III–V/silicon hybrid non-linear nanophotonics in the context of on-chip optical signal processing and analog computing

Abstract

We discuss the application of silicon hybrid photonic integration technology for all-optical signal processing. The core is a photonic crystal nanocavity made of a III–V semiconductor alloy. This ensures ultra-fast and energy-efficient all-optical operation, which is crucial for scaling from a single device to a non-linear photonic processor where ideally a large number of non-linear elements cooperate. We discuss all-optical sampling as an immediate application of this technology and give an example of a future non-linear integrated circuit based on this technology.