Data processing at the speed of light
Sang-Hoon Bae and Lan Yang receive NSF grant to overcome data processing bottleneck with integrated photonics
Imagine trying to carry a message down a crowded hallway. The more people trying to move through at once, the more difficult it becomes for any message to get through. Integrated electronics suffer from a similar bottleneck when transmitting signals through traditional silicon-based circuits. That clogged circuitry can negatively impact everything from the speed of your computer to the responsiveness of your smartphone.
Sang-Hoon Bae, assistant professor of mechanical engineering & materials science, and Lan Yang, the Edwin H. & Florence G. Skinner Professor in the Preston M. Green Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering, both in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, received a three-year, $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to address the processing bottleneck in integrated photonics. They plan to develop a versatile platform integrating a variety of functional optical materials to support the ever-increasing demand for faster data processing and greater efficiency in information flow.
Bae and Yang will combine their expertise in materials science and photonics to craft devices from several materials to achieve novel functionalities that have so far been impossible to realize with only a single optical material. Photonic devices use light instead of electrical signals to transmit information and can enable faster and more efficient data transfer. Leveraging these material advantages, the researchers aim to provide a new integration strategy to advance semiconductor technology and open new possibilities for efficient, high-speed communication technologies.
