Welcome to the Institute of Photonics and Quantum Electronics (IPQ)

October, 2018: Scientists of IPQ and IMT have demonstrated ultra-fast silicon-plasmonic devices for generation and detection of terahertz signals. The devices can be integrated on the silicon photonic platform, bringing together photonics, electronics and terahertz technologies on a common substrate. The concept offers promising perspectives for a wide variety of applications, including high-speed communications, life sciences and industrial metrology. The publication appeared in the October issue of Nature Photonics.

Media response: Nature Photonics
Original publication:  Nature Photonics

June 2018: Scientists of IPQ, IMT and University of Washington have demonstrated the highest in-device electro-optic (EO) activity in a high-speed EO modulator so far. This was achieved by using the organic EO material JRD1, which is the result of theory-guided optimization of its molecular design. In the so-called silicon-organic hybrid integration concept, this material was combined with standard silicon-photonic waveguides, forming hybrid modulators. The devices operate very efficiently, enabling high-quality optical data transmission at 40 Gbit/s with ultra-low drive voltages as low as 140 mVpp. Thus, based on these devices, highly energy-efficient communication networks could be realized in the near future and the devices could be of prime importance for low-power information processing in tomorrow’s data centers.

Original publication: Optica

KIT Press release: German

July 2018: The IPQ/IMT project team "DELPHI - 3D Laser Lithography for Photonic Integration" will receive the Second Prize of the renowned Berthold-Leibinger Innovation Prize. The DELPHI project group, headed by Christian Koos, was dedicated to industrial adoption of femtosecond laser lithography as a tool for 3D additive nanofabrication in integrated photonics and has led to foundation of the start-up company Vanguard Photonics GmbH. The project builds upon multi-photon lithography for fabrication of single-mode photonic waveguides and free-form micro-optical elements for efficient coupling of optical microchips. The award ceremony will take place on September 21, 2018 in Ditzingen, Germany.

July 2018: The additive 3D nanostructure group of IPQ and IMT has demonstrated efficient coupling of III-V light sources to silicon photonic circuits using photonic wire bonding (PWB). The technique exploits direct-write two-photon lithography for in situ fabrication of three-dimensional freeform waveguides between optical chips. The work showed that the PWBs can have insertion losses as low as 0.4 dB and introduce no detrimental effect on the linewidth or the threshold of the DFB lasers. Combined with previously demonstrated chip-to-chip and fiber-to-chip connections, we expect photonic wire bonding to evolve into a universal integration platform for hybrid photonic multi-chip assemblies.

The published work is made as the cover of Optica Vol. 5, Issue 7, 2018.

Original publication: Optica

KIT Newsletter: German

March 2018: Scientists of IPQ and IMT have demonstrated microscopic beam-shaping elements that can be directly printed to the facets of optical chips or fibers by means of multi-photon lithography. The beam shaping elements comprise free-form lenses and mirrors as well as more complex multi-lens systems such as beam expanders. Facet-attached optical elements can dramatically relax alignment tolerances of optical coupling interfaces, thus paving the way to automated assembly of photonic multi-chip systems with unprecedented performance and versatility.

KIT Press release: German

Original publication: Nature Photonics