Principal Investigator Caroline Ross
Co-investigator Juejun Hu
Project Website http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1607865&HistoricalAwards=false
Project Start Date June 2016
Project End Date May 2019
Optical isolators are optical analogs of electrical diodes: they allow light to be transmitted in one direction but block light propagation in the opposite direction. Isolators are essential components for photonic integrated circuits to prevent harmful cross-talk between different parts of circuits and stabilize circuit operation. However, current optical isolators are bulky devices not compatible with integration on photonic chips. This program aims to develop the device technologies based on novel magneto-optical oxide materials to create optical isolators amenable to direct integration with silicon photonic circuits. The isolator device developed through this program will have an immediate impact in the fields of optical communications and photonic signal processing. Besides data communication, it will also play a pivotal role in emerging applications such as spintronics, magneto-optical sensing, and magnetoplasmonics. The scientific research will be tightly integrated with Massive Open Online Course development, high school, undergraduate and graduate student training, as well as educational module design for K-12 classrooms.