TP-6: InP-based Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) or Chips

Lead

Kevin Williams - TU/e

Technology description

Technology Platform 6 “InP-based Photonic Integrated Circuits” supports researchers with design, fabrication, measurement, packaging and application of InP PICs. Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) fabricated in the semiconductor material InP integrate photonic systems or subsystems consisting of a number of building blocks on a single chip.

InP foundries support a large number of building blocks like :

  • single or multi-wavelength lasers,
  • tuneable lasers,
  • pulsed lasers, modulators,
  • detectors,
  • optical amplifiers
  • and a variety of passive optical components, including
  • MMI-couplers,
  • AWG (de)multiplexers,
  • spot-size converters,
  • and polarisation converters.

Technology platform 6 supports researchers with access to the PIC foundry platforms of SMARTPhotonics (SPH) and the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz-Institute (HHI), including PIC design, use of simulation and design software, measurement, packaging and testing, including testing of PIC-based systems and sub-systems for a variety of applications. Further it offers support with the use of cleanroom facilities and processes for development of advanced PICs, e.g. for nanophotonics.

Application domains

The technologies and expertise available in the platform support development of PICs and PIC-based systems or sub-systems for a broad range of applications.

PICs can be used in many fields:

  • telecommunication (e.g. WDM transmitters and receivers, FTTH transceivers),
  • data communication (e.g. various transceivers, switching matrices),
  • wireless applications (e.g. chips for beam-steering),
  • microwave photonics (e.g. chips for THz generation),
  • sensor applications (e.g. read-out units for Fibre Bragg Grating sensors),
  • medical applications (e.g. PICs for Optical Coherence Tomography or position sensing),
  • automotive (LIDAR),
  • and metrology (e.g. chips for measuring displacements or deformations with sub nm accuracy).

Partners involved in this Technology Platform