Silicon chips combine light and ultrasound for better signal processing (IMAGE)
Caption
High-end wireless and cellular networks rely on light for the distribution of signals. The selective processing of such signals requires long delays: too long to support on a chip using light alone. A research team from Bar-Ilan University, Israel, and collaborators brought together light and ultrasonic waves to realize ultra-narrow filters of microwave signals, in silicon integrated circuits. The concept allows large freedom for filters design. Figure: schematic illustration of a surface-acoustic, microwave-photonic filter device. Incoming information is converted from an input "pump" optical wave to the form of slow-moving, surface-acoustic waves. The slow acoustic velocity allows for the accumulation of long delays on chip. The acoustic waves cross the path of an optical waveguide multiple times. The signals of interest is imprinted upon an optical "probe" wave that propagates in this waveguide, and gets filtered in the process.
Credit
Prof. Avi Zadok, Bar-Ilan University
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