HetPIL

visited this project

6 months ago

Highly coherent – that is narrow linewidth - laser sources are at the heart of numerous applications: ranging from terabit per second coherent communication, LiDAR for autonomous driving or driver assistance, to fibre sensing or optical atomic clocks. Yet, in contrast to MEMS sensors, or electronics circuits, the manufacturing of narrow linewidth lasers is not suitable for high volume. In recent years, triggered by new applications in particular in FMCW LiDAR, the demand for integrated lasers that combine the coherence of a narrow linewidth fibre laser with high-frequency agility and fast tuning, and can be manufactured wafer-scale in large volume at low cost has become a technological bottleneck. Here we overcome these challenges and will demonstrate a mass-manufacturable, compact, wafer-scale n laser with precise laser tuning. The ambition of the program is threefold. We will develop ultra-low power consumption and very broadband piezo-electric tunable photonic circuits and endow tunable photonic circuits with active photon generation ability by InP gain-coupn transfer printing. This will allow us to validate frequency-agile tunable laser technology for applicaltions in communication and sensing. The realization of this ambition will generate a novel paradigm for photonic circuits and laser systems that combine piezoelectric tunability with photonic gain on the same chip minimizing both power consumption and resource investment for such systems. Ultra-stable, fast and linearly tunable HetPIL lasers are key enabling technology for reconfigurable, ultra-broadband wireless transmitters for future photonic sensing and wireless communications. The simplicity, flexibility and compactness of HetPIL devices place them in highly favorable position and help high-end photonic sensing systems to penetrate to the market. Audience: Telecom industry, photonic industry, scientific community, funding agencies, engineers