PFI-TT: Improving Silicon Photonics Process with Conductive Oxide Material for Energy-Efficient Communication and Computing

The broader impact of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is to improve silicon chip processing to produce more energy-efficient photonic devices and circuits by incorporating high performance materials. Silicon photonics chip technologies use light (photons) to transfer data instead of electrical signals. The silicon photonics market was valued at $1.3 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $5 billion by 2028, fueled by the growth of data centers and artificial intelligence. High-performance silicon photonic circuits will also enable applications in many emerging markets such as autonomous driving, optical neural networks, high precision optical computing, and military uses. This project will contribute to workforce development by providing opportunities for the training and education of a postdoctoral research associate, two doctoral students, and two undergraduate research assistants. They will all receive training to become future leaders in innovation and entrepreneurship in semiconductor chips technology areas. The project will integrate a new conductive oxide material, hydrogen-doped indium oxide (IHO), into an existing silicon photonics process. The project will provide enhanced performance while still maintaining process compatibility with existing silicon photonic foundries. Because of unique material properties of IHO, the new fabrication process will improve silicon photonic devices and circuits to achieve significantly enhanced energy efficiency. This project will address critical challenges in scalable manufacturing to include the new materials into commercial foundries. By promoting collaboration between academia and industry, this project will enhance the competitiveness of the United States. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.