About the project
In this project you will study and aim to develop reliable and efficient programmable photonic integrated circuits (PICs) on a silicon photonics platform.
Photonic integrated circuits (PICs) based on silicon have recently become an established and powerful technology that supports many applications such as optical communications, chemical and biological sensors, and LiDAR systems. Programmable photonic circuits have attracted a lot of research interest recently as a means of further extending the functionality and feasibility of PICs. A programmable photonic circuit can be readily fabricated and then programmed to perform multiple photonic processing functions by using the same hardware programmed into different configurations. This approach has the benefit of providing greater flexibility and is more cost-effective mass fabrication of photonic products as compared to application-specific PICs.
As a researcher on this project you will:
- explore new technologies and architectures for building programmable photonic integrated circuits
- design, fabricate and test configurable silicon photonics waveguides and switches
- study directional couplers and Mach-Zehnder Interferometers as basic building blocks, in order to form more complex programmable photonic integrated circuits
- study and evaluate network architecture designs such as binary trees, rectangular architectures, and square or hexagonal loops
You will join the world-leading Zepler Institute for Photonics and Nanoelectronics, and one of the world’s pioneering silicon photonics research groups with over 50 postgraduate students and researchers. The group possesses world-leading research facilities and experimental laboratories.
These include:
- a full silicon fabrication suite for 200mm wafer-scale fabrication of silicon photonics circuits, including a DUV scanner, automated and bench measurements setups for wafer-scale testing
- full modelling and design capabilities for both electronic and photonic circuits, including bespoke and commercial software suites
The work will be carried out in a collaborative manner within an experienced and committed team, including collaboration visits to both UK and international academic and industrial partners.
