Photon Integrated Circuit (PIC)

The production technology of FIS is similar to the technology used by production of normal integrated circuits — for a marking of a substrate the photolithography is used. Components which can be present at FIS include the waveguide interconnections, power dividers, fiber amplifiers, optical modulators, filters, lasers and detectors. Today optical integrated circuits have the broadest application. The key field of their use for which NeoPhotonics releases the equipment are communication fiber lines.

Use of FIS allows to make more compact and high-performance optical systems (in comparison with systems on the basis of discrete optical parts) and also gives an opportunity to their integration into electronic circuits for miniaturization of the multifunction optical-electronic systems and devices.

One of basic devices on the basis of FIS is the optical splitter (splitter) — the passive device separating the energy flow transferred on optical fiber. This device is passive as for separation of optical power power supply is not required.

Using optical splitters an opportunity to transmit a signal to several subscribers on one fiber that allowed to lower construction costs of fiber lines of transfer (fiber-optic communication line) opened. This opportunity gave an impetus to development of passive optical networks (PON).

Sshchestvut two main manufacturing techniques of dividers optical a signal and respectively two types of optical dividers: planar optical dividers (English term Planar Lightwave Circuit splitter, PLC splitter) Floatable optical dividers (English term Fused Biconic Taper splitter, FBT splitter).

Planar splitters are made by method of chemical deposition of optical material on a quartz surface in several layers with etching at one of a stage through a mask of the planar light guide of a required configuration and optical density. The planar light guide is between plates of optical material and plays a core role — on it optical power is transferred. The crystal or a chip consisting of the quartz plate and optical materials providing uniform separation of optical power is actually created and the Y-shaped optical splitter is created.

Photon IT

Several attempts to create the photon (optical) computer are known. In 1990 the model of such computer was shown by Bell Labs company which finished it by 1991 and provided under the name DOC-II.

In 2003 the Lenslet company provided the optical EnLight256 DSP processor which core was created on optical technology, however management was electronic.

In 2008 the IBM company showed an optical multiplexer on the chip which basis the silicon reflecting resonators formed. In 2009 in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology learned to create wave guides directly on silicon chips.

2019: Russians found a cheap method to create microlasers for photon computers

The effective, fast and cheap method is found to create perovskitny microlasers — sources of strong luminous radiation for optical microchips which then will be used in computers of the next generation. On March 13, 2019 reported about it to TAdviser in Far Eastern Federal University. The technology was developed by scientific DVFU together with the Russian colleagues from ITMO, scientists of the University of Texas of Dallas and the Australian national university. Article about it appeared in the scientific magazine ACS Nano (an impakt-factor 13).

Using ultrashort laser impulses, scientists printed optical microdisk lasers in thin perovskitny films on a glass substrate. The received perovskitny lasers can be used in computers of the future and more widely — to ensure functioning of photon schemes in devices of superfast information processing, claim in DVFU.

Scientists printed perovskitny microlasers, using ultrashort laser impulses

We used femtosekundny laser impulses with a special intensity profile in the form of a bagel. Direct impact of a series of such low-power impulses on a thin film of a haloid perovskite allows to create disks with a diameter up to 2 microns with accurate edges and the minimum thermal impact on perovskitny material that is important for the subsequent stable operation of the received laser. The original technology of a laser printing developed by us allows quickly, low-cost and with high extent of control to make microdisks of different diameters practically in the pipeline mode, the research associate of the NTI DVFU center for virtual and augmented reality Alexey Zhizhchenko told.

As the scientist emphasized, optimization of geometry of the microdisks made by method of a laser printing allowed to receive for the first time the perovskitny microlaser which is steadily working in single mode operation of generation i.e. on one wavelength. It, according to Alexey Zhizhchenko's statement, does them perspective for creation of photon and optoelectronic nanodevices, microsensors, etc.

In general, according to representatives of DVFU, perovskitny microlasers "show impressive performance, work at the room temperature and are cheap in production". However before their production was a certain call. The problem consisted in lack of effective and low-cost production methods. For example, chemical synthesis does not guarantee obtaining structures of the identical size with controlled characteristics. Control is reached using the templates made by expensive methods of nanolithography, scientists explained. Besides, parameters of the perovskitny microlasers shown earlier did not allow to achieve their single mode operation of work. The original method of a laser printing of perovskitny disks developed by scientists of DVFU and ITMO in partnership with foreign colleagues lifts this limit. According to specialists, it allows to create easily stable laser sources of light with the set, controlled parameters. By their estimates, the technique can be implemented in production already in the near future.

Achievements of staff of the NTI DVFU center for virtual and augmented reality turned out to be consequence of implementation of the priority Materials project. We managed to gather an active international team of world-class specialists which considerable part — young scientists up to 30 years — the vice rector of DVFU for scientific work Kirill Golokhvast said. — Carrying out laser researches of such level became possible thanks to the set femtosekundny laser lithographer and also close cooperation of groups of physicists of DVFU and ITMO.

2016

Scientists could transmit information through one photon

Scientists of Princeton University developed the device allowing one electron to transfer quantum information to a photon. The research was published at the end of 2016 in the Science magazine and can become this break in the field of quantum computer technologies^[1].

"Now we have an opportunity to directly transfer a quantum status to a photon. Earlier it could not be made using semiconductor devices as the quantum status was lost before managed to transfer information", - the scientist of Princeton University Xiao Mi explained.

The device created by scientists is result of five years of researches and is the semiconductor chip consisting of silicon and silicon-germanium layers over which nanowires are located. These wires are thinner than a human hair and are necessary for delivery to the electric power chip. With its help scientists could take an electron between silicon layers in the microstructures known as quantum points (fragments of the conductor or the semiconductor which charge carriers are limited in space on all three dimensions).

In this case a role of the most fine particle of information (bit) is played by an electron. As a rule, the bit has one or the other values – 1 or 0. However in quantum computings the most fine particles of information (qubits) can have at the same time two values. An opportunity to manipulate qubits significantly accelerates calculations as the machine can solve not one, and at the same time several tasks.

As the intermediary between electrons scientists chose a photon as it is steadier against external influence and can transfer information between quantum chips, and not just in chips of one quantum chip.

Russians made possible creation of the photon computer

The Russian scientists simulated an optical system which allows to transmit a signal almost without loss that was still impossible in so-called plazmonny and nanooptical devices. In the created model small gain offsets signal losses in wave guides. Opening promises to make a revolution in the IT industry^[2].

The research was conducted by the staff of Institute of theoretical and applied electrodynamics of RAS, the All-Russian scientific research institute of automatic equipment of N.L. Dukhov and the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT). Results of a research were published in the Scientific Reports magazine.

System of wave guides

During the research scientists made a number of experiments with optical wave guides which are applied in fiber optic communication lines. In spite of the fact that the technology is already used for ensuring Internet connection, its application at the microelectronic level is limited because of a signal loss problem.

The schematic image of a system of two wave guides with periodically changing distance between them (the Source: MIPT)

Scientists designed a system from two wave guides and began to influence its parameters, checking as it influences a signal. One wave guide had the absorbing environment, the second — strengthening. Change of electromagnetic wave which increases is characteristic of such system, decreases. It is caused by the fact that the wave which extends in one wave guide interacts at the same time with the second.

As a result the field flows from one wave guide in another, and the speed of its overflowing of subjects is more, than closer there are wave guides. If the maximum of a field is in the strengthening wave guide, the wave becomes more intensively if in absorbing — it falls down.

Influence on a system

During the experiment scientists periodically changed distance between wave guides that influenced overflowing of a field between them. Their task was to pick up such scheme of change of distance at which amplitude of an electromagnetic field will increase in both wave guides even then when losses in the first wave guide exceed gain in the second.

Dependence of signal strength (solid line) and field amplitudes (shaped lines) in the first and in the second wave guides depending on coordinate along them (the Source: MIPT)

As a result researchers managed to change at the peak of intensity of a system distance between wave guides so that the field concentrated in a wave guide with gain medium. Signal multiplication turned out to be consequence of it. Theoretically, due to change of distance between wave guides it is possible to increase power indefinitely.

Scientists came to a conclusion that settings of wave guides should be configured on a point of coincidence of spendthrifts of waves, and then almost any change of parameters will cause the necessary redistribution of a field. The described scheme will also help with fight against the nonlinear effects suppressing growth of signal amplitude.

Using this method it is possible to achieve a fixed steady signal in photon schemes that will make photon computers a reality. Signal transmission using photons happens much quicker, than using electrons as the speed of photons is equal to light speed.

See Also

• Rusnano Neophotonics
• Quantum computer and quantum communication
• Quantum cryptography (enciphering)
• Russian Quantum Center (payment processing center, Russian Quantum Center, RQC)
• Supercomputer

Notes