Ultrafast Laser Plasma Implantation- Seamless Integration of Functional Materials for Advanced Photonics

SeaMatics是一个“光子集成电路先进材料制造项目”，用于光通信、传感器、医疗保健成像技术和照明等一系列新兴应用。与集成电路中电子的无缝流动不同，在光子集成电路中，由于折射率的不匹配和材料的不同，光的无缝流动并不存在。为了促进制造光电路的发展，SeaMatics团队已经开始研究一种新的“超快激光等离子体植入（ULPI）”技术，用于制造复杂的结构，使用以下材料：稀土离子掺杂玻璃、聚合物、硅和砷化镓半导体。这种材料制造的组合方法将产生用于跨部门应用（健康，制造，能源，数字）的工程范围节能设备的光子电路。该项目由利兹大学领导，并得到了剑桥大学、谢菲尔德大学和约克大学的四个学术合作伙伴的支持，他们分别在聚合物器件、III-V半导体和硅光子学等领域进行研究。EPSRC国家III-V技术中心将用于材料和设备制造。直接参与该项目的11家行业合作伙伴包括：DSTL、GTS/British Glass、Glucosense/NetScientific、Product Evolution、PVD Products、CST、IQE、道康宁、Xyratex、Gooch and Housego和Semtech。行业链接涵盖从材料制造到光学元件及其在光学/数据通信、医疗保健传感器、照明能源方面的应用。在这种合作关系中，制造与供应链的不同层次相关联，我们的目标是通过研究样品设备作为终点来证明这一点。该项目的主要目标是a)在利兹建立ULPI制造能力，这将满足英国学术界和工业界的需求，然后扩大国际合作。b)我们的第一个应用led制造示例将演示基于ULPI的RE-earth掺杂玻璃光子电路，在芯片上具有光分裂，激光和放大功能。c)在另一个示例中，我们将演示电泵浦半导体激光器（VCSEL和VECSEL），并集成稀土离子掺杂玻璃用于宽带和可调谐激光器。d) b)和c)中开发的方法将扩展到制造更大规模的硅光子集成电路，使用a)中开发的技术体现多种功能。e) ULPI作为技术将应用于工程领域的新型聚合物玻璃传感器设备，这些设备将用于医疗保健。f)该项目的最终目标是为新的海洋学研究人员提供培训、传播和推广机会。与传播有关的活动将通过著名期刊、会议和讲习班上的标准同行评审出版物进行。计划举办专题讨论会进行宣传，并安排本科生/研究生实习生、博士生和六年级学生参加外展活动。

SeaMatics is an "advanced materials manufacturing project for photonic integrated circuits" for a range of emerging applications in optical communication, sensors, imaging technology for healthcare, and lighting. Unlike the integration in electronic circuits in which electrons flow seamlessly, in photonic integrated circuits at the light does not flow seamlessly due to mismatch of refractive index and materials dissimilarity. In order to facilitate a way forward for fabricating light circuits, the SeaMatics team has embarked on research which will exploit a novel "ultrafast laser plasma implantation (ULPI)" based technique for fabricating complex structures, using following materials: rare-earth ion doped glass, polymers and silicon and GaAs semiconductors. Such a combinatorial approach for materials fabrication will yield photonic circuit for engineering range energy-efficient devices for cross-sectorial applications (health, manufacturing, energy, digital). The project is led by the University of Leeds and is supported by has four academic partners by the Universities of Cambridge, Sheffield and York in the respective areas of research on polymeric devices, III-V semiconductors, and silicon photonics. The EPSRC National Centre for III-V Technologies will be accessed for materials and device fabrication. Eleven industry partners directly involved in the project are: DSTL, GTS/British Glass, Glucosense/NetScientific, Product Evolution, PVD Products, CST, IQE, Dow Corning, Xyratex, Gooch and Housego and Semtech. The industry links covers from materials manufacturing to optical components and their applications in optical/data communication, sensors for healthcare, energy for lighting. In this partnership the manufacturing is linked with different levels of supply chain, which we aim to demonstrate by researching on exemplar devices as end points.The main goals of the project are a) Set up a ULPI manufacturing capability at Leeds which will serve the needs of academic and industrial communities in UK to start with and then expand for international collaboration.b) Our first application led manufacturing example will demonstrate ULPI based RE-earth doped glass photonic circuits with light splitting, lasing and amplification functions on a chip.c) In another example we will demonstrate electrically pumped semiconductor lasers (VCSEL and VECSEL) and integrated with rare-earth ion doped glass for broadband and tunable lasers.d) Approaches developed in b) and c) will be then expanded for manufacturing larger scale photonic integrated circuits on silicon, embodying multiple functions using the techniques developed in a).e) ULPI as technique will be applied for engineering novel range of polymer-glass sensor devices which will be used for health care.f) The final goal of project is to provide training, dissemination, and outreach opportunities for new researchers in SeaMatics. Dissemination related activities will be via the standard peer-review publications in prestigious journals, conferences and workshops. Dedicated symposia are planned for dissemination, and also the outreach activities involving UG/PG interns, PhD students and Sixth form pupils.