Lecture: Integrated Photonics on Silicon & Silicon-Nitride-on-Silicon Platforms

Who: Prof. Joyce Poon, University of Toronto, Dept. of Electrical Engineering
When: Thursday October 9th, 4:00 pm
Where: Eng. Sciences Building (ESB), Room 2001

SiN Grating Coupler

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Vertically-Coupled Waveguides

Polarization-Rotator-Splitter with
Vertical Waveguide Couplers

Abstract: The surging progress in silicon photonics over the past decade has been driven by its potential application in low cost, high bandwidth, wavelength-division multiplexed short reach optical interconnect. Despite significant advances, numerous technical challenges remain, such as the control of resonant devices, the implementation of large swing optical modulators, the management of polarization, the need for improved variation tolerance, an effective means for efficient and broadband fiber-to-chip optical coupling, and approaches to electronic-photonic integration.

In this talk, I will provide an overview of my group’s progress in addressing these issues in silicon-based photonic platforms. Photonic devices and integrated circuits implemented in standard silicon-on-insulator photonic platforms and a custom silicon nitride-on-silicon platform will be presented. I will describe microring modulators and filters that circumvent conventional limits, the first polarization rotator-splitters and controllers in standard silicon photonic platforms, grating couplers with record-setting bandwidths and insertion losses, and our ongoing efforts in electronic integration. The work paves the path toward very large- scale photonic integrated circuits and terabit-scale optical transceivers.

Bio: Joyce Poon is an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of Toronto, where she holds the Canada Research Chair in Integrated Photonic Devices. She is currently a Visiting Associate in Electrical Engineering at Caltech. She and her team conduct theoretical and experimental research in micro- and nano-scale integrated photonics

Dr. Poon obtained her Ph.D. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Caltech in 2007 and 2003 respectively, and the B.A.Sc. in Engineering Science (physics option) from the University of Toronto in 2002. She is the recipient of a McCharles Prize for Early Research Career Distinction, a MIT TR35 award in 2012, IBM Faculty Award in 2010 and 2011, Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation Early Researcher Award in 2009, NSERC University Faculty Award in 2008, and the Clauser Doctoral Thesis Prize from Caltech in 2007.

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