Seoul Teams Develop Programmable Photonic Chip That Tunes Light Delays, Bandwidth and Frequency
Updated
Updated · New Atlas · Aug 19
Seoul Teams Develop Programmable Photonic Chip That Tunes Light Delays, Bandwidth and Frequency
3 articles · Updated · New Atlas · Aug 19
Summary
Seoul National University and the University of Seoul proposed a photonic circuit that can dynamically change how long light pulses are delayed on a chip, rather than locking that timing in at manufacture.
The design adds 2 tunable loop couplers to a resonator network, letting one circuit reconfigure delay, transmission-band shape, throughput and even transmitted-light frequency while operating.
3-dimensional electromagnetic simulations on a silicon-nitride platform showed the architecture still worked despite losses, resonator mismatch, backscattering, phase errors and thermal crosstalk, suggesting it could be built with existing fabrication technology.
The work remains theoretical and simulation-based, but the team says programmable delay lines and buffers could help synchronize signals in optical communications, photonic AI processors and future optical computers.