PRESS RELEASE

Strain enhances the conversion efficiency from electrical to optical signal ーToward low-power photonic integrated circuits by SiGe ー

 

The research group of Associate Professor Mitsuru Takenaka in The University of Tokyo has demonstrated the enhancement in refractive index and absorption changes induced by electron and hole in strained SiGe for the first time in collaboration with Sumitomo Chemical, Co., Ltd. Thus, they have successfully developed low-power optical modulators capable of converting electrical signal into optical signal efficiently at near-infrared wavelength used for optical fiber communication. The newly developed optical modulator can be fabricated in exiting semiconductor fabs, enabling monolithic integration of low-power and large-scale photonic integrated circuits on electrical large-scale integrated circuits. They expect that this achievement will make it possible to realize non only low-power and high-performance IT systems but also one-chip supercomputers with on-chip optical interconnections.

 

figure_english.jpg