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Device physics

The optical age of silicon

Nature volume 427, pages 595–596 (2004)Cite this article

The silicon chip has been the mainstay of the electronics industry and it may similarly come to dominate photonics. A key component — a high-frequency optical modulator — has now been fabricated.

Research into optical circuits for communications began in the 1970s. Early visions of optical circuits were as ‘optical superchips’, containing light emitters, modulators, amplifiers, optical isolators, detectors and, latterly, electronic intelligence1. However, there are still differing views about the optimum material for such components. This is sometimes articulated in the phrase “optical circuits have yet to find their silicon” — a reference to silicon's dominance in the microelectronics industry. Despite its success as an electronic material, silicon has received rather modest attention as an optical material. But that may be about to change. As they report on page 615 of this issue, Liu and colleagues2 of the Intel Corporation have now reached a milestone that bodes well for silicon's optical future: they have fabricated the first silicon-based optical modulator with a bandwidth that exceeds 1 gigahertz (GHz).

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  1. Advanced Technology Institute, University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH, Surrey, UK

    Graham T. Reed

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  1. Graham T. Reed
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Reed, G. The optical age of silicon. Nature 427, 595–596 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/427595b

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