III-V Semiconductor Platforms and Devices for Nonlinear Integrated Photonics

我们计划探索一系列用于光子集成电路(PIC)的III-V半导体材料平台，以服务于各种应用。光子集成电路是一种微型芯片，通常由半导体材料制成，可以控制光的流动及其与物质相互作用的方式。人们可以将这与控制电流的电子微芯片进行对比。PIC上充斥着在光下运行的微小设备。这些设备包括：被称为集成半导体激光器的发光设备；被称为集成光波导的光搅拌设备，起到片上反射镜和透镜的作用；调制器，在数据流上印记信息，以及吸收光并检测其携带的光功率的探测器。所有这些设备都需要复杂的设计，开发新的制造工艺，并进行测试，以确保其最佳运行。我们的具体研究目标是开发适合于非线性光学相互作用的集成光学平台和设备，从而可以根据这些光-物质相互作用的性质来改变光的频率(或颜色)。非线性光学相互作用极大地增强了PICS的现有应用，并开启了一系列新的应用。光通信网络就是一个这样的例子，现有技术已经达到了其性能的顶峰。自动驾驶汽车、5G网络和智慧城市等新兴技术的引入将使这些网络更加紧张。这项研究计划是将全光信号处理引入现代光通信网络以应对此类挑战的关键组成部分。这一目标将在一定程度上通过开发基于III-V半导体组的集成非线性光子器件来实现。一旦开发出来，这项技术将突破信息传输和存储能力的新水平，从而使光通信行业发生革命性的变化。此外，光子集成还有无数其他应用，其影响目前我们无法预测。医学成像和样品分析，防篡改通信，以及新科学设备的开发，只是光子集成将极大促进的一些领域。

We propose to explore a family of III-V semiconductor material platforms for photonic integrated circuits (PICs) serving a variety of applications. Photonic integrated circuits are tiny chips, typically made of semiconductor materials, which can control the flow of light and the way it interacts with matter. One can contrast this with electronic microchips which control the flow of electricity. PICs are populated with tiny devices that operate on light. These include: light emitting devices called integrated semiconductor lasers; light stirring devices called integrated optical waveguides, serving the role of mirrors and lenses on-a-chip; modulators, imprinting information on light streams, and detectors that absorb light and detect the amount of the optical power it carries. All these devices require sophisticated designs, the development of novel fabrication processes, and testing to ensure their optimal operation. Our specific research goal is to develop integrated optical platforms and devices suitable for nonlinear optical interactions, whereby the frequency (or colour) of light can be modified by the nature of these light-matter interactions. Nonlinear optical interactions significantly enhance the existing applications of PICs and open a whole range of new applications. One such example is optical communication networks where existing technology has reached its peak performance. The introduction of emerging technologies such as autonomous vehicles, 5G networks, and Smart Cities will strain these networks even more. This research program is a key component in bringing all-optical signal processing into modern optical communication networks to address such challenges. This goal will be achieved in part by developing integrated nonlinear photonic devices based on the group of III-V semiconductors. Once developed, this technology will revolutionize the industry of optical communications by breaking into the new levels of capacity of information transfer and storage. Further, photonic integration has countless other applications, whose impact we are currently unable to predict. Medical imaging and sample analysis, tamper-proof communications, and the development of new scientific equipment are only some areas that will be greatly advanced by photonic integration.