Future Trends in Microelectronics

3.7

Tunable Photonic Molecules for Spectral Engineering in Dense Photonic Integration

M. C. M. M. Souza, G. F. M. Rezende, A. A. G. von Zuben, G. S. Wiederhecker, N. C. Frateschi and L. A. M. Barea

“Gleb Wataghin” Physics Institute, University of Campinas, Campinas, SP, 13083-859, Brazil

Department of Electrical Engineering, UFSCAR, São Carlos,, SP, 13565-905, Brazil

1 Introduction

After two decades of continuous progress, photonic integration has proved its indisputable role as an enabling technology. It is poised to address the high-performance demands of future computing systems, pushing the limits of ultrafast optical data transfer and processing while complying with tight power budgets and drastic footprint constraints. In addition, unprecedented photonic-enabled capabilities have been responsible for the substantial progress achieved in emerging areas such as sensing,^{1 2} lab-on-a-chip,³ and integrated microwave photonics.⁴

The successful deployment of photonic-based solutions across different fields depends on the ability to fully control the spectral response of the building blocks of photonic circuitry. The basic functionalities required for most applications (light sources, optical modulators, filters, delay lines, detectors, etc.) are now available in a variety of designs and platforms,^{5 6} but the challenge remains to realize these functionalities with devices allowing for flexible and reconfigurable spectral control. A microring resonator,^{2 7} for instance, while ...