arXiv subjects

Ewoud Vissers

Publications and source records attributed to Ewoud Vissers.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Micro-Transfer Printing of Lithium Niobate on 200 mm Silicon Photonics: A High-Speed Heterogeneous Wafer-Scale Platform

The rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and other data center applications is driving the demand for photonic interconnects that combine high-speed with low energy consumption, making scalability a critical requirement. Micro-transfer printing (MTP) has emerged as a promising technique for the wafer-scale heterogeneous integration of thin film lithium niobate (TFLN) onto silicon photonics (SiPho) platforms. Here, we demonstrate heterogeneous SiPho TFLN integration across four full 200 mm wafers with a 3sigma placement accuracy down to 420 nm and a printing yield of larger than 95percentage. Low insertion loss less than 2 dB over 600 phase modulators (300 amplitude modulators) is achieved. A half wave voltage of 4 V in push pull configuration, and high-speed modulation with a bandwith larger than 70 GHz is demonstrated on a subset of tested devices.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2026

A variability-aware simulation and design workflow for wafer-scale, heterogeneously integrated lithium niobate modulators

We present a variability-aware simulation framework for heterogeneously integrated lithium niobate traveling-wave modulators. The framework incorporates fabrication-variation data obtained from our dedicated pilot line and enables efficient optimisation of geometric parameters to ensure stable device performance across wafer-scale manufacturing. The proposed multi-parameter optimisation method enables the efficient identification of modulator designs that simultaneously achieve target performance metrics (Vpi, optical insertion loss, and 3dB electro-optic bandwidth) while maintaining robustness against fabrication-induced variations. Using this methodology on two representative modulator architectures, we theoretically demonstrate that reliable wafer-scale integration of lithium niobate modulators on silicon photonics via micro-transfer printing is feasible and can be systematically engineered.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2025

A high-speed heterogeneous lithium tantalate silicon photonics platform

The rapid expansion of cloud computing and artificial intelligence has driven the demand for faster optical components in data centres to unprecedented levels. A key advancement in this field is the integration of multiple photonic components onto a single chip, enhancing the performance of optical transceivers. Here, silicon photonics, benefiting from mature fabrication processes, has gained prominence. The platform combines modulators, switches, photodetectors and low-loss waveguides on a single chip. However, emerging standards like 1600ZR+ potentially exceed the capabilities of silicon-based modulators. To address these limitations, thin-film lithium niobate has been proposed as an alternative to silicon photonics, offering a low voltage-length product and exceptional high-speed modulation properties. More recently, the first demonstrations of thin-film lithium tantalate circuits have emerged, addressing some of the disadvantages of lithium niobate enabling a reduced bias drift and enhanced resistance to optical damage. As such, making it a promising candidate for next-generation photonic platforms. However, a persistent drawback of such platforms is the lithium contamination, which complicates integration with CMOS fabrication processes. Here, we present for the first time the integration of lithium tantalate onto a silicon photonics chip. This integration is achieved without modifying the standard silicon photonics process design kit. Our device achieves low half-wave voltage (3.5 V), low insertion loss (2.9 dB) and high-speed operation (> 70 GHz), paving the way for next-gen applications. By minimising lithium tantalate material use, our approach reduces costs while leveraging existing silicon photonics technology advancements, in particular supporting ultra-fast monolithic germanium photodetectors and established process design kits.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2025

A scalable quadratic nonlinear silicon photonics platform with printable entangled photon-pair sources

The integration of second-order optical nonlinearities into scalable photonic platforms remains a key challenge due to their large sensitivity to fabrication variations. Here, we present a scalable quadratic nonlinear platform that harnesses the maturity and scalability of existing CMOS processes by heterogeneously integrating periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) onto a silicon photonics platform. A generic PPLN design enables frequency conversion on two distinct waveguide geometries with efficiencies comparable to LNOI rib waveguides. We achieve reproducible phase-matching across the full radius of a commercial 200 mm silicon photonics wafer, leveraging superior CMOS fabrication tolerances. Furthermore, we introduce a tuning mechanism for both blue- and red-shifting of the operating wavelength, fully compensating fabrication-induced offsets. This enables deterministic phase-matching over an entire wafer and yields a strategy for wafer-scale phase-matched quadratic nonlinearities. Finally, we realize printable photon-pair sources via spontaneous parametric down-conversion, highlighting the platform's potential for large-scale quantum optical circuits. These results pave the way for wafer-scale integration of second-order optical nonlinearities in large photonic systems.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2021

Hybrid integrated mode-locked laser diodes with a silicon nitride extended cavity

Integrated semiconductor mode-locked lasers have shown promise in many applications and are readily fabricated using generic InP photonic integration platforms. However, the passive waveguides offered in such platforms have relatively high linear and nonlinear losses that limit the performance of these lasers. By extending such lasers with, for example, an external cavity the performance can be increased considerably. In this paper, we demonstrate for the first time that a high-performance mode-locked laser can be achieved with a butt-coupling integration technique using chip scale silicon nitride waveguides. A platform-independent SiN/SU8 coupler design is used to couple between the silicon nitride external cavity and the III/V active chip. Mode-locked lasers at 2.18 GHz and 15.5 GHz repetition rates are demonstrated with Lorentzian RF linewidths several orders of magnitude smaller than what has been demonstrated on monolithic InP platforms. The RF linewidth was 31 Hz for the 2.18 GHz laser.

physics.optics↗