Silicon nano- and micro-photonic devices

Silicon VLSI plays a key role in information technology. Recent progresses in silicon photonics have significantly moved the conventional silicon VLSI to high bandwidth photonics with lower power consumption for switching and interconnects. These devices include novel waveguides, modulators and detectors that are compatible with Si CMOS fabrication process. There are two major obstacles to build a monolithic nano-photonic system on a silicon chip: 1. lack of a silicon based light source and 2. silicon does not have any electro-optic (X2) effect. The combination of these two may require a hybrid integration in the foreseeable future. In this presentation, we will present the recent results and the projection of future development.