CMORE - heterogeneous integration

Silicon nanophotonics

Imec and its associated laboratory at the Ghent University develop photonic components and systems-on-a-chip for use in communication and sensors. The technology used is standard CMOS on 200mm silicon-on-insulator (SOI).

The high-index contrast in SOI allows for nanophotonic designs with ultra-compact waveguides and cavities. For the active photonic functions, functional materials are integrated, such as bonded III-V membranes, liquid crystals, colloidal nanocrystals, metals, and biomolecules.

The resulting ultra-compact photonic ICs can be used in telecommunication, (bio)-sensing, and in biomedical applications. Also, the CMOS compatible processing favors leveraging the existing IC technology base for submicron mass-fabrication of photonics ICs.