Multi-dimensional data transmission using inverse-designed silicon photonics and microcombs

Abstract

The use of optical interconnects has burgeoned as a promising technology that can address the limits of data transfer for future high-performance silicon chips. Recent pushes to enhance optical communication have focused on developing wavelength-division multiplexing technology, and new dimensions of data transfer will be paramount to fulfill the ever-growing need for speed. Here we demonstrate an integrated multi-dimensional communication scheme that combines wavelength- and mode- multiplexing on a silicon photonic circuit. Using foundry-compatible photonic inverse design and spectrally flattened microcombs, we demonstrate a 1.12-Tb/s natively error-free data transmission throughout a silicon nanophotonic waveguide. Furthermore, we implement inverse-designed surface-normal couplers to enable multimode optical transmission between separate silicon chips throughout a multimode-matched fibre. All the inverse-designed devices comply with the process design rules for standard silicon photonic foundries. Our approach is inherently scalable to a multiplicative enhancement over the state of the art silicon photonic transmitters.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Dec 21, 2022
Source ID
10.1038/s41467-022-35446-4

Entities

People

  • Alan E. Willner
  • Alexander White
  • Andy Netherton
  • Chinmay Shirpurkar
  • Dan M. Marom
  • Daniil M. Lukin
  • David A. B. Miller
  • David R Carlson
  • Dries Vercruysse
  • Farshid Ashtiani
  • Firooz Aflatouni
  • Geun Ho Ahn
  • Han Hao
  • Hao Song
  • Huibin Zhou
  • Hyounghan Kwon
  • Jean-philippe W. Maclean
  • Jeffery S. Stone
  • Jelena Vučković
  • Jesse Lu
  • Jinhie Skarda
  • Jizhao Zang
  • John E. Bowers
  • Jordan R. Stone
  • Joshua Yang
  • Kai Pang
  • Kaiheng Zou
  • Kasper Van Gasse
  • Ki Youl Yang
  • Lawrence Trask
  • Lin Chang
  • Lior Rechtman
  • Logan Su
  • Melissa A. Guidry
  • Ming-Jun Li
  • Mingxiao Li
  • Peter J. Delfyett
  • Scott B. Papp
  • Shahriar Aghaeimeibodi
  • Srinivas Varma Pericherla
  • Su-Peng Yu
  • Travis C. Briles
  • Yan Jin

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • Office of Naval Research
  • United States Department of Defense

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Distributed Systems and Data Platform Development
  • Integrated Circuit Design and Technology.
  • Optical Physics and Photonics.