Hybrid Integrated Photonic-Electronic Systems (HIPES)

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Data traffic has been increasing over the past years, and requires faster transmission systems which can only be realized by means of well-directed combination of photonic and electronic approaches. On a technology level, this leads to system concepts consisting of a multitude of photonic and electronic components, which are connected via broadband interfaces. In addition to the bandwidth of a single transmission system, also the scalability becomes increasingly important. An example is the communication in mainframe computers and data centers, where thousands of optical transmission systems have to be realized efficiently and compactly, and have to be connected to electronic computing and storage systems. In this context, new primary approaches for highly integrated photonic-electronic systems are required, which cannot be derived from existing approaches by simple enhancements.Clearly, the classical system concept comprising of discrete components in separate packages cannot fulfill the above mentioned requirements in the long run. Therefore, multiple institutions started the development of monolithic integrated systems in recent years. The high complexity and the fixation to a common material system for all system components often lead to penalties regarding performance and yield.The aim of this project is the exploration and demonstration of novel hybrid concepts for ultra-broadband photonic-electronic systems, which are based on the principle of multi-chip integration. Photonic and electronic systems are fabricated on different, individually optimized integration platforms, and afterwards combined on chip level. The project focuses on the co-design of photonic modulators and electronic driver circuits together with concepts of broadband electronic interfaces. This approach unites the scalability of monolithic integrated approaches and the flexibility, performance and yield of discrete systems. Additionally, the concept offers new degrees of freedom regarding the impedance matching between the electric driver amplifier and the optical modulator, which can lead to a strong decrease of the power consumption. The demonstration and verification of the novel concept by means of a multi-channel transmitter module are planned.