扩大少数民族学生对STEM教育和培训的参与。英特尔OASIS支持的特定项目活动专为本科生设计，旨在培养半导体领域的劳动力。这里计划的活动将暴露在物理科学和工程的学生，将建立工业人力资源，以解决美国在半导体行业的重大未来需求，不仅芯片制造，而且其应用在下一代计算和生物存储数据读出使用光子集成电路。硅光子学中的载流子电荷调制已经用于集成光子p-n掺杂波导和谐振器中的光信号的调制。在过去的十年中，非易失性的，可调的，多层次的重量在未掺杂的低损耗的光子器件的存储已经吸引了显着的兴趣计算应用。薄膜氧化物铁电特性的发现预示着混合铁电硅波导中未掺杂硅中捕获电荷的潜力，用于集成光子非易失性存储器应用。这样的装置也可以用于具有离子选择性膜的无标记DNA感测/测序。拟议活动的知识意义包括：（a）演示混合铁电硅光子波导和纳米结构谐振器作为计算用节能非易失性光存储器;（B）演示多级光存储器;（c）在具有与光子波导集成的离子选择性膜的离子敏感光子场效应波导装置中演示高灵敏度质子感测，和d）与其他地方的标记方法相比，在光子芯片上展示无标记基因测序的潜力。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 proposal seeks to develop novel hybrid silicon charge trapped photonic waveguide devices for low (practically zero power) on-chip optical memory, computation, label-free sensing and genetic sequencing applications. The program will expose students to interdisciplinary research in photonics, electrical engineering, biochemistry and microbiology. Together with novel ferroelectric integration in silicon photonics, demonstration of label-free gene sequencing using integrated photonics will train undergraduate and graduate students under a multidisciplinary umbrella integrating silicon photonics with microbiology. Devices fabricated in a multi-project wafer (MPW) run at a commercial CMOS foundry will expose students to critical tasks of fabless companies in submitting layouts for finished designs to commercial foundries for fabrication. The project will culminate with the feasibility demonstration of charge trapped silicon photonic devices in diverse applications for next generation on-chip computing as well as enabling the potential for photonic based readout of biologically stored data in DNA. Project members will engage in STEM outreach targeting middle and high school students in greater Dayton, OH and broaden participation of minority students in STEM education and training. Specific project activities supported by Intel OASIS have been designed for undergrads for workforce development in semiconductors. The activities planned here will expose a larger pool of students in the physical sciences and engineering that will build industrial manpower to address the significant future US need in the semiconductor industry not only for chip fabrication but also its applications in next generation computing and biological stored data readout using photonic integrated circuits. Carrier charge modulation in silicon photonics has been used for modulation of optical signals in integrated photonic p-n doped waveguides and resonators. During the past decade, storage of non-volatile, adjustable, multi-level weights in undoped low-loss photonic devices has attracted significant interest for computing applications. The discovery of ferroelectric properties in thin film oxides promises the potential for trapping charges in undoped silicon in hybrid ferroelectric silicon waveguides for integrated photonic non-volatile memory applications. Such devices can also be used for label-free DNA sensing/sequencing with ion selective membranes. The intellectual significance of the proposed activities includes: (a) demonstrating hybrid ferroelectric silicon photonic waveguides and nanostructured resonators as energy-efficient non-volatile optical memory for computing; (b) demonstrating multi-level optical memory; (c) demonstration of high sensitivity proton sensing in ion-sensitive-photonic-field-effect-waveguide (ISPFEW) devices with ion selective membranes integrated with photonic waveguides, and d) demonstration of potential for label-free gene sequencing on a photonic chip, in contrast to labeled methods elsewhere.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.