arXiv subjects

Yiou Cui

Publications and source records attributed to Yiou Cui.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Programmable generation of optical skyrmions on a silicon photonic chip

Optical skyrmions, characterized by topologically stable and spatially varying polarization textures, show immense potential for robust optical communications and metrology. However, conventional methods for generating optical Stokes skyrmions rely on bulky free-space optics, strictly constraining both system miniaturization and dynamic reconfigurability. Here, we demonstrate the efficient and programmable generation of optical skyrmions and bimerons using a compact silicon photonic chip. By integrating a programmable Mach--Zehnder interferometer mesh with a multi-dimensional grating emitter, we dynamically control the amplitudes, phases, and polarizations of emitted fundamental and orbital angular momentum modes. This architecture allows on-demand electrical switching among a complete library of optical quasi-particle states, including N\'eel, Bloch, intermediate, and anti-type skyrmions and bimerons. Experimental full-Stokes polarimetry confirms high-fidelity polarization textures with near-unity skyrmion numbers. Our foundry-compatible platform translates complex topological light generation into simple voltage controls, paving the way for next-generation communication and sensing systems based on optical skyrmions.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2026

Towards Terabit/$\lambda$/s Multidimensional Silicon Photonic Engine

Increasing artificial intelligence (AI) workloads drive co-packaged optics (CPO), which integrates optical engines with electronic components. Optical interconnects can extend transmission distances and reduce latency, allowing distributed clusters in AI factories to operate as a unified computational unit. However, escalating data throughput necessitates greater parallelization of light within ultracompact form factors while maintaining stringent energy efficiency and latency constraints. Here, we present a multidimensional silicon photonic engine that achieves a communication capacity exceeding 1.8 terabit/s/lambda/s. By monolithically integrating transceivers, spatial and polarization (de)multiplexers, and optical signal processors on a single chip, we eliminate bulky discrete (de)multiplexers and power-hungry digital signal processing (DSP). In experiments, the photonic engine can be self-configured to identify two, four, or six concurrent spatial and polarization channels per fiber while mitigating dynamic channel crosstalk. Compared with the state-of-art DSP, our approach achieves >5,000-fold reductions in both power consumption and processing latency at a MIMO processing order of six. Furthermore, we demonstrate full-duplex, modulation-format-transparent inter-chip communication over 300-meter fiber. These results represent a paradigm shift for optical engines in future high-performance computing and AI-driven data centers.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2026

Self-Configuring Universal Multichannel and Multidimensional Integrated Photonic Processing Engine

Arbitrary manipulation of light across multiple physical dimensions is essential for harnessing its parallelism in fundamental research and advanced applications, such as optical interconnects, computing, imaging, sensing, and quantum networks. However, creating a universal device capable of arbitrary operations of multidimensional optical beams has been challenging, primarily due to their complex mutual interferences and dynamic transmission characteristics. In this study, we experimentally demonstrate a self-configuring integrated photonic processor designed for the arbitrary manipulations of multiple optical waves over their spatial and polarization dimensions. Despite the random nature of the input speckle, the photonic processor relies on an optical singular-value decomposition engine to sort all orthogonal input beams and implement arbitrary processing over both spatial and polarization dimensions precisely. Notably, the photonic processor can be self programmed in situ, enabling versatile functionalities such as beam shaping, optical switching, and reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexing. Our findings advance the manipulation of multidimensional optical beams through a scalable, CMOS-compatible integration approach, paving the way for fully exploiting the parallelism of light in various applications.

physics.optics↗