SBIR Phase I: Advanced Optical Modulators Using Submicron Lithium Niobate Thin Films

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是，它将使电光调制器技术实现巨大飞跃。电光调制器在光纤通信中有着广泛的应用。调制器也是光控相控阵天线、抗电磁攻击和光纤射频光子链路、光探测和测距、光传感、计量、存储、采样和通信、全光信号处理的关键部件。未来最重要的应用是超级计算机和数据中心的光互连。根据该计划开发的高性能设备最终将用于数据通信，以便在数据中心机架和超级计算机设施之间以及微处理器、图形和存储芯片之间传输数据。这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目旨在利用新型铌酸锂（LiNbO3）硅波导技术开发高性能光调制器。LiNbO3一直被认为是高性能光通信系统中最具吸引力的电光调制材料。然而，由掺杂剂扩散或注入形成的弱约束LiNbO3波导不适合高水平的芯片集成。本提案的目标是合并两种互补的光子技术（即硅和LiNbO3光子），并制作一个混合平台，提供两种技术的优点，同时避免各自的缺点。基于该技术，LiNbO3-on-Si波导、微环谐振器和电光调制器（Mach-Zehnder干涉仪和微谐振器类型）将实现商业化。Mach-Zehnder装置有望在比商用装置低几倍的电压下工作，并且比商用装置紧凑几倍。

The broader impacts/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is that it will enable a dramatic leap in the technology of electrooptic modulators. Electrooptic modulators have widespread applications in fiber-optic telecommunications. The modulators are also key components for optically-steered phased-arrayed antennas, electromagnetic-attack-resistant and radio-over-fiber radio frequency photonic links, light detection and ranging, optical sensing, metrology, storage, sampling and communications, all-optical signal processing. The most important future application is in optical interconnects for supercomputers and data centers. The high-performance devices developed under this program will eventually be found in data communication to transmit data between racks of data centers and supercomputer facilities and between microprocessors, graphic and memory chips.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims at developing high-performance optical modulators using a novel lithium niobate (LiNbO3) on silicon waveguide technology. LiNbO3 has been long regarded as the most attractive material for electrooptic modulation for high-performance optical communication systems. However, the weakly confined LiNbO3 waveguides formed by diffusion or implantation of dopants do not lend themselves to high-level chip integration. The goal of this proposal is to merge two complementary photonic technologies (i.e., silicon and LiNbO3 photonics) and make a hybrid platform that offers the advantages of both technologies, while it avoids their respective disadvantages. Based on the technology, LiNbO3-on-Si waveguides, microring resonators and electrooptic modulators (Mach-Zehnder interferometer and microresonator types) will be commercialized. The Mach-Zehnder devices are expected to operate at voltages several times less than commercial devices and several times more compact.