Silicon photonics for high-capacity data communications

In recent years, optical modulators, photodetectors, (de)multiplexers, and heterogeneously integrated lasers based on silicon optical platforms have been verified. The performance of some devices even surpasses the traditional III-V and photonic integrated circuit (PIC) platforms, laying the foundation for large-scale photonic integration. Silicon photonic technology can overcome the limitations of traditional transceiver technology in high-speed transmission networks to support faster interconnection between data centers. In this article, we will review recent progress for silicon PICs. The first part gives an overview of recent achievements in silicon PICs. The second part introduces the silicon photonic building blocks, including low-loss waveguides, passive devices, modulators, photodetectors, heterogeneously integrated lasers, and so on. In the third part, the recent progress on high-capacity silicon photonic transceivers is discussed. In the fourth part, we give a review of high-capacity silicon photonic networks on chip. (c) 2022 Chinese Laser Press

Automated summary

Silicon photonic technology has made significant progress in recent years as an advanced platform for photonic integrated circuits. Devices such as optical modulators, photodetectors, (de)multiplexers, and heterogeneously integrated lasers have been developed and their performance even surpasses traditional III-V materials and photonic integrated circuit platforms, laying the foundation for large-scale photonic integration.