Silicon Photonics
Quantum-based Silicon photonic communication systems can potentially achieve the
ultimate security from eavesdropping and greatly reduce the operating powers. Light
speed transmission, noise immunity, and low noise properties make photons
indispensable for quantum communication to transfer a quantum state through a
transmission line. As a result, more work needs to done to develop the building blocks
for photon manipulation in silicon nanophotonic circuits. This is also driven by the
attractive and promising improvements this field has to offer in high speed
communication systems and on chip optical interconnects. Silicon has been the main
platform for electronic integrated circuits due to its desirable electronic properties, high
isolation of its native oxide, low cost, and well developed processing schemes. It also has
desirable optical properties to work as a platform for integrated optical systems at the
telecommunication wavelength of 1550nm. Some of these properties are the low optical
loss and the high index contrast with its native oxide. This provides high mode
confinement for optical waveguides, which enables the integration of high density
systems relying on the already developed technologies in the CMOS processes. Fig.1.1
shows a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) image of silicon on insulator (SOI)
waveguide and its mode profile. Furthermore, silicon wires can serve as a photon source.