Microphotonics Everywhere (Repeat)

_{Breakout Room #}

_{Invited Presenter}

_Position/

_Supervisor

_{Title and Abstract}

₁

_{Yifei Li}

_{Graduate Student}

_{Prof. Rafael Jaramillo}

_{Layered and 2D Materials for Integrated Photonics 
Layered materials are exciting for manipulating light in the confined geometry of photonic integrated (PIC) circuits, where key material properties include strong and controllable light-matter interaction, and limited optical loss. Layered materials feature tunable optical properties, phases that are promising for electro-optics, and a panoply of polymorphs that suggest a rich design space for highly-nonperturbative PIC devices based on martensitic transformations: phase changes and ferroelastic domain switching. These features are manifest in materials with band gap above the photonics-relevant near-infrared (NIR) spectral band (~ 0.5 – 1 eV), meaning that they can be harnessed in refractive (i.e. low-loss) applications.}

₂

_{Carlos Rios}

_{Post Doc}

_{Prof. Juejun Hu}

_{Phase-change materials: the promise of zero-power reconfigurable microphotonics
The integration of Phase-Change Materials (PCMs) to photonic devices such as integrated circuits, metasurfaces, plasmonic structures, etc. has enabled the additional functionality of nonvolatile reconfiguration. This functionality allows photonic systems to be active, i.e. to have multiple optical responses, using low power to switch between configurations (PCM states) but zero power to retain any. This exceptional combination of properties is possible because PCMs (chalcogenides exemplified by Ge-Sb-Se-Te alloys) exhibit large and stable optical properties modulation upon a fast and controlled solid-state phase transition. This presentation will provide the fundamentals of this novel, fast-growing field together with its challenges and potentials. Furthermore, we will discuss the research conducted at MIT on PCMs for low-energy phase and amplitude modulators, reconfigurable metalenses, and optical data storage and computing.}

₃

_{Marc de Cea}

_{Graduate Student}

_{Prof. Rajeev Ram}

_{Realizing beyond-CMOS systems in commercial CMOS processes
Computing systems with reduced power and increased speed are required for the ubiquitous data era - from artificial intelligence to sensing to high performance computing. While such advancements are increasingly hard to achieve with conventional CMOS logic, CMOS fabrication processes (which produce billions of systems per year at low cost and complexity rivaling the human genome) allow for a host of devices beyond electronics – including nanoscale photonics - that could tackle the aforementioned challenges. Here, we will discuss a variety of functionalities enabled by these native photonic components in CMOS: high bandwidth and low power optical I/O, cryogenic optical interconnections and space-based communications.}

₄

_{Mohammed Benzaouia}

_{Graduate Student}

_{Prof. Steven Johnson}

_{Probing the limits of wave-matter interactions 
We use general analytical and numerical tools to probe the limits of wave-matter interactions in various optical systems. We find fundamental upper bounds for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and show that typical scatterers fall short of the bounds. Using topology optimization based inverse design, we obtain surprising structures with a much larger enhancement compared to simple geometries. We also find an approximate wide-bandwidth upper bound for absorption enhancement in metaparticle arrays and apply it to ocean-buoy energy extraction. Finally, we obtain stability conditions for periodic lasers and examine examples of band-edge and bound-in-continuum (BiC) lasing modes.}

₅

_{Jamison Michael Sloan}

_{Graduate Student}

_{Prof. Marin Soljacic}

_{Dispersion in Photonic Time Crystals
Interest has recently grown in using electromagnetic materials whose refractive index is modulated in time, often termed “photonic time crystals,” as a platform for studying time-dependent physics. Such systems are desired for applications to enhancement of nonlinearity for intensity-controlled refraction, frequency mixing, and topological photonics. However, little attention has been given to understanding the interplay between material dispersion and time-dependence. Here, we propose a fundamental model for materials which are simultaneously dispersive and time-dependent in nature, and show that these two effects may behave cooperatively through parametric resonance to enhance nonlinear interactions.}

₆

_{Xinhao Li}

_{Graduate Student}

_{Prof. Nicholas Fang}

_{Printing Optical Materials: with “Printing Photonic Materials
The push to miniaturize and functionalize optical elements has driven the development of interfacial optical engineering. Challenges remain in the patterning of materials with desired structural forms and optical properties to fulfill a wide variety of functions for thin optical devices. In Nanophotonics and 3D Nanomanufacturing Lab, we have been focusing on the development of advanced manufacturing technologies to print active photonic materials at interfaces for applications in optical modulation, sensing and display. In this talk, we will present our recent works on thermochromic hydrogel, optical nano-kirigami, multispectral filter array and active color converters produced by scalable micro/nano manufacturing methods.}

₇

_{Amina Matt}

_{Graduate Student}

_{Prof. Mathias Kolle}

_{Order and disorder in bio-inspired structural colors obtained from micro-buckling: a computational study
The key features of Morpho butterfly coloration are i) the hierarchical structure with multilayer effect and ii) the irregularities in the periodic arrangement. Reproducing both features simultaneously is challenging. We suggest and investigate micro-buckled structures obtained from deformation of two-dimensional sheet. The self-assembly of such architectures could facilitate introduction of irregularity and enable efficient manufacturing of wide-angle structural color. We show that micro-buckled structures can achieve vivid and tunable color. Numerical simulations are used to quantify the effect of horizontal and vertical disorder on the angular distribution of the color.}

₈

_{Elaine D. McVay}

_{Graduate Student}

_{Prof. Thomas Palacios}

_{Novel Thermal Detectors for Mid-Infrared Hyperspectral Imaging
Fast, high detectivity, and room-temperature-operable infrared detectors are needed to enable next generation of hyperspectral imagers. Our lab has been developing two types of novel room-temperature-operable thermal detector devices with large thermal coefficient of resistance (TCR>0.1 K-1): (1) a low power nanogap-based thermomechanical (thm) bolometer and (2) a pyroelectric-gated field effect transistor (FET) with a MoS2 or Tellurene channel biased in the subthreshold regime. Fabricated proof-of-concept thm bolometers yield TCRs between .01 K-1 and 0.1 K-1. In addition, we are exploring the application of compressive sensing techniques to enable tunable hyperspectral imaging using small arrays of bilayer graphene devices.}

₉

_{Marco Colangelo}

_{Post Doc}

_{Prof. Karl Berggren}

_{Waveguide-integrated superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors on thin-film lithium niobate waveguides
Recently, the commercial availability of thin-film lithium niobate (LN) on insulator has accelerated the development of integrated on-chip optical circuits on this material platform. The strong nonlinearities and tight confinement of optical modes in LN make it a strong candidate for the ultimate photonic integrated circuit platform for quantum applications. We discuss and demonstrate the integration of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) on LN photonic waveguides. Further development of this technology may push towards more complex circuits and functionalities on this already promising material platform.}

₁₀

_{Milica Notaros}

_{Graduate Student}

_{Prof. Jelena Notaros}

_{Silicon Photonics for Augmented Reality and Beyond}

_{By enabling optical microsystems with new functionalities, improved system performance, and reduced size, weight, and power, silicon photonics is positioned to enable optical technologies that facilitate revolutionary advances for numerous fields spanning science and engineering, including computing, sensing, communications, displays, quantum, and biology. In this talk, recent advances in silicon-photonics-based platforms, devices, and systems developed by our group will be reviewed, with a focus on a novel highly-discreet and fully-holographic integrated-photonics-based solution for the next-generation of augmented-reality displays.}

₁₁

_{Takian Fakhrul}

_{Graduate Student}

_{Prof. Caroline Ross}

_{Bismuth Iron Garnet Films for Nonreciprocal Photonics and Spintronics
Thin film iron garnets like bismuth-substituted yttrium iron garnet (BiYIG) can be enablers for integrated non-reciprocal photonic devices such as isolators. Polycrystalline BiYIG films were grown on silicon substrates and waveguide devices in which a YIG seedlayer is placed either above or below BiYIG to promote crystallization. The films exhibit the highest reported magneto-optical figure of merit of up to 769 ˚dB-1 at 1550 nm wavelength. Apart from photonics, single crystal BiYIG films are also interesting for next generation spintronic memory. A record current driven domain wall velocity in perpendicularly magnetized BiYIG films exceeding 4300 m/s has been demonstrated in this work.}