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

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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.****************************