Fiberized Silicon: A New Platform for Nonlinear Photonics Devices

光通信时代的到来得益于两项关键材料和技术突破：低损耗二氧化硅光纤波导和硅基电子器件。为了集成这两种技术，其中一种是基于光纤的，另一种是基于平面芯片的，这些设备必须通过复杂的中间光学进行接口。显然，将玻璃纤维的灵活导光能力与硅的丰富光电功能结合在一个集成的纤维几何结构中是一个令人兴奋的前景。例如，我们可以考虑在紧凑的光纤几何结构内建造激光器、调制器、开关、探测器甚至电子电路。这项建议描述了从设计和表征阶段到实用全光纤器件演示阶段，将跟随硅浸渍光纤的发展进行的研究。这些混合结构的制造将利用微结构光纤的独特框架，其中包含沿光纤长度延伸的微尺度气孔，作为3D模板，半导体材料将被沉积到其中。建议的结构将构成一系列器件的基础，包括光纤内半导体激光器、高速全光调制器、延伸到中红外的宽带光源和可调光子带隙光纤(PGBF)。光纤化硅器件具有显著的优势，如低成本、多功能性、坚固的波导几何结构、紧凑性和高度延长的电磁相互作用长度。重要的是，这项工作的潜在应用远远超出了光学电信领域，包括医学、光谱学和安全监测等广泛的学科，确保了高水平的科学和商业相关性。

The age of optical communications has been enabled by two key materials and technological breakthroughs: low loss silica optical fibre waveguides and silicon based electronics. In order to integrate these two technologies, one of which is fibre based and the other planar chip based, the devices have to be interfaced via complex intermediate optics. Clearly the ability to combine the flexible light guiding capabilities of glass fibres with the rich optoelectronic functionality of silicon in an integrated fibre geometry is an exciting prospect. For example, we could then consider building lasers, modulators, switches, detectors and even electronic circuits all inside a compact fibre geometry. This proposal describes research that will follow the development of silicon impregnated optical fibres from the design and characterization stage, to the demonstration of practical all-fibre devices. The fabrication of these hybrid structures will utilize the unique framework of microstructured optical fibres, which contain microscale air holes that run down their length, as 3D templates into which the semiconductor material will be deposited. The proposed structures will form the basis of a number of devices including in-fibre semiconductor lasers, high speed all-optical modulators, broadband sources that extend into the mid-infrared and tuneable photonic band gap fibres (PGBFs). Fiberized silicon devices offer significant advantages such as low cost, versatility, robust waveguide geometries, compactness and highly extended electromagnetic interaction lengths. Importantly, the potential applications of this work extend far beyond the optical telecommunications field to include a wide range of disciplines such as medicine, spectroscopy and security monitoring, ensuring a high level of both scientific and commercial relevance.