(Press-News.org) In an effort to make it easier to build inexpensive, next-generation silicon-based electro-optical chips, which allow computers to move information with light and electricity, a University of Washington photonics professor, Dr. Michael Hochberg and his research team are developing design tools and using commercial nanofabrication tools.
Silicon optical chips are critical to the Air Force because of their size, weight, power, rapid cycle time, program risk reduction and the improvements they can offer in data communications, lasers and detectors.
The Air Force Office of Scientific Research is funding this effort in silicon photonics called "Optoelectronic Systems Integration in Silicon" at UW's Nanophotonics Lab in Seattle. OpSIS is hosted by UW's Institute for Photonic Integration. Hochberg is in charge of the OpSIS research program, the Nanophotonics Lab and the Institute for Photonic Integration.
Hochberg emphasizes that the funding from the Air Force Research Laboratory and AFOSR is a critical component in getting the effort off the ground because it provides both a strong technical validation, and the resources to get started on the project.
Unlike most research groups that are designing, building and testing silicon photonic devices or optical chips in-house rather than by using commercial chip fabrication facilities, the UW researchers are using shared infrastructure at the foundry at BAE Systems in Manassas, Virginia. There they are working toward creating high-end, on-shore manufacturing capabilities that will be ultimately made available to the wider community. In the past few years, complex photonic circuitry has not been accessible to researchers because of the expense and a lack of standard processes.
The UW researchers are working on system design and validation so they can imitate what's been done in electronics by stabilizing and characterizing some processes so that the transition from photonics to systems can be smooth.
"The OpSIS program will help advance the field of silicon photonics by bringing prototyping capability within reach of startup companies and researchers," said Hochberg. "They will provide design rules, device design support and design-flow development so that even non-experts will be able to design and integrate photonics and electronics."
Silicon photonics has developed over the last decade, and the transition from using devices to systems is something that has only recently occurred.
"The digital electronics revolution over the past 40 years has had a transformative effect on how the Air Force systems are built, and we're hoping to have a similar impact on photonic systems," he said.
The researchers' current goal is to work first on test runs for the new optical chips for commercial uses and on developing some software tools that will make the design process easier.
AFOSR program manager, Dr. Gernot S. Pomrenke, agrees with Prof. Hochberg. "Integrating silicon photonics will impact Air Force, DoD and commercial avionics," he said. "AFRL has been a leader in developing and supporting this technology over the last two decades and the OpSIS program will help in transitioning silicon photonics into new system capabilities."
INFORMATION:
ABOUT AFOSR:
The Air Force Office of Scientific Research, located in Arlington, Virginia, continues to expand the horizon of scientific knowledge through its leadership and management of the Air Force's basic research program. As a vital component of the Air Force Research Laboratory, AFOSR's mission is to discover, shape, and champion basic science that profoundly impacts the future Air Force.
Nanofabrication tools may make silicon optical chips more accessible
2011-03-03
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Dude, you throw like a crybaby!
2011-03-03
A UCLA–University of Glasgow study of baseball tosses has found that body language is more likely to be judged as masculine when it seems to convey anger and as feminine when is seems to convey sadness.
Researchers videotaped actors, both male and female, throwing baseballs in such a manner as to convey a range of emotions. Then, using technology that disguised the actors' sex, they presented the videos to observers and asked them to make judgments about the throwers' emotions and gender.
"Even when observers received minimal information, they were able to discern ...
Scientists study control of invasive tree in western US
2011-03-03
(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– Simply by eating the leaves of an invasive tree that soaks up river water, an Asian beetle may help to slow down water loss in the Southwestern United States.
Two scientists from UC Santa Barbara, working with colleagues from the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, have published the first substantive data showing water savings that can result from using Asian beetles for the biological control of tamarisk, an invasive tree of western rivers. The study is now published online and in print in the journal Oecologia.
"Widespread ...
Scripps oceanography researchers discover arctic blooms occurring earlier
2011-03-03
Warming temperatures and melting ice in the Arctic may be behind a progressively earlier bloom of a crucial annual marine event, and the shift could hold consequences for the entire food chain and carbon cycling in the region.
Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, along with colleagues in Portugal and Mexico, plotted the yearly spring bloom of phytoplankton—tiny plants at the base of the ocean food chain—in the Arctic Ocean and found the peak timing of the event has been progressing earlier each year for more than a decade. The researchers ...
Arizona Swingers Awarded 1-Year Memberships
2011-03-03
Swinglifestyle is rewarding Arizona swingers with a 1-year paid membership in appreciation for the lifestyle. For a limited time residents in Arizona will benefit with a no frills paid 1-year membership. The membership will include all the benefits of a regular one year account, a value of $69 dollars. New and existing free members will receive full access to all areas of the site including unlimited emails, chat, swingersboard, adult photo access and many more perks. Residents in Arizona are urged to participate in the limited time paid membership immediately.
For local ...
Black holes: a model for superconductors?
2011-03-03
Urbana, Ill.—Black holes are some of the heaviest objects in the universe. Electrons are some of the lightest. Now physicists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have shown how charged black holes can be used to model the behavior of interacting electrons in unconventional superconductors.
"The context of this problem is high-temperature superconductivity," said Phillips. "One of the great unsolved problems in physics is the origin of superconductivity (a conducting state with zero resistance) in the copper oxide ceramics discovered in 1986." The results ...
6-month drug regimen cuts HIV risk for breastfeeding infants, NIH study finds
2011-03-03
Giving breastfeeding infants of HIV-infected mothers a daily dose of the antiretroviral drug nevirapine for six months halved the risk of HIV transmission to the infants at age 6 months compared with giving infants the drug daily for six weeks, according to preliminary clinical trial data presented today.
The longer nevirapine regimen achieved a 75 percent reduction in HIV transmission risk through breast milk for the infants of HIV-infected mothers with higher T-cell counts who had not yet begun treatment for HIV.
The study was presented at the 18th Conference on ...
Decline in CP diagnoses in premature infants suggests improvements in perinatal care
2011-03-03
Cincinnati, OH, March 3, 2011 -- Cerebral palsy is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects motor function, more often in children born prematurely. Because cerebral palsy is a result of brain injury received shortly before, during, or soon after birth, the number of infants being diagnosed with the condition is a good indicator of the quality of perinatal and neonatal care. An article soon to be published in the Journal of Pediatrics indicates that the rates of cerebral palsy have declined dramatically in the past 15 years.
Dr. Ingrid van Haastert and colleagues ...
Stigma weighs heavily on obese people, contributing to greater health problems
2011-03-03
WASHINGTON, DC, March 1, 2011 — The discrimination that obese people feel, whether it is poor service at a restaurant or being treated differently in the workplace, may have a direct impact on their physical health, according to new research from Purdue University.
"Obesity is a physiological issue, but when people have negative interactions in their social world—including a sense of being discriminated against—it can make matters worse and contribute to a person's declining physical health," said Markus H. Schafer, the doctoral student in sociology and gerontology who ...
SEO Expert Mike Luchen Has Been Recognized for His Success in Internet Marketing, Social Media and SEO in Westchester County, NY
2011-03-03
Mike Luchen has been recognized for his success in providing solutions to businesses wishing to thrive and grow. Mike has developed the strategies and knowledge required to provide business with the Internet exposure they need reach the level of success they wish quickly and easily.
Mike uses a holistic approach to successful marketing that include the use of SEO SEM online marketing advertising, public relations, social media marketing, Google Maps, Yahoo and local listings. Using the most technologically advanced strategies to generate response to your marketing efforts, ...
Women who miscarry continue to have mental health problems
2011-03-03
The depression and anxiety experienced by many women after a miscarriage can continue for years, even after the birth of a healthy child, according to a study led by University of Rochester Medical Center researchers and published online today by the British Journal of Psychiatry.
"Our study clearly shows that the birth of a healthy baby does not resolve the mental health problems that many women experience after a miscarriage or stillbirth," said Emma Robertson Blackmore, Ph.D., assistant professor of Psychiatry at the Medical Center and the lead researcher. "This finding ...