We will discuss 2D and 3D photonic integrated microsystems designed for coherent synthesis, processing, and detection of optical waves in temporal, spectral, and spatial domains.  The talk will be in three parts addressing applications in future communication, computing, and imaging systems. The 3D photonic integrated circuit (PIC) platform exploits direct inscribing of arbitrarily shaped waveguides using femtosecond lasers.  In one example, such a 3D PIC allows arbitrary beam forming for spatial division multiplexing using orbital angular momentum states.  We will further discuss 2D integrated photonic technologies based on InP, silicon, and silica material platforms. Examples at UC Davis include > THz coherent optical transmitters and receivers on a monolithically integrated InP platform, silicon photonic RF-photonic lattice filters, silicon-photonic optical routers, and orbital-angular-momentum (OAM) MUX/DEMUXes. Dynamic optical arbitrary waveform generation and measurement (OAWG and OAWM) technologies enable > THz scale coherent optical transmission systems with arbitrary modulation formats and bandwidth.  Integrated 3D OAM devices can realize arbitrary spatial beam forming. We will also demonstrate a silicon-photonic switch which realizes all-to-all contentionless interconnection of > 1000 computing nodes, and discuss a compact interferometric imaging system realized on 2D/3D photonic integrated circuits.  Finally, we will address future prospects of the new 2D/3D photonic integration technologies towards realizing future communication, computing, and imaging systems.

S. J. Ben Yoo is a Professor of Electrical Engineering at University of California at Davis (UC Davis).  His research at UC Davis includes 2D/3D photonic integration for future computing, communication, imaging, and navigation systems, micro/nano systems integration, and the future Internet. Prior to joining UC Davis in 1999, he was a Senior Research Scientist at Bellcore, leading technical efforts in integrated photonics, optical networking, and systems integration. His research activities at Bellcore included the next-generation Internet, reconfigurable multiwavelength optical networks (MONET), wavelength interchanging cross connects, wavelength converters, vertical-cavity lasers, and high-speed modulators. He led the MONET testbed experimentation efforts, and participated in ATD/MONET systems integration and a number of standardization activities.  Prior to joining Bellcore in 1991, he conducted research on nonlinear optical processes in quantum wells, a four-wave-mixing study of relaxation mechanisms in dye molecules, and ultrafast diffusion-driven photodetectors at Stanford University (BS’84, MS’86, PhD’91, Stanford University). Prof. Yoo is Fellow of IEEE, OSA, NIAC and a recipient of the DARPA Award for Sustained Excellence (1997), the Bellcore CEO Award (1998), the Mid-Career Research Faculty Award (2004 UC Davis), and the Senior Research Faculty Award (2011 UC Davis).

ANNOUNCEMENT:

Prof. Yoo’s group has a number of positions open for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers.  He will be available for discussions after the seminar. 

Contact: http://sierra.ece.ucdavis.edu/          Professor S. J. Ben Yoo:  sbyoo@ucdavis.edu