Silicon photonics

Silicon photonics is the study and application of <a href="/facts/Photonics/6UHcPXbq">photonic</a> systems which use <a href="/facts/Silicon/cgWx0hdr">silicon</a> as an <a href="/facts/Optical_medium/gm6LqshC">optical medium</a>. The silicon is usually patterned with <a href="/facts/Nanoscale/hyFgwMKM">sub-micrometre</a> precision, into <a href="/facts/Microphotonics/6r8JsulM">microphotonic</a> components. These operate in the <a href="/facts/Infrared/44XdJNcc">infrared</a>, most commonly at the 1.55 micrometre <a href="/facts/Wavelength/kcJU0ymz">wavelength</a> used by most <a href="/facts/Fiber_optic_telecommunication/dc6S0Hg5">fiber optic telecommunication</a> systems. The silicon typically lies on top of a layer of silica in what (by analogy with <a href="/facts/Silicon_on_insulator/fxSkXYmw">a similar construction</a> in <a href="/facts/Microelectronics/HzCusb86">microelectronics</a>) is known as silicon on insulator (SOI).

Silicon photonic devices can be made using existing <a href="/facts/Semiconductor_fabrication/Jd23Mu1z">semiconductor fabrication</a> techniques, and because silicon is already used as the substrate for most <a href="/facts/Integrated_circuit/fjn6vg7C">integrated circuits</a>, it is possible to create hybrid devices in which the <a href="/facts/Optics/p0vq4S1T">optical</a> and <a href="/facts/Electronics/E4JhgISq">electronic</a> components are integrated onto a single microchip. Consequently, silicon photonics is being actively researched by many electronics manufacturers including <a href="/facts/IBM/QszA7nwd">IBM</a> and <a href="/facts/Intel/SMF0gJJX">Intel</a>, as well as by academic research groups, as a means for keeping on track with <a href="/facts/Moore%2527s_Law/90CSekhl">Moore's Law</a>, by using <a href="/facts/Optical_interconnect/bNC9hTsn">optical interconnects</a> to provide faster <a href="/facts/Data_transfer/1yAhaANd">data transfer</a> both between and within <a href="/facts/Integrated_circuit/fjn6vg7C">microchips</a>.
The propagation of <a href="/facts/Light/jeofpMn4">light</a> through silicon devices is governed by a range of <a href="/facts/Nonlinear_optics/maerngXd">nonlinear optical</a> phenomena including the <a href="/facts/Kerr_effect/IoJN6wlW">Kerr effect</a>, the <a href="/facts/Raman_effect/obhSpgrR">Raman effect</a>, <a href="/facts/Two_photon_absorption/BaEbrAKj">two-photon absorption</a> and interactions between <a href="/facts/Photons/mFNhAEzA">photons</a> and <a href="/facts/Free_charge_carriers/wpjjql4x">free charge carriers</a>. The presence of nonlinearity is of fundamental importance, as it enables light to interact with light, thus permitting applications such as wavelength conversion and all-optical signal routing, in addition to the passive transmission of light.
Silicon <a href="/facts/Waveguide/tJS9Y0GH">waveguides</a> are also of great academic interest, due to their unique guiding properties, they can be used for communications, interconnects, biosensors, and they offer the possibility to support exotic nonlinear optical phenomena such as <a href="/facts/Soliton_(optics)/LPWgQ6AD">soliton propagation</a>.

Silicon photonics open-in-new

Silicon photonics