Lightwave Logic Inc (LWLG)

[Gamco]

New Photonic Chip Is the Full Package

For the first time, researchers place a photonic filter and modulator on a standard chip

LUCAS LAURSEN

25 DEC 2023

in the quest to achieve wide-band, high-resolution photonic radio sensitivity in a tiny package. Marpaung says that when someone reaches sub-10-MHz spectral resolution across a 100 gigahertz band, they will be able to replace bulkier electronic RF chips in the marketplace. Another advantage of such chips is that they would convert RF signals to optical signals for direct transmission through fiber optic networks. The winners of that race will be able to reach the huge market of telecoms providers and defense manufacturers who need radio receivers capable of reliably navigating complicated radio-frequency (RF) environments.

known about the Brillouin effect for more than 100 years, but has attracted renewed interest in recent decades. In the past, researchers have used it to store the information in an optical pulse before retransmitting it, a trick that dodges the need to convert light into electricity and back again.

Of course, the dream of an integrated photonic chip has many moving parts. The Sydney researchers write that modulators made by others are improving fast in ways that will help their technology, too. Other advances in related tech may favor some of the other groups working on an integrated photonic chip. “If you solve the integration problem and the performance problem and practicality you will get market uptake,” Marpaung says.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/photonic-chip