I-Corps: A Compact Silicon Chip for Laser Injection Locking and Optical Parametric Oscillation

I-Corps：用于激光注入锁定和光学参量振荡的紧凑型硅芯片

• 批准号: 2322982
• 负责人: Xiyuan Lu
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: University of Maryland, College Park
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-05-01 至 2024-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2322982&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Compact; Silicon; Chip; Laser

The broader impact potential of this I-Corp project is the development of a compact chip technology for generating coherent lasers from visible to infrared. The proposed technology is designed to turn an inexpensive, limited performance laser diode into a top-of-the-line diode with a broad color range. The resulting product may be an affordable alternative to high-end laser products and extend laser emission wavelengths to a wide range of interest. In addition, the chip technology based on silicon nitride photonics may be produced by wafer-scale CMOS-compatible fabrication and may support laser light generation from 350 nm to 4500 nm, which would help solve existing scalability challenges in a variety of application fields. The proposed technology may provide a universal and scalable silicon photonics solution for integrated lasers for a variety of applications including quantum science, biochemical sensing, autonomous driving and LiDAR, and augmented/virtual reality.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a compact chip-integrated laser for generating coherent laser sources that can produce light from visible to infrared. The goal is to combine laser injection locking and optical parametric oscillation (OPO) based on a photonic crystal ring (PhCR). The proposed technology takes advantages of two nanophotonics technologies: on-chip OPO and high-quality PhCR, to solve the challenge of integrating chip laser with ultra-broad spectral coverage from visible to infrared. Lasers with such a wide range have not been proposed or demonstrated previously by existing technologies. The proposed chips may be produced in large scale, hence low-cost, by wafer scale CMOS compatible fabrication. In addition, the proposed technology may be compatible with other existing laser technologies, providing a versatile platform to generate high quality laser sources and a wider wavelength range. Such a device may significantly improve the ability of existing microcavities to enhance the interaction between light and matter and improve integrated commercial and research activities, particularly for integrated quantum science.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该 I-Corp 项目的更广泛影响潜力是开发紧凑型芯片技术，用于产生从可见光到红外的相干激光。所提出的技术旨在将廉价、性能有限的激光二极管转变为具有广泛颜色范围的顶级二极管。由此产生的产品可能是高端激光产品的经济替代品，并将激光发射波长扩展到广泛的兴趣范围。此外，基于氮化硅光子学的芯片技术可以通过晶圆级CMOS兼容制造来生产，并可以支持350 nm至4500 nm的激光产生，这将有助于解决各种应用领域中现有的可扩展性挑战。 所提出的技术可以为集成激光器提供通用且可扩展的硅光子解决方案，用于各种应用，包括量子科学、生化传感、自动驾驶和激光雷达以及增强/虚拟现实。该I-Corps项目基于开发紧凑型芯片集成激光器，用于产生相干激光源，可产生可见光到红外光。 目标是将激光注入锁定和基于光子晶体环（PhCR）的光学参量振荡（OPO）结合起来。 所提出的技术利用了两种纳米光子技术：片上OPO和高质量PhCR，解决了将芯片激光器与从可见光到红外的超宽光谱覆盖集成的挑战。现有技术此前尚未提出或演示过具有如此宽范围的激光器。 所提出的芯片可以通过晶圆级CMOS兼容制造大规模生产，因此成本低廉。此外，所提出的技术可以与其他现有激光技术兼容，提供通用平台来生成高质量激光源和更宽的波长范围。这种设备可以显着提高现有微腔的能力，增强光与物质之间的相互作用，并改善综合商业和研究活动，特别是综合量子科学。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。