Coherent light sources in silicon photonics are the long-sought holy grail because silicon-based materials have indirect bandgap. Traditional strategies for realizing such sources, e.g., heterogeneous photonic integration, strain engineering and nonlinear process, are technologically demanding. Here, we demonstrate a hybrid lasing device composing of perovskite nanocrystals and silicon nitride nanobeam cavity. We fabricate SiN photonic crystal naonobeam cavities on a solid substrate with significantly improved thermal and mechanical stabilities compared to conventional suspended ones. In addition, adding a PMMA-encapsulation layer on top of the SiN can significantly boost the Q-factor of the cavity mode. By dispersing perovskite nanocrystals as emitters in the PMMA layer, we obtained high-performance coherent emissions in terms of lasing threshold, linewidth and mode volumes. Our work offers a compelling way of creating solution-processed active integrated photonic devices based on the mature platform of silicon photonics for applications in optical information science and photonic quantum technology.
Silicon quantum photonics provides a promising pathway to realize large-scale quantum photonic integrated circuits (QPICs) by exploiting the power of complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. Toward scalable operation of such silicon-based QPICs, a straightforward approach is to integrate deterministic single-photon sources (SPSs). To this end, hybrid integration of deterministic solid-state SPSs, such as those based on InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs), is highly promising. However, the spectral and spatial randomness inherent in the QDs pose a serious challenge for scalable imple…
Quantum photonic integrated circuit (QPIC) is a promising tool for constructing integrated devices for quantum technology applications. In the optical regime, silicon photonics empowered by complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology provides optical components useful for realizing large-scale QPICs. Optical nonlinearity at the single-photon level is required for QPIC to facilitate photon-photon interaction. However, to date, realization of optical elements with deterministic( i.e., not probabilistic) single-photon nonlinearity by using silicon-based components is challenging, de…
Thin film 4H-silicon carbide (4H-SiC) is emerging as a contender for realizing large-scale optical quantum circuits due to its high CMOS technology compatibility and large optical nonlinearities. Though, challenges remain in producing wafer-scale 4H-SiC thin film on insulator (4H-SiCOI) for dense integration of photonic circuits, and in efficient coupling of deterministic quantum emitters that are essential for scalable quantum photonics. Here we demonstrate hybrid integration of self-assembled InGaAs quantum dots (QDs) based single-photon sources (SPSs) with wafer-scale 4H-SiC photonic chips …
Recent advances in photonic integrated circuits (PICs) have enabled a new generation of "programmable many-mode interferometers" (PMMIs) realized by cascaded Mach Zehnder Interferometers (MZIs) capable of universal linear-optical transformations on N input-output optical modes. PMMIs serve critical functions in photonic quantum information processing, quantum-enhanced sensor networks, machine learning and other applications. However, PMMI implementations reported to date rely on thermo-optic phase shifters, which limit applications due to slow response times and high power consumption. Here, w…
As photonics breaks away from today's device level toward large scale of integration and complex systems-on-a-chip, concepts like monitoring, control and stabilization of photonic integrated circuits emerge as new paradigms. Here, we show non-invasive monitoring and feedback control of high quality factor silicon photonics resonators assisted by a transparent light detector directly integrated inside the cavity. Control operations are entirely managed by a CMOS microelectronic circuit, hosting many parallel electronic read-out channels, that is bridged to the silicon photonics chip. Advanced f…
Photonic systems based on microring resonators have a fundamental constrain given by the strict relationship among free spectral range (FSR), total quality factor (QT) and resonator size, intrinsically making filter spacing, photonic lifetime and footprint interdependent. Here we break this paradigm employing CMOS compatible Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) photonic molecules based on coupled multiple ring resonators. The resonance wavelengths and their respective linewidths are controlled by the hybridization of the quasi-orthogonal photonic states. We demonstrate photonic molecules with doublet an…
Optical interconnects are becoming attractive alternatives to electrical wiring in intra- and inter-chip communication links. Particularly, the integration with silicon complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology has received considerable interest due to the ability of cost-effective integration of electronics and optics on a single chip. While silicon enables the realization of optical waveguides and passive components, the integration of another, optically absorbing, material is required for photodetection. Germanium or compound semiconductors are traditionally used for this pu…
We report enhanced nonlinear optics in complementary metal oxide semiconductor compatible photonic platforms through the use of layered two dimensional (2D) graphene oxide (GO) films. We integrate GO films with silicon on insulator nanowires (SOI), high index doped silica glass (Hydex) and silicon nitride (SiN) waveguides and ring resonators, to demonstrate an enhanced optical nonlinearity including Kerr nonlinearity and four wave mixing (FWM). The GO films are integrated using a large area, transfer free, layer by layer method while the film placement and size are controlled by photolithograp…
Silicon p-n junction diodes emit low-intensity, broad-spectrum light near 1120 nm in forward bias and between 400-900 nm in reverse bias (avalanche). For the first time, we experimentally achieve optical absorption sensing of pigment in solution with silicon micro LEDs designed in a standard silicon-on-insulator CMOS technology. By driving a single LED in both forward and avalanche modes of operation, we steer its electroluminescent spectrum between visible and near-infrared (NIR). We then characterize the vertical optical transmission of both visible and NIR light from the LED through the sam…
Materials with optical gain in the infrared are of paramount importance for optical communications, medical diagnostics and silicon photonics. The current technology is based either on costly III-V semiconductors that are not monolithic to silicon CMOS technology or Er-doped fiber technology that does not make use of the full fiber transparency window. Colloidal quantum dots (CQD) offer a unique opportunity as an optical gain medium in view of their tunable bandgap, solution processability and CMOS compatibility. The 8-fold degeneracy of infrared CQDs based on Pb-chalcogenides has hindered the…
Chip-scale, high-energy optical pulse generation is becoming increasingly important as we expand activities into hard to reach areas such as space and deep ocean. Q-switching of the laser cavity is the best known technique for generating high-energy pulses, and typically such systems are in the realm of large bench-top solid-state lasers and fiber lasers, especially in the long wavelength range >1.8 um, thanks to their large energy storage capacity. However, in integrated photonics, the very property of tight mode confinement, that enables a small form factor, becomes an impediment to high ene…
Automatic reconfiguration of optical filters is the key to novel flexible RF photonic receivers and Software Defined Radios (SDRs). Although silicon photonics (SiP) is a promising technology platform to realize such receivers, process variations and lack of in-situ tuning capability limits the adoption of SiP filters in widely-tunable RF photonic receivers. To address this issue, this work presents a first `in-situ' automatic reconfiguration algorithm and demonstrates a software configurable integrated optical filter that can be reconfigured on-the-fly based on user specifications. The present…
The emerging field of silicon photonics seeks to unify the high bandwidth of optical communications with CMOS microelectronic circuits. Many components have been demonstrated for on-chip optical communications, including those that utilize the nonlinear optical properties of silicon[1, 2], silicon dioxide[3, 4] and silicon nitride[5, 6]. Processes such as second harmonic generation, which are enabled by the second-order susceptibility, have not been developed since the bulk $χ^{(2)}$ vanishes in these centrosymmetric CMOS materials. Generating the lowest-order nonlinearity would open the windo…
Recently, the authors have demonstrated large-scale integrated systems with several million transistors and hundreds of photonic elements. Yielding such large-scale integrated systems requires a design-for-manufacture rigour that is embodied in the 10 000 to 50 000 design rules that these designs must comply within advanced complementary metal-oxide semiconductor manufacturing. Here, the authors present a photonic design automation tool which allows automatic generation of layouts without design-rule violations. This tool is written in SKILL, the native language of the mainstream electric desi…
Photonic crystals use periodic structures to create forbidden frequency regions for optical wave propagation, that allow for the creation and integration of complex optical functions in small footprint devices. Such strategy has also been successfully applied to confine mechanical waves and to explore their interaction with light in the so-called optomechanical cavities. Because of their challenging design, these cavities are traditionally fabricated using dedicated high-resolution electron-beam lithography tools that are inherently slow, limiting this solution to small-scale applications or r…
Photonic crystal (PhC) nanocavities have demonstrated unique capabilities in terms of light confinement and manipulation. As such, they are becoming attractive for the design of novel resonance-based photonic integrated circuits (PICs). Here two essential challenges arise however - how to realize ultrahigh-Q PhC cavities using standard fabrication processes compatible with large volume fabrication, and how to efficiently integrate them with other standard building blocks, available in exiting PIC platforms. In this work, we demonstrate ultrahigh-Q 1D PhC nanocavities fabricated on a 300 mm SOI…
A CMOS-compatible plasmonic TE-pass polarizer capable of working in the O, E, S, C, L, and U bands is numerically analyzed. The device is based on an integrated hybrid plasmonic waveguide (HPW) with a segmented metal design. The segmented metal will avoid the propagation of the TM mode, confined in the slot of the HPW, while the TE fundamental mode will pass. The TE mode is not affected by the metal segmentation since it is confined in the core of the HPW. The concept of the segmented metal can be exploited in a plasmonic circuit with HPWs as the connecting waveguides between parts of the circ…
