Ultra-Compact Low-Power Photonic Network-on-Chip

随着微电子芯片计算能力的提高，由于速度和晶体管密度的不断提高，它们产生的信息流变得越来越难以处理。因此，芯片之间的电互连，甚至芯片内逻辑单元之间的电互连都成为瓶颈。随着总带宽超过1 Tb/s，光网络已经展示了光传输信息的潜力，现在它可以用来解决芯片规模上出现的挑战。硅光子学已经证明，光学器件可以使用CMOS兼容工艺制造，但要在同一芯片上有效地结合光学电路和电子电路，仍有许多挑战必须解决。例如，对硅和绝缘体上硅晶圆的埋地氧化层的要求很大程度上取决于它们是用于光学还是电子应用。该研究项目研究了一种集成光学的新方法，该方法可以在电子电路上创建超紧凑和低功耗的光学器件。为了实现这一目标，我们将开发一种制造工艺，其中使用碳化硅（SiC）来形成光波导。SiC为片上光学电路提供了许多优点，包括高折射率，在低温下沉积的可能性，以及它可以表现出电光效应。在CMOS芯片上包含光学元件代表了重大的技术转变，在此研究计划中开发的知识对加拿大电子公司将是有价值的。此外，它将培养2名博士和3名硕士。设计和制造先进光子电路的学生。基于SiC的集成光电路的影响超出了片上光通信。SiC的机械强度可用于提高光机械腔的谐振频率，并且由于石墨烯可以在SiC上生长，因此SiC波导将非常适合用于光学互连石墨烯电子器件。

As the computing capacity of microelectronic chips increases, thanks to continuous improvements in speed and transistor density, the flows of information they generate are becoming harder to handle. As a result, the electrical interconnections between chips and even between logical units within a chip are becoming bottlenecks. With aggregate bandwidths exceeding one Tb/s, optical networks have demonstrated the potential of light to transmit information, and now it can be used to resolve the challenges arising at the chip scale. Silicon photonics has demonstrated that optical devices can be manufactured using CMOS compatible processes but there are still numerous challenges that must be addressed to efficiently combine optical and electronic circuits on the same chip. For instance, the requirements on the silicon and buried oxide layers of silicon-on-insulator wafers differ greatly depending on whether they are used for optical or electronic applications.This research program investigates a novel approach to integrated optics that could enable the creation of ultra-compact and low-power optical devices on top of electronic circuits. To achieve this, we will develop a fabrication process where silicon carbide (SiC) is used to form optical waveguides. SiC offers numerous advantages for on-chip optical circuits, including a high refractive index, the possibility of being deposited at low temperatures, and it can exhibit the electro-optic effect. Including optical components on CMOS dies represent a significant technological shift, and the knowledge developed during this research program will be valuable to Canadian electronics companies. Moreover, it will train 2 PhD and 3 M.Eng. students in the design and fabrication of advanced photonic circuits. The impact of integrated optical circuits based on SiC extends beyond on-chip optical telecommunications. The mechanical strength of SiC can be used to increase the resonant frequency of optomechanical cavities, and since graphene can be grown on SiC, SiC waveguides will be well suited to optically interconnect graphene electronics.