Reconfigurable Materials for Photonic Systems

The Air Force has expressed a need for reconfigurable cellular electronic and photonic arrays and their great potential in enabling the direct implementation of complex systems as software-defined emulations, configuring pre-built logic, and other optical processing or transmission functions. Our proposal addresses the need for integration of the universal logic cells and the reconfigurable interconnection matrix. The technology we propose will enable the photonic integrated circuit (IC) work is as flexible as its electronic counterparts such as the field programmable gate array (FPGA) IC. In particular, we propose to design and fabricate a universal logic cell formed by coupling the active micro-ring resonator with a Y-junction splitter. The gain and phase condition of the micro-ring will be controlled by an external voltage and optical probe signal so that the logic cell will perform in multiple states. The logic cell array will be connected by the reconfigurable optical interconnection matrix so that even more complicated functions can be realized. In Phase I, we propose to design, process, and demonstrate an electro-optical AND logic gate with two logic cells connected by photonic crystal interconnection waveguides. BENEFIT: Our proposed reconfigurable photonic integrated circuit (RPIC) will directly benefit Air Force warfighting systems due to its potentially pervasive morphability. The RPIC will reduce the development cost of complicated optical transmission or processing units since its basic structure is based on universal logic cells and a reconfigurable interconnection matrix that can be easily reconfigured according to real-time needs. It will also increase the agility of the fighting system due to its flexibly electrical and optical control methods. Due to its compact size and light weight, our RPIC can be easily integrated into airborne control or communication systems in the military aircrafts.   The RPIC also benefits other military applications such as the secure command and communication systems in a battlefield where the communication methods need real time reconfigured to avoid the hostile detections. The RPIC also increases the survivability of the war systems since they can be reconfigured to replace the damaged units.  The RPICs also have extensive civilian commercial applications. In scientific research applications, they can be used for conceptual validation of certain optical functions.  In communication systems, they can act as a programmable and reconfigurable optical logic unit or switching unit which can increase the system flexibility and reliability and help to build self-curable networks.)