By: Michael Hargrove, SP&I Engineer
With the end of Moore’s Law rapidly approaching, or as some folks say – “already here”, new applications of older technologies are gaining attention. One specific area of interest is photonics. The National Center for Optics and Photonic Education defines photonics as the technology of generating and harnessing light and other forms of radiant energy whose quantum unit is the photon. It can also be defined as the science and application of light. Photonic applications use the photon in the same way that electronic applications use the electron. So, it’s natural to think of photonic applications in a similar manner as we think of electronic applications. The connection back to Moore’s Law is that we want to integrate photonic structures on a typical silicon wafer, utilizing Si-based technology that the industry has been continually shrinking and improving. This aspiration has led to the creation of silicon photonics technology, where photonics structures are built directly onto silicon wafers. read more…
