Photonics project exceeds phase one goals

Launched by the European Commission in 2008, the €8.5million project is designed to develop microelectronics fabrication processes for integrating photonics with cmos circuits and to make the technology available to a wide variety of users. The participants include the major European cmos photonics and electronics research centres and companies and potential users of the technology. According to research and technology public organisation Leti, which coordinated the project, it will drive the European RTD in cmos photonics and pave the way for industrial development. First phase achievements of Helios have concentrated on light photodetection and light coupling/routing. So far, successfully completed milestones include the characterisation of vertical and lateral PIN Ge and III-V MSM photodetectors, showing low dark current, high optical responsivity and high optical bandwidth compatible with 40 Gb/s operation. Further achievements include the demonstration of germanium photodiode bandwidth of 90GHz, the demonstration of inverted taper coupling structure with 1dB coupling loss and the design and fabrication of a transition between rib/strip waveguides with less than 0.2dB measured losses. Laurent Malier, ceo of Leti, believes the project's success in developing microelectronics fabrication processes for integrating photonics with cmos circuits would cement Europe's role as a global leader in this emerging technology. Mailier said: "Europe has a well established photonics components industry and it is strategically important for us to maintain photonic chip design and chip integrating functions that provide new opportunities for our microelectronics companies and enable us to compete with other countries. Helios combines the advanced, upstream research on cmos photonics from leading research laboratories and universities with the commercialisation expertise of some of Europe's leading technology companies that will make this technology commercially viable." The four year Helios project includes the development of silicon based and heterogeneous integration of III-V on silicon, fast modulators and the combination and packaging of these building blocks for the demonstration of complex functions to address a variety of industrial needs.