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Priority Programme 2111: Electronic-Photonic Integrated Systems for Ultrafast Signal Processing
Aktualität:
bis 05.12.2017
Fördergeber:
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
In March 2017 the Senate of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) established the Priority Programme Electronic-Photonic Integrated Systems for Ultrafast Signal Processing (SPP 2111). The programme is designed to run for six years. The present call invites proposals for the first three-year funding period.
Research Goals
Optical signal processing offers advantages with respect to bandwidth and is typically much more energy-efficient than electrical signal processing. Furthermore, optical signal transmission is less lossy since high-speed fibre-optic communication networks build the backbone of the internet. In addition to these advantages, optical oscillators (lasers) show some fundamentally better spectral properties than their electronic counterparts. On the other hand electronic signal processors, e.g. microprocessors are very cost-efficient, allow for sophisticated algorithms, use small processing elements (transistors) and are programmable by software. Nowadays, optical and electronic circuits are still clearly separated domains. In recent years photonic-electronic integration technologies as for instance Silicon photonics and Indium-Phosphide technology have developed significantly. Silicon photonics technology opens new horizons in combining optical devices with digital processors, memory, and software on a single chip. It allows for miniaturised optics, close proximity of optics and electronics, and reduces energy consumption and size. These new possibilities have the potential to break up the paradigm of separate domains of optical and electronic signal processing and require a thorough reconsideration how for example signal processing algorithms, signal processors, communication networks and sensors should be optimally realised in order to exploit the full potential of nanophotonic/nanoelectronic systems.
Thus, the goal of the Priority Programme is to address novel nanophotonic/nanoelectronic systems by investigating fundamental photonic-electronic signal processing concepts and novel integrated system architectures using electronic and photonic processing on the same chip. Optic and electronic signal processing have different strengths and weaknesses. The limitations of electronic signal processing materialise foremost in two bottlenecks: the bandwidth bottleneck and the clock jitter bottleneck. The bandwidth bottleneck currently limits electronic signal processing to around 100 GHz for small circuits and to much lower bandwidths for complex circuits (e.g. analogue-to-digital converters). Bandwidth limitation of electronic circuits is caused by the bandwidth limitation of their transistors. Transistor transit frequency is an important metric for transistor bandwidth and will be physically limited to around 1 THz in the course of the next decade according to the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS). Therefore it is expected that future bandwidth of electronic circuits will be limited to around 0.5 THz within the next ten years. Hence, signal bandwidth of electronic signal processing will be fundamentally limited to around 0.5 THz in the foreseeable future. On the other hand, optical signal processing offers bandwidth in the multi-THz-range even today. In optical fibres extra-ordinary low loss of 0.3 dB/km is achieved in a wavelength range from 1200 to 1600 nm which corresponds to a frequency range from 250 THz to around 180 THz. This represents a total of 70 THz of usable bandwidth. In general, optical signal processing allows for many THz of signal bandwidth even for a single optical carrier and can be used to implement generic processing functions such as optical pulse shaping and filtering, integration, differentiation, as well as more complex functions like Hilbert transformation and others. Traditionally optical signal processing is expensive and suffers from bulky optics, limited complexity, lack of memory and difficult programmability. Nanophotonic/nanoelectronic technology helps to overcome these drawbacks. In addition, the close proximity of photonics and electronics prepares the way for completely new system concepts where for example most broadband signal processing tasks are shifted to the optical domain operating with several THz of contiguous bandwidth. Currently this field of research is rarely addressed. It represents a core research area for this call.
The jitter respectively phase noise bottleneck of electronic circuits limits the performance of electronic oscillators to jitter values of somewhat less than 40 fs rms for the best oven-controlled quartz oscillators. This restricts the system performance of wireless communications as well as the resolution of broadband analog-to-digital-converters. In contrast to electronic oscillators optical oscillators such as CW lasers or mode-locked-lasers can achieve a much higher frequency stability. As an example optical pulse trains of mode-locked lasers with ultra-low RMS-jitter down to a few attoseconds have been demonstrated.
The general goal of the programme is therefore to investigate how combined photonic-electronic systems using a huge optical bandwidth as well as emerging nanophotonic/nanoelectronic integration technologies could allow ultra-broadband signal processing and ultra-low-jitter clocks. Another goal is to disrupt the current bandwidth and jitter limitations of purely electronic respectively conventional photonic-electronic systems by orders of magnitude. In addition, novel, miniaturised optical/THz sensing systems which operate at an extreme bandwidth or with unprecedented precision enabled by electronic-photonic integration are of interest.
Further information:
http://www.dfg.de/foerderung/info_wissenschaft/ausschreibungen/info_wissenschaft_17_43/index.html
Research Goals
Optical signal processing offers advantages with respect to bandwidth and is typically much more energy-efficient than electrical signal processing. Furthermore, optical signal transmission is less lossy since high-speed fibre-optic communication networks build the backbone of the internet. In addition to these advantages, optical oscillators (lasers) show some fundamentally better spectral properties than their electronic counterparts. On the other hand electronic signal processors, e.g. microprocessors are very cost-efficient, allow for sophisticated algorithms, use small processing elements (transistors) and are programmable by software. Nowadays, optical and electronic circuits are still clearly separated domains. In recent years photonic-electronic integration technologies as for instance Silicon photonics and Indium-Phosphide technology have developed significantly. Silicon photonics technology opens new horizons in combining optical devices with digital processors, memory, and software on a single chip. It allows for miniaturised optics, close proximity of optics and electronics, and reduces energy consumption and size. These new possibilities have the potential to break up the paradigm of separate domains of optical and electronic signal processing and require a thorough reconsideration how for example signal processing algorithms, signal processors, communication networks and sensors should be optimally realised in order to exploit the full potential of nanophotonic/nanoelectronic systems.
Thus, the goal of the Priority Programme is to address novel nanophotonic/nanoelectronic systems by investigating fundamental photonic-electronic signal processing concepts and novel integrated system architectures using electronic and photonic processing on the same chip. Optic and electronic signal processing have different strengths and weaknesses. The limitations of electronic signal processing materialise foremost in two bottlenecks: the bandwidth bottleneck and the clock jitter bottleneck. The bandwidth bottleneck currently limits electronic signal processing to around 100 GHz for small circuits and to much lower bandwidths for complex circuits (e.g. analogue-to-digital converters). Bandwidth limitation of electronic circuits is caused by the bandwidth limitation of their transistors. Transistor transit frequency is an important metric for transistor bandwidth and will be physically limited to around 1 THz in the course of the next decade according to the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS). Therefore it is expected that future bandwidth of electronic circuits will be limited to around 0.5 THz within the next ten years. Hence, signal bandwidth of electronic signal processing will be fundamentally limited to around 0.5 THz in the foreseeable future. On the other hand, optical signal processing offers bandwidth in the multi-THz-range even today. In optical fibres extra-ordinary low loss of 0.3 dB/km is achieved in a wavelength range from 1200 to 1600 nm which corresponds to a frequency range from 250 THz to around 180 THz. This represents a total of 70 THz of usable bandwidth. In general, optical signal processing allows for many THz of signal bandwidth even for a single optical carrier and can be used to implement generic processing functions such as optical pulse shaping and filtering, integration, differentiation, as well as more complex functions like Hilbert transformation and others. Traditionally optical signal processing is expensive and suffers from bulky optics, limited complexity, lack of memory and difficult programmability. Nanophotonic/nanoelectronic technology helps to overcome these drawbacks. In addition, the close proximity of photonics and electronics prepares the way for completely new system concepts where for example most broadband signal processing tasks are shifted to the optical domain operating with several THz of contiguous bandwidth. Currently this field of research is rarely addressed. It represents a core research area for this call.
The jitter respectively phase noise bottleneck of electronic circuits limits the performance of electronic oscillators to jitter values of somewhat less than 40 fs rms for the best oven-controlled quartz oscillators. This restricts the system performance of wireless communications as well as the resolution of broadband analog-to-digital-converters. In contrast to electronic oscillators optical oscillators such as CW lasers or mode-locked-lasers can achieve a much higher frequency stability. As an example optical pulse trains of mode-locked lasers with ultra-low RMS-jitter down to a few attoseconds have been demonstrated.
The general goal of the programme is therefore to investigate how combined photonic-electronic systems using a huge optical bandwidth as well as emerging nanophotonic/nanoelectronic integration technologies could allow ultra-broadband signal processing and ultra-low-jitter clocks. Another goal is to disrupt the current bandwidth and jitter limitations of purely electronic respectively conventional photonic-electronic systems by orders of magnitude. In addition, novel, miniaturised optical/THz sensing systems which operate at an extreme bandwidth or with unprecedented precision enabled by electronic-photonic integration are of interest.
Further information:
http://www.dfg.de/foerderung/info_wissenschaft/ausschreibungen/info_wissenschaft_17_43/index.html