Latest Past Events
Photonic Integrated Circuit Fabrication and Development at MIT Lincoln Laboratory
MIT Lincoln Lab - Wood St 244 Wood Street, LexingtonMr. Dan Pulver MIT Lincoln Laboratory Dr. Dave Kharas MIT Lincoln LaboratoryMIT Lincoln Laboratory Microelectronics Laboratory: MIT Lincoln Laboratory operates the US Government’s most capable 200mm wafer fabrication prototyping facility, with unique capabilities to develop and deliver complex integrated circuits in a wide range of technologies including digital silicon with extreme environment variants, superconducting digital and quantum, integrated photonics across wavelengths from near UV to IR, image sensing in visible and near IR, and micromechanical systems. Our investment in process capabilities feature projection lithography platforms at 193nm, 248nm, and 365nm exposure wavelengths along with maskless laser and electron beam lithography systems. We mix and match lithography platforms on jobs to combine fine features along with thick films for design flexibility, and we can stitch our large projection fields within and across platforms to provide very large format devices. We detect and manage defects at the unit process levels and have patterned defect detection from high speed automated optical inspection. This allows us to yield complex integrated circuit prototypes for national security applications that no other US non-commercial facility can. Integrated Photonics Platforms for Classical and Quantum Applications: Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) are seeing widespread adoption in the datacom industry; these PICs leverage silicon (Si) waveguides operating at near-infrared wavelengths (1300-1600 nm) and at low optical powers where Si is transparent. However, for photonic applications outside of telecom, including microwave photonics, lidar - requiring higher optical power, and atomic quantum systems - where required wavelengths span near UV to IR, PICs based on silicon-nitride (SiN) or aluminum-oxide (Al203 ) waveguides are used. Additionally, the PIC functionality enabled by combining the best-of-breed active devices and materials (e.g., lasers, semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs), lithium niobate modulators, photodetectors) typically fabricated in non-CMOS material systems, with our PIC is highly desired. In this talk we’ll present an overview of the various PIC platforms being fabricated at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, describing our available waveguide materials, photonic components, and our Photonic Multi-Chip-Module platform (P-MCMs) that enable both flip chip and surface film hybridization of active materials.Dan Pulver has wafer fabrication facility and operations management roles across academia, national laboratories, and low volume manufacturing for 4 decades. He has led facilities doing early stage research at RPI, prototyping at Draper Laboratory and MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and managed production operations for telecom laser production and high power LEDs in Massachusetts. He is currently the group leader managing operations of our 200mm wafer fabrication facility within Lincoln Laboratory’s Advanced Technology Division. Dr. Dave Kharas is a member of the technical staff at MIT LL’s Integrated RF and Photonics Group. Dr. Kharas leads the Photonics Team’s device fabrication activities across a number of technology platforms including silicon and nitride PICs, hybrid integration of III-V components, MEMS, and Microfluidic devices. Prior to joining Lincoln Labs, Dr. Kharas led the AlInGaP Technology Group at Philips Lumileds, developing and transferring to production two generations of Vertical Thin Film AlInGaP red LEDs for automotive applications. His 25 years of industry experience encompasses microfabrication development in both compound and silicon based systems, including GaAs based HBTs and HEMTs at Anadigcs, CMOS and InP photonic integration at Sarnoff, and MEMS fabrication at Sarcon, Apogee, and Standard MEMS. Dr. Kharas holds Ph.D. and MS degrees in Materials Science from SUNY Stony Brook, and a BS in Applied Physics from UMASS Lowell.Register for this event.
Discover Unknown Operating Regimes of the Fabry-Perot Optical Filters
MIT Lincoln Lab - Wood St 244 Wood Street, LexingtonMark Kuznetsov Excelitas TechnologiesFabry-Perot optical resonators have transverse and longitudinal spatial modes with narrow spectral resonances. Such resonances have been used for spectral selection in tunable Fabry-Perot filters. Multiple transverse modes cause unwanted signal distortion in such spectral selection. In analogy with single mode optical fibers, we have discovered and developed such filters with fundamentally single transverse mode operation for use in optical spectral analyzers. In another aspect, Fabry-Perot filters select a narrow spectral slice in transmission, while reflecting a broadband rejected signal. For tunable external cavity semiconductor laser operation, reflective spectral filter is required for sending a narrow selected tunable spectral slice as feedback to the semiconductor gain chip. We have discovered a new reflective operating regime of Fabry-Perot filters, where a narrow spectral slice is reflected by the filter. I will describe the theory of these novel Fabry-Perot filters, their implementation in tunable silicon Micro-Electro-Mechanical-System MEMS format, and commercial applications to spectral analyzers for fiber optical telecom signals and fast tunable semiconductor lasers for Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography SS-OCT in medical tissue imaging.Mark Kuznetsov received ScD degree from MIT, group of Erich Ippen and Hermann Haus, in the field of short pulse generation in semiconductor lasers. He then worked at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Crawford Hill, on tunable semiconductor lasers and other devices for wavelength-division-multiplexed WDM optical networks. Working at a small startup Micracor, with Aram Mooradian, he developed optically pumped semiconductor laser technology, OPSL, also known as VECSELs, vertical-external cavity surface-emitting lasers, which generate light in wavelengths by design from UV to IR with multi-watt class powers and high-quality beams, and are now widely deployed commercially, displacing legacy gas and solid-state lasers. At Raytheon, he has worked on passively Q-switched Nd:YAG microchip lasers. At MIT Lincoln Laboratory, he has worked on transmission aspects in WDM fiber optic telecom networks. For the past 25 years, he has worked at Axsun / Excelitas Technologies, developing Si micro-electro-mechanical system MEMS wavelength tunable technology, including Fabry-Perot tunable filters for channel monitoring in WDM optical networks and MEMS tunable semiconductor lasers, external cavity and VCSELs, for applications in spectroscopy and optical coherence tomography OCT in medical ophthalmic and cardiovascular imaging. Register for the event.
AIM Photonics Services: Wafers to Chips, SiPh in a 300 mm CMOS Foundry
MIT Lincoln Lab - Wood St 244 Wood Street, LexingtonDr. Lewis Carpenter AIM PhotonicsAIM Photonics' mission is to advance integrated photonic circuit manufacturing technology development in the United States. We provide access to state-of-the-art integrated photonics fabrication, packaging, and testing facilities and services to industry, academia and the United States government. We develop new and innovative technologies, processes, and materials within the integrated photonics sphere, addressing high-risk/high-reward challenges in photonics integrated circuit manufacturing technology. We strive to create an adaptive integrated photonic circuit workforce capable of meeting the integrated photonics industry’s needs. Within this talk we will present the AIM Photonics' latest work on silicon photonic multi-wafer runs, process design kits, electronic-photonic design automation, research and development.Dr. Carpenter has 15 years of research experience focused on the development of photonic, nonlinear optic, and quantum technology (QT) devices - from concept, simulation, and design to prototype and manufacture. He is currently the Photonics Development Manager, working at the American Institute for Manufacturing (AIM) Photonics. AIM Photonics is the federally funded home of cutting edge silicon photonic foundry services in a 300 mm, CMOS line. He is spearheading research in design, simulation, prototyping, and manufacturing of next-generation silicon photonic devices, with a focus on quantum technology. His current research interests includes: avalanche photodiodes, photodiodes, modulation in aluminium nitride, frequency conversion in thick silicon nitride, and passives in alumina. He was a key member of the team that developed zinc doped MgO:PPLN (periodically poled lithium niobate) ridge waveguides for Covesion while working at the University of Southampton. PPLN waveguides are a key piece of Quantum Technology for quantum computing/memories (atom/ion trapping) and quantum communications (single photon generation). The PPLN waveguides developed generate new wavelengths of light at a multi-watt level with >50 % device efficiencies. During device development Dr. Carpenter’s major contributions include waveguide design/modelling, cleanroom and ultra-precision machining fabrication process development, and nonlinear photonic characterization. Dr. Carpenter received a PhD in 2013 from Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) University of Southampton, under the supervision of Peter G.R. Smith. His research focused on creating ultra-smooth micron scale features for integrated optics. He pioneered ductile mode machining with ultra-precision dicing saws and micromilling techniques and used these ductile mode machining techniques to create a variety of photonic devices - such as micro optomechanical systems, physical/biological/refractive index sensors, and amplitude/phase modulators - in a plethora of integrated material systems using silica, lithium niobate, silicon, gallium arsenide, germanium, chalcogenide, etc. He received a first class Bachelors in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southampton (2009) and won the National Grid award for the highest awarded dissertation mark.Register for this event.