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Programmable photonic circuits

Author

Listed:
  • Wim Bogaerts

    (Ghent University
    Ghent University)

  • Daniel Pérez

    (Universitat Politècnica València, ITEAM Research Institute
    iPronics, Programmable Photonics)

  • José Capmany

    (Universitat Politècnica València, ITEAM Research Institute
    iPronics, Programmable Photonics)

  • David A. B. Miller

    (Stanford University)

  • Joyce Poon

    (Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics
    University of Toronto)

  • Dirk Englund

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • Francesco Morichetti

    (Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano)

  • Andrea Melloni

    (Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano)

Abstract

The growing maturity of integrated photonic technology makes it possible to build increasingly large and complex photonic circuits on the surface of a chip. Today, most of these circuits are designed for a specific application, but the increase in complexity has introduced a generation of photonic circuits that can be programmed using software for a wide variety of functions through a mesh of on-chip waveguides, tunable beam couplers and optical phase shifters. Here we discuss the state of this emerging technology, including recent developments in photonic building blocks and circuit architectures, as well as electronic control and programming strategies. We cover possible applications in linear matrix operations, quantum information processing and microwave photonics, and examine how these generic chips can accelerate the development of future photonic circuits by providing a higher-level platform for prototyping novel optical functionalities without the need for custom chip fabrication.

Suggested Citation

  • Wim Bogaerts & Daniel Pérez & José Capmany & David A. B. Miller & Joyce Poon & Dirk Englund & Francesco Morichetti & Andrea Melloni, 2020. "Programmable photonic circuits," Nature, Nature, vol. 586(7828), pages 207-216, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:586:y:2020:i:7828:d:10.1038_s41586-020-2764-0
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2764-0
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    Cited by:

    1. Joo, Mingyu & Kim, Seung Hyun & Ghose, Anindya & Wilbur, Kenneth C., 2023. "Designing Distributed Ledger technologies, like Blockchain, for advertising markets," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 12-21.
    2. Wen Zhou & Bowei Dong & Nikolaos Farmakidis & Xuan Li & Nathan Youngblood & Kairan Huang & Yuhan He & C. David Wright & Wolfram H. P. Pernice & Harish Bhaskaran, 2023. "In-memory photonic dot-product engine with electrically programmable weight banks," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    3. Takaya Ochiai & Tomohiro Akazawa & Yuto Miyatake & Kei Sumita & Shuhei Ohno & Stéphane Monfray & Frederic Boeuf & Kasidit Toprasertpong & Shinichi Takagi & Mitsuru Takenaka, 2022. "Ultrahigh-responsivity waveguide-coupled optical power monitor for Si photonic circuits operating at near-infrared wavelengths," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.
    4. Ali Najjar Amiri & Aycan Deniz Vit & Kazim Gorgulu & Emir Salih Magden, 2024. "Deep photonic network platform enabling arbitrary and broadband optical functionality," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
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    6. Steven Becker & Dirk Englund & Birgit Stiller, 2024. "An optoacoustic field-programmable perceptron for recurrent neural networks," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, December.
    7. Chupao Lin & Juan Santo Domingo Peñaranda & Jolien Dendooven & Christophe Detavernier & David Schaubroeck & Nico Boon & Roel Baets & Nicolas Le Thomas, 2022. "UV photonic integrated circuits for far-field structured illumination autofluorescence microscopy," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    8. Mark Dong & Julia M. Boyle & Kevin J. Palm & Matthew Zimmermann & Alex Witte & Andrew J. Leenheer & Daniel Dominguez & Gerald Gilbert & Matt Eichenfield & Dirk Englund, 2023. "Synchronous micromechanically resonant programmable photonic circuits," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.
    9. Mehmet Berkay On & Farshid Ashtiani & David Sanchez-Jacome & Daniel Perez-Lopez & S. J. Ben Yoo & Andrea Blanco-Redondo, 2024. "Programmable integrated photonics for topological Hamiltonians," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, December.
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    11. Zi Wang & Lorry Chang & Feifan Wang & Tiantian Li & Tingyi Gu, 2022. "Integrated photonic metasystem for image classifications at telecommunication wavelength," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.
    12. Daniel Pérez-López & Ana Gutierrez & David Sánchez & Aitor López-Hernández & Mikel Gutierrez & Erica Sánchez-Gomáriz & Juan Fernández & Alejandro Cruz & Alberto Quirós & Zhenyun Xie & Jesús Benitez & , 2024. "General-purpose programmable photonic processor for advanced radiofrequency applications," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    13. Maoliang Wei & Kai Xu & Bo Tang & Junying Li & Yiting Yun & Peng Zhang & Yingchun Wu & Kangjian Bao & Kunhao Lei & Zequn Chen & Hui Ma & Chunlei Sun & Ruonan Liu & Ming Li & Lan Li & Hongtao Lin, 2024. "Monolithic back-end-of-line integration of phase change materials into foundry-manufactured silicon photonics," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    14. Sunkyu Yu & Namkyoo Park, 2023. "Heavy tails and pruning in programmable photonic circuits for universal unitaries," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    15. Yang Yang & Robert J. Chapman & Ben Haylock & Francesco Lenzini & Yogesh N. Joglekar & Mirko Lobino & Alberto Peruzzo, 2024. "Programmable high-dimensional Hamiltonian in a photonic waveguide array," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-7, December.
    16. Qiang Lv & Xue-Dong Wang & Yue Yu & Ming-Peng Zhuo & Min Zheng & Liang-Sheng Liao, 2022. "Lattice-mismatch-free growth of organic heterostructure nanowires from cocrystals to alloys," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    17. Sudip Shekhar & Wim Bogaerts & Lukas Chrostowski & John E. Bowers & Michael Hochberg & Richard Soref & Bhavin J. Shastri, 2024. "Roadmapping the next generation of silicon photonics," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.
    18. H. H. Zhu & J. Zou & H. Zhang & Y. Z. Shi & S. B. Luo & N. Wang & H. Cai & L. X. Wan & B. Wang & X. D. Jiang & J. Thompson & X. S. Luo & X. H. Zhou & L. M. Xiao & W. Huang & L. Patrick & M. Gu & L. C., 2022. "Space-efficient optical computing with an integrated chip diffractive neural network," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    19. Dominik D. Bühler & Matthias Weiß & Antonio Crespo-Poveda & Emeline D. S. Nysten & Jonathan J. Finley & Kai Müller & Paulo V. Santos & Mauricio M. Lima & Hubert J. Krenner, 2022. "On-chip generation and dynamic piezo-optomechanical rotation of single photons," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.

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