Physics / mechanism
Photonic integrated circuits (PICs) route, modulate, and detect light on a chip using waveguides, splitters, modulators, and photodetectors fabricated in a common substrate. Silicon photonics dominates volume production—waveguide losses ~1–2 dB/cm, modulators hitting 50–100+ Gb/s per lane via Mach-Zehnder or ring resonator architectures. InP platforms enable monolithic laser integration but at higher cost and smaller wafer size (typically 3-inch vs. 300 mm Si). Silicon nitride (SiN) offers ultra-low loss (~0.1 dB/cm) for sensing and LiDAR. Key metrics: insertion loss, modulation bandwidth, coupling efficiency to fiber, and yield on MPW shuttles. Leading fabs: IMEC, GlobalFoundries (GF Fotonix), Intel, TSMC, Leti.
Competitive landscape
| Platform | Advantage | Limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Silicon photonics | CMOS-compatible, high volume, low cost | No native laser, two-photon absorption at high power |
| InP | Monolithic laser + modulator integration | Small wafers, expensive, niche foundry base |
| Silicon nitride | Ultralow loss, wide transparency window | No active modulation, passive-only without heterogeneous integration |
Companies using
Connected ideas
Sources
Frontier (open questions)
- To be added.