Lightwave Logic Inc (LWLG)

[tkg]

A bit of background on the ECOC award category: Hybrid PIC/Optical Integration Platform

The Integration of Materials in Photonic Chips
By IVAN NIKITSKIY April 2023

From the perspective of conventional semiconductor manufacturers, there are several challenges to the integration of photonic components on a chip. But perhaps the biggest challenge for photonic integrated circuits (photonic chips, or PICs) is that the demand faces an almost exponential growth in several market verticals, such as in fiber optics for data communications and telecommunications.

Hybrid integration takes a different approach. Rather than coupling a silicon or SiN wafer to a laser, this approach combines the whole PIC in a III-V material platform, including a laser, an array of lasers, or an array of lasers with modulators.

Hybrid integration appears to be the approach to which many companies are dedicating resources in the near term. Meanwhile, apart from the three major PIC material platforms of SiPh, SiN, and InP, several novel PIC platforms open even more possibilities for the hybrid integration approach.....

Electro-optic polymers enable 2- to 3× faster optical modulators than conventional material platforms. The polymer is used in liquid form, allowing it to boost the performance of solid-state semiconductors. Because the material is also organic, it can be easily implemented into silicon foundry processes for high-volume manufacturing.

Electro-optic polymers can enable higher-speed optical modulators that operate below one volt of bias to be directly driven by on-chip electronics, avoiding the added expense of external drivers. The use of these materials reduces power consumption by lowering the voltage drive, and it allows electronic digital signal processing chips to be more power-efficient. Lightwave Logic in Englewood, Colo., is developing an electro-optic polymer platform for modulators that have already demonstrated over 100 GHz and 3 dB electrical-optical bandwidths.

https://www.photonics.com/Articles/The_Integration_of_Materials_in_Photonic_Chips/a68803