Integrated photonics with programmable non-volatile memory.

Area of Science:

• Photonics
• Integrated Circuits
• Non-volatile Memory

Background:

• Silicon photonics integrated circuits (Si-PICs) are advancing for optical communications but lack non-volatile memory.
• Current Si-PICs cannot efficiently store data, hindering energy-efficient applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and demonstrate an electrically programmable, multi-level non-volatile photonics memory cell (PMC).
• To integrate PMC into micro-ring resonators (MRRs) for optical memory state readout.
• To explore solutions for the von Neumann bottleneck in computing.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a PMC using standard complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) compatible processes.
• Integration of the PMC with a micro-ring resonator (MRR) for optical readout.
• Demonstration of a MRR memory array for multi-bit storage and retrieval.

Main Results:

• Achieved switching energy below 20 pJ for the photonics memory cell.
• Demonstrated a four-bit memory read capacity using a MRR memory array.
• Showcased potential for significantly increased storage capacity with broadband light sources.

Conclusions:

• The developed PMC offers a pathway to energy-efficient, non-volatile optical data storage in Si-PICs.
• This technology can overcome the von Neumann bottleneck and enhance computational performance.
• The optical storage solution complements on-chip interconnects for various computing-intensive applications.