A Silicon Topological Photonic Platform for Photonic Integrated Circuits

用于光子集成电路的硅拓扑光子平台

• 批准号: RGPIN-2022-03427
• 负责人: Van, Vien
• 金额: $ 2.4万
• 依托单位: University of Alberta
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=752299
• 关键词: Silicon; Topological; Photonic; Platform; Integrated

Topological photonic insulators (TPIs) are artificial photonic bandgap materials whose light transport characteristics are dictated by the topological properties of their energy bands. Among the many exotic properties of TPIs is the principle of topological protection, which guarantees that certain photonic modes are protected by a topological invariant, making them immune to disorders or defects in the lattice such as those caused by fabrication imperfections. This and other unique properties of TPIs can potentially be exploited to realize robust photonic integrated circuits (PICs) that are tolerant to fabrication variations. However, current research on TPIs still largely focuses on the fundamental physics of these materials while their applications are still very much unexplored. Our group has recently proposed and demonstrated a type of TPIs called Floquet insulators using 2D lattices of coupled microring resonators on a silicon-on-insulator platform. Floquet insulators are based on periodically-driven quantum systems and can host new types of defect modes induced by local periodic perturbations to the drive sequence of the lattice. We have shown that these drive-dependent defect modes can provide unconventional ways for confining and guiding light through a Floquet microring lattice by applying phase and coupling perturbations at suitable locations in the lattice, without requiring fixed physical interfaces as in conventional photonic crystals. The objective of this research is to explore the physics and applications of Floquet microring TPIs and drive-dependent defect states - such as Floquet defect mode resonances and Floquet line defect modes - to realize fabrication-tolerant reconfigurable silicon photonic devices for applications in optical communication, signal processing, frequency generation, and quantum photonics. The long-term goal of the research is to develop a universal topological photonic platform for reconfigurable and programmable PICs. The research program provides an excellent platform for HQP training in photonics, optoelectronics, optical communication, photonic neural networks, and quantum photonics. With the field of topological photonics still evolving, the research provides strong potential for discovery of new topological effects that could lead to novel applications. This could benefit the photonics industry in Canada in terms of generation of intellectual property, development of domestic high-tech capabilities, and training of highly skilled work force. The overall benefit to Canada is to strengthen the country's position as a leader in science and innovation, which in turn helps attract investment and talents to the country's high-tech industry.

拓扑光子绝缘体（TPI）是一种人工光子带隙材料，其光传输特性取决于其能带的拓扑性质。在TPI的许多奇异特性中，拓扑保护原理保证了某些光子模式受到拓扑不变量的保护，使它们不受晶格中的紊乱或缺陷的影响，例如由制造缺陷引起的那些。TPIs的这一特性和其他独特特性可以潜在地用于实现耐受制造变化的鲁棒光子集成电路（PIC）。然而，目前对TPIs的研究仍然主要集中在这些材料的基础物理上，而它们的应用仍然非常未被探索。我们小组最近提出并演示了一种称为Floquet绝缘体的TPI，它在绝缘体上的硅平台上使用二维晶格的耦合微谐振器。Floquet绝缘体基于晶格驱动的量子系统，并且可以承载由晶格驱动序列的局部周期性扰动引起的新型缺陷模式。我们已经表明，这些驱动相关的缺陷模式可以提供非常规的方式来限制和引导光通过Floquet微晶格在晶格中的合适位置处施加相位和耦合扰动，而不需要固定的物理界面，如在传统的光子晶体。本研究的目的是探索Floquet微结构TPI和驱动相关缺陷态（如Floquet缺陷模式谐振和Floquet线缺陷模式）的物理和应用，以实现可用于光通信，信号处理，频率产生和量子光子学的可重构硅光子器件。本研究的长期目标是为可重构和可编程的PIC开发一个通用的拓扑光子平台。该研究计划为光子学，光电子学，光通信，光子神经网络和量子光子学的HQP培训提供了一个很好的平台。随着拓扑光子学领域的不断发展，这项研究为发现新的拓扑效应提供了强大的潜力，这些效应可能导致新的应用。这将有利于加拿大的光子产业，包括知识产权的产生、国内高科技能力的发展和高技能劳动力的培训。对加拿大的总体好处是加强了该国作为科学和创新领导者的地位，这反过来又有助于吸引投资和人才到该国的高科技产业。