Amplified silicon photonics

在硅上集成光学功能在全球技术发展中与集成电路的发明一样重要。所谓的“硅光子学”（SiP）为历史上研究最多的元素的应用增添了新的维度。在其最基本的层面上，SiP用光量子取代了电子，从而在带宽、成本和可扩展性方面实现了显着的性能提升。SiP的潜力似乎是无限的，将彻底改变所有距离的数据传输。为了激发一个重大的进步，在链路预算管理的SiP使能光网络，我们提出了研究的高效，低成本和可扩展的集成光放大超越“无损耗”硅光子（SiP）。这是一项研究计划，其成果将在近期（1-3年，子载波利用率）、中期（3- 5年，单片稀土放大）和远期（~10年，新通信窗口的稀土放大）应用于可部署产品。这是通过协调研究来实现的，该研究从利用集成单个组件的混合放大器-SiP系统开始，并转向利用我们对片上稀土技术的知识的单片放大方案。我们的目标是在SiP系统中在O、C和L波段的波长下产生约15- 20 dB的外部光放大;加上1960 nm左右的波长，该波长集中在潜在的未来通信窗口上，目前正在低损耗光纤、光源和SiP接收器技术的发展中进行密集的研究。该项目的成功实施将带来颠覆性和变革性的硅光子技术，这将对加拿大工业的信息和通信技术（ICT）部门产生重大影响。

The integration of optical functionality on silicon is proving to be as important in global technology development as the invention of the integrated circuit. So-called "Silicon Photonics" (SiP) adds a new dimension to the application of the most researched element in history. At its most fundamental level SiP replaces electronic with optical quanta to realize remarkable performance gains in bandwidth, cost and scalability. The potential of SiP appears unbounded and will revolutionize data transfer at all distances. In order to instigate a major advance in link budget management of SiP enabled optical networks we propose research on efficient, low-cost and scalable integration of optical amplification moving beyond "loss-less" Silicon Photonics (SiP). This is a research program that yields results to be applied in deployable products in the near-term (1-3 years, sub-carrier utilization); the mid-term (3-5years, monolithic Rare-Earth amplification) and far-term (~10 years, Rare-Earth amplification for new communication windows). This is achieved by coordinated research which starts by exploiting hybrid amplifier-SiP systems integrating individual components, and moves towards a monolithic amplification scheme which exploits our knowledge of on-chip, Rare-Earth technology. Our aim is to produce external optical amplification of ~15-20dB within SiP systems at wavelengths in the O, C and L bands; plus around 1960nm, a wavelength which centres on a potential future communication window and is currently under intense research following the development of low-loss fibers, optical sources and SiP receiver technology. Successful execution of this project will result in disruptive and transformative Silicon Photonics technology that will significantly impact the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector of Canadian industry.