Silicon photonics is a rapidly developing technology which uses light (photons) rather than electricity (electrons) for information flow around a ‘circuit’. (Actually, according to one view, photons only exist where light is generated or detected, while the propagation of light is described in terms of waves that obey Maxwell’s equations.) A large part of modern consumer (opto-)electronics uses silicon - in the scanning electronics for displays in laptop computers, televisions and mobile phones and in the sensitive detectors required in imaging devices for visible light, e.g. in the now universally digital camera.
Another version of the standard silicon wafer, known as silicon-on-insulator (SOI), provides thin sheets of high quality optical waveguide for light at wavelengths in the near infra-red, supported on ‘handle’ wafers of silicon. Using the state-of-the-art fabrication technology that has become available largely through the silicon IC industry , SOI can be transformed into a variety of photonics structures that may for instance be called photonic crystals, photonic wires or Bragg-gratings. The key issues for the possible application of silicon photonics in high-performance computing include device footprint, latency, power consumption and power dissipation.
This seminar will attempt to give an idea of what integrated silicon photonics is about - and what it may provide in a more fully integrated photonic/electronic future.