Ultrafast Laser Plasma Implantation- Seamless Integration of Functional Materials for Advanced Photonics

SeaMatics是一个“先进的光子集成电路材料制造项目”，应用于光通信、传感器、医疗保健成像技术和照明等一系列新兴应用。与电子电路中电子无缝流动的集成不同，在光子集成电路中，由于折射率失配和材料的不同，光不会无缝流动。为了促进制造光电路的前进方向，SeaMatics团队开始了一项研究，该研究将开发一种基于“超快激光等离子体注入(ULPI)”的新技术来制造复杂结构，使用以下材料：稀土离子掺杂玻璃、聚合物以及硅和砷化镓半导体。这种材料制造的组合方法将产生用于跨行业应用(健康、制造、能源、数字)的工程范围节能器件的光子电路。该项目由利兹大学领导，并得到剑桥大学、谢菲尔德大学和约克大学在聚合物器件、III-V半导体和硅光子学研究领域的四个学术合作伙伴的支持。将进入EPSRC国家III-V技术中心进行材料和器件制造。直接参与该项目的11个行业合作伙伴是：DSTL、GTS/British Glass、GLucosense/NetScience、Product Evolution、PVD Products、CST、IQE、道康宁、Xyratex、Gooch、Housego和Semtech。行业联系涵盖从材料制造到光学元件及其在光/数据通信、医疗保健传感器和照明能源中的应用。在这种伙伴关系中，制造与不同级别的供应链联系在一起，我们的目标是通过对样本器件的研究来展示这一点。该项目的主要目标是a)在利兹建立ULPI制造能力，该能力将首先服务于英国学术和工业社区的需求，然后扩展到国际合作。b)我们的第一个应用LED制造示例将演示基于ULPI的稀土掺杂玻璃光子电路的分光，C)在另一个例子中，我们将展示电泵浦半导体激光器(VCSEL和VECSEL)，并与稀土离子掺杂玻璃集成，用于宽带和可调谐激光器。d)b)和c)中开发的方法将被扩展，用于在硅上制造更大规模的光子集成电路，利用a)中开发的技术体现多功能。e)ULPI作为技术将被应用于设计新型聚合物玻璃传感器器件，将用于医疗保健。f)项目的最终目标是为海事学的新研究人员提供培训、传播和外联机会。与传播有关的活动将通过著名期刊、会议和讲习班上的标准同行审查出版物进行。计划举办专门的研讨会进行传播，还计划为UG/PG实习生、博士生和中六学生举办外展活动。

SeaMatics is an "advanced materials manufacturing project for photonic integrated circuits" for a range of emerging applications in optical communication, sensors, imaging technology for healthcare, and lighting. Unlike the integration in electronic circuits in which electrons flow seamlessly, in photonic integrated circuits at the light does not flow seamlessly due to mismatch of refractive index and materials dissimilarity. In order to facilitate a way forward for fabricating light circuits, the SeaMatics team has embarked on research which will exploit a novel "ultrafast laser plasma implantation (ULPI)" based technique for fabricating complex structures, using following materials: rare-earth ion doped glass, polymers and silicon and GaAs semiconductors. Such a combinatorial approach for materials fabrication will yield photonic circuit for engineering range energy-efficient devices for cross-sectorial applications (health, manufacturing, energy, digital). The project is led by the University of Leeds and is supported by has four academic partners by the Universities of Cambridge, Sheffield and York in the respective areas of research on polymeric devices, III-V semiconductors, and silicon photonics. The EPSRC National Centre for III-V Technologies will be accessed for materials and device fabrication. Eleven industry partners directly involved in the project are: DSTL, GTS/British Glass, Glucosense/NetScientific, Product Evolution, PVD Products, CST, IQE, Dow Corning, Xyratex, Gooch and Housego and Semtech. The industry links covers from materials manufacturing to optical components and their applications in optical/data communication, sensors for healthcare, energy for lighting. In this partnership the manufacturing is linked with different levels of supply chain, which we aim to demonstrate by researching on exemplar devices as end points.The main goals of the project are a) Set up a ULPI manufacturing capability at Leeds which will serve the needs of academic and industrial communities in UK to start with and then expand for international collaboration.b) Our first application led manufacturing example will demonstrate ULPI based RE-earth doped glass photonic circuits with light splitting, lasing and amplification functions on a chip.c) In another example we will demonstrate electrically pumped semiconductor lasers (VCSEL and VECSEL) and integrated with rare-earth ion doped glass for broadband and tunable lasers.d) Approaches developed in b) and c) will be then expanded for manufacturing larger scale photonic integrated circuits on silicon, embodying multiple functions using the techniques developed in a).e) ULPI as technique will be applied for engineering novel range of polymer-glass sensor devices which will be used for health care.f) The final goal of project is to provide training, dissemination, and outreach opportunities for new researchers in SeaMatics. Dissemination related activities will be via the standard peer-review publications in prestigious journals, conferences and workshops. Dedicated symposia are planned for dissemination, and also the outreach activities involving UG/PG interns, PhD students and Sixth form pupils.