High-speed programmable photonic circuits in a cryogenically compatible, visible–near-infrared 200 mm CMOS architecture
Abstract
Recent advances in photonic integrated circuits have enabled a new generation of programmable Mach–Zehnder meshes (MZMs) realized by using cascaded Mach–Zehnder interferometers capable of universal linear-optical transformations on N input/output optical modes. MZMs serve critical functions in photonic quantum information processing, quantum-enhanced sensor networks, machine learning and other applications. However, MZM implementations reported to date rely on thermo-optic phase shifters, which limit applications due to slow response times and high power consumption. Here we introduce a large-scale MZM platform made in a 200 mm complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor foundry, which uses aluminium nitride piezo-optomechanical actuators coupled to silicon nitride waveguides, enabling low-loss propagation with phase modulation at greater than 100 MHz in the visible–near-infrared wavelengths. Moreover, the vanishingly low hold-power consumption of the piezo-actuators enables these photonic integrated circuits to operate at cryogenic temperatures, paving the way for a fully integrated device architecture for a range of quantum applications.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Dec 13, 2021
- Source ID
- 10.1038/s41566-021-00903-x
Entities
People
- Adrian J. Menssen
- Andrew J. Leenheer
- Daniel Domínguez
- David Heim
- Dirk Englund
- Genevieve Clark
- Gerald Gilbert
- Mark Dong
- Matt Eichenfield
- Matthew Zimmermann
Organizations
- Brookhaven National Laboratory
- National Science Foundation
- Office of Science
- United States Department of Defense