Photonic Integrated Devices for Telecom & IoT (PID)

Photonics is a transversal branch of technology devoted to generation, transmission and manipulation of photons. Manipulation here is a broad word, as it can include: modulation, signal processing, amplification, switching or sensing by photons. This has many advantages. First, optical signals travel at the speed of light, enabling the fastest communication systems leading towards terahetz and beyond applications. On the other hand, photonics technology provides the fastest and lowest energy consumption solution for future computing. It has been proposed as the solution for reducing the enormous energy required by Data Centers as those from Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google. As a specific example IBM is actively developing photonic chips and MIT has for the 1^st time demonstrated a computer by microprocessor having photonics I/O, allowing remote work between CPU and memory. [2]


Fig.: Angled view of a portion of an IBM© chip showing blue optical waveguides transmitting high-speed, optical signals and yellow copper wires carrying high-speed electrical signals.(Figure and caption from IBM©)	Fig: Optical memory system using two EOS22 chips where one chip is in processor mode and the other in memory mode.(Figure and caption from MIT©)

On the other hand, photonics integrated devices are providing numerous applications in telecommunications and Internet of Things. A first relevant example can be integrated Lidar, as a key element for future autonomous vehicles. AS a good example the difference resolution that a Lidar and a Radar can provide

Figure 5: Silicon photonic two-dimensional optical phased array.

(A) Schematic illustration of a two-dimensional emitter array. (Figure and caption from Macmillan Publishers Ltd.© Nature [19])

Fig. Top: High-resolution radar vs. LiDAR. Source: NXP©

A scanning-electron microscope picture

of the array is shown in (B) and a close-up of the grating emitter is shown in (C).(Figure and caption from Macmillan Publishers Ltd.© Nature [19])

Besides, photonic devices have shown themselves as essential tools in breakthrough applications, like metamaterials for invisible cloaks or tracking biomarkers for cancer detection.

Finally the U.S. silicon photonics by product, 2014 - 2025 (USD Million) is expected to grow at a phenomenal rate of 139.6% from 2017 to 2022 [https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/photonic-integrated-circuit.asp ]

And it will be not only for telecommunications, but also for many other applications [https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/silicon-photonics-market ]:

[1]; Sun, C., Wade, M. T., Lee, Y., Orcutt, J. S., Alloatti, L., Georgas, M. S., ... & Moss, B. R. (2015). Single-chip microprocessor that communicates directly using light. Nature, 528(7583), 534.