OP: Collaborative Research: Coherent Integrated Si-Photonic Links

Trustees Of Boston University, Boston

Investigators

Abstract

Our society is on the cusp of a new revolution in integrated circuit technology and manufacturing. The new technology will successfully combine electronic and photonic systems creating previously unimagined functionality and performance. Such sophisticated electronic-photonic systems-on-chip with highly-efficient use of area, energy and spectral resources are critically needed in many communication scenarios. For example, current data-centers and high-performance supercomputers are both power-constrained. High-bandwidth density and high-energy efficiency photonic interconnects would allow the connectivity down to the processor chip level increasing the power-efficiency and utilization of the whole data-center, significantly impacting the national energy consumption in the next decade. However, the lack of large-scale integration approach, design methodology and unified cross-layer design has prevented the realization of these systems. The impact of the electronic-photonic designs and system design methodology proposed in this project spans not only communication systems, but also a variety of other sophisticated electronic-photonic systems (e.g. detection, sensing, and instrumentation). The multi-disciplinary work will educate a unique crop of engineers and scientists that cross the boundaries of electronic and photonic systems. The objective of the research project is to utilize recently developed large-scale electronic-photonic integration approaches to design short-reach coherent-modulation photonic links that significantly improve the area, energy and spectral-efficiency. The proposed electronic-photonic circuit topologies for coherent high-order modulation transmitters and receivers leverage the advantages of each domain and correct for the non-idealities in the other. Starting from the modeling and simulation infrastructure, the proposed research comprises a unique simulation and modeling framework in Verilog-A, which allows for true co-simulation of photonic and electronic circuits, under large signal, non-linear, time-varying conditions. This capability gives vital insights into the interaction of electronic and photonic circuits. It is essential for the use of the resonant components as the second key ingredient in designing efficient electronic-photonic communication systems. Although energy and area efficient, the resonant components require sophisticated wavelength stabilization loops and electronic drive to compensate for their transfer-function characteristics, which are enabled by the co-simulation methodology and abundance of high-performance transistors in the proposed integration approaches.