Hybrid multi-chip assembly of optical communication engines via 3-D nanolithography

Three-dimensional (3-D) nanoprinting of freeform optical waveguides also known as photonic wire bonding can efficiently couple between photonic chips to greatly simplify optical system assembly. The shape and trajectory of photonic wire bonds offers a key advantage as an alternative to conventional optical assembly techniques that rely on technically complex and expensive high-precision alignment. In a new study now published on Nature: Light, Science & Applications, Matthias Blaicher, Muhammed Rodlin Billah and a research team in photonics, quantum electronics and microstructure technology in Germany, demonstrated optical communication engines. The device relied on photonic wire bonding to connect arrays of silicon photonic modulators to lasers and single-mode fibers. They engineered the photonic wire bonds onto the chips in the lab using advanced 3-D lithography to efficiently connect a variety of photonic integration platforms. The scientists simplified the assembly of advanced photonic multistep modules to transform a variety of applications ranging from high-speed communications to ultra-fast signal processing, optical sensing, and quantum information processing.