Perovskite Photonics

半导体光子学通过提供高光学非线性、优异的光学透明度和密集的器件集成等增强特性，目前正在推动现代晶圆级光电子学的革命。这一领域的研究主要基于硅，而“硅光子学”是一项正在走向成熟的技术，英特尔、西门子和Luxtera等公司在其开发上投入了大量资金。毫无疑问，硅光子学具有变革性，但它有许多未解决的限制，这些限制都与硅的晶体结构有关。例如，该材料不具有通常用于电光信号调制的二阶非线性，并且该材料具有间接电子带隙，使其成为较差的光发射器。此外，硅的高加工温度使得与电子和多层光子结构的集成极具挑战性。近年来，硅作为光伏材料的主导地位受到了钙钛矿材料类别的挑战，这些材料的快速发展为研究它们在光子学中的应用提供了机会。与硅不同，钙钛矿具有高度可调的晶体结构，这使得它们在光子学上非常有趣。材料可以直接带隙，可以包含二阶非线性，可以具有非凡的非线性光学性质，其三阶光学非线性比硅大6个数量级以上。此外，钙钛矿是溶液可加工的，甚至可以印刷，为新一代光子器件提供了一个平台。在这个项目中，我们建议开发一种低成本和高性能的钙钛矿光子平台，该平台将与硅同类产品竞争，并在许多情况下超过硅同类产品。这项工作将利用EPSRC最近支持的纳米制造和材料开发工作，并为集成光子器件提供一个新的平台。主要目标将是开发方法和程序，以支持开发可以利用钙钛矿材料的最高性能的设备。许多材料将被研究和开发，包括2D/3D混合结构和无铅钙钛矿。该项目将优化线性和非线性光子学应用的材料，展示波导制造的原理，并首次展示一项技术，该技术将有可能影响许多领域，例如传感、量子光学和光通信。

Semiconductor photonics is currently driving a revolution in modern wafer-scale optoelectronics by affording enhanced properties such as high optical non-linearities, excellent optical transparency, and dense device integration. The research in this area has been predominantly based on silicon and 'silicon photonics' is a technology that is reaching maturity with the likes of Intel, Siemens, and Luxtera investing heavily in its development. While, undoubtedly transformative, silicon photonics has a number of unaddressed limitations that are all associated with silicon's crystal structure. For example, the material does not have a second order non-linearity which is commonly used for electro-optic signal modulation and the material has an indirect electronic bandgap which makes it a poor light emitter. Furthermore, the high processing temperature of silicon makes integration with electronics and multilayer photonics architectures extremely challenging. In recent years, silicon's dominance as a photovoltaic material has been challenged by the emergence of perovskites materials class and the rapid development of these materials has presented the opportunity to investigate them for photonics applications. Unlike silicon, perovskites have a highly tunable crystal structure which makes them very interesting for photonics. Materials can be direct bandgap, can contain a second order non-linearity and can possess extraordinary non-linear optical properties with a third order optical non-linearity more than 6 orders of magnitude greater than silicon. Moreover, perovskites are solution processable and can even be printed providing a platform for a new generation of photonics devices.In this programme we propose to develop a low cost and high performance perovskite photonics platform that will rival and in many instances out perform their silicon counterparts. The work will leverage much of the nanofabrication and materials development work that EPSRC has recently championed and provide a new platform for integrated photonics devices. The main objective will be to develop the methodologies and procedures to support the development of devices that can exploit the superlative properties of perovskite materials. A number of materials will be investigated and developed, including 2D/3D hybrid structures and lead-free perovskites. The project will optimise the materials for linear and non-linear photonics applications, demonstrate the principles of waveguide faibrication, and produce the first demonstrations of a technology that will have the potential to impact on many fields, for example, sensing, quantum optics, and optical communications.