Fully integrated hybrid multimode-multiwavelength photonic processor with picosecond latency

Area of Science:

• Photonics
• Optical Signal Processing
• Integrated Photonics

Background:

• High-speed signal processing is vital for next-generation communication systems (MIMO, 6G).
• Electronic processors face limitations in computational throughput and latency due to physical constraints.
• Photonic processors offer advantages like high bandwidth and low latency but face integration and scalability challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a scalable, monolithically integrated hybrid photonic processor.
• To overcome the limitations of electronic processors for high-speed signal processing.
• To enable ultralow-latency processing for future communication networks.

Main Methods:

• Integration of adiabatic mode multiplexers, mode-selective microring resonators, and balanced multimode photodetectors on a single chip.
• Simultaneous utilization of mode-division and wavelength-division multiplexing.
• Demonstration of analog optical domain processing.

Main Results:

• Experimental demonstration of real-time optical multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) signal unscrambling at 5 Gb/s.
• Successful radio frequency signal unjamming in phase-shift keying transmission.
• Achieved processing latency of only 30 picoseconds.

Conclusions:

• The developed hybrid photonic processor offers a scalable solution for high-speed signal processing.
• This technology paves the way for energy-efficient, ultralow-latency processors for wireless and optical networks.
• The integrated approach overcomes previous scalability hurdles in photonic processing.