Silicon photonics

Silicon photonics integrates optical components and circuits using silicon-based materials and semiconductor fabrication methods, often alongside electronic circuitry.

Silicon-on-insulator: A layered substrate with a thin silicon film separated from a silicon wafer by an insulating oxide layer. Its silicon film and oxide cladding form the platform for many integrated optical circuits.
Silicon: A chemical element and semiconductor widely used to make electronic devices and integrated circuits. Its mature semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem makes silicon a practical photonics platform.
Optical interconnect: A link that carries data between devices or components using light. Silicon photonic transceivers can move high data rates between servers and network equipment.
Indium phosphide: A compound semiconductor used in optoelectronics, including efficient lasers and photodetectors. Unlike silicon, it can provide efficient light emission while supporting integrated optical components.
Waveguide: A structure that confines and directs waves along a path. Silicon waveguides confine light through refractive-index contrast, routing it between chip components.
Photonic integrated circuit: An integrated circuit that combines multiple optical functions on a single chip. Silicon photonics is a major approach to building these circuits.
Optical transceiver: A device that converts electrical data into optical signals and optical signals back into electrical data. It packages silicon photonic transmitters and receivers for communication links.
Silicon nitride photonics: An integrated photonics platform that uses silicon nitride waveguides and related components. Its low optical loss suits resonators and long paths, while silicon often offers tighter confinement.
Mach–Zehnder interferometer: An optical device that splits light into two paths and recombines it to produce interference. Many silicon modulators encode data by changing the phase difference between its paths.
Total internal reflection: The reflection of light entirely back into a material when it strikes a boundary above the critical angle. It helps confine light inside high-index silicon waveguides.

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