Optical Accelerometer and Laser System-on-Chip via Heterogeneous Silicon Photonics

Luna has assembled a world-class team to develop an in-plane optical MEMS accelerometer integrated with an on-chip Silicon/III-V laser. This innovative product will enable new levels of performance for Army missile inertial navigation in GPS-denied environments. The integration of the accelerometer with an on-chip light source using heterogeneous silicon photonics drastically minimizes device size, weight, and power (SWaP) while maintaining a high performance for inertial guidance. Benefitting from wafer-level fabrication, monolithically processed components allow for precise proof mass self-alignment and position sensing. An in-plane, heterogeneous Si/III-V laser eliminates optical coupling issues and the need for a bulky, external light source by coupling light directly into the MEMS accelerometer via on-chip waveguides. Phase I will concentrate on accelerometer design, modeling, and development of the fabrication process. High-fidelity Multiphysics simulations will be carried out to validate the design and prove the feasibility of the device to meet program goals for range, bias instability, scale factor stability, and volume. A prototype of the in-plane accelerometer layout using macro scale laboratory components will be interrogated with an external laser source to prove the concept. During Phase II, the team will fabricate and test a prototype optical MEMS accelerometer system-on-chip with integrated Silicon/III-V laser. A successful project will result in significant commercial potential and will advance the state-of-the-art in silicon photonics and optical MEMS inertial sensors.