Competitive Research Programme (CRP) 

Piezoelectric Photonics Using CMOS Compatible AlN Technology for Enabling The Next Generation Photonics ICs

PI: Assoc Prof Vincent Lee Chengkuo, NUS

Aluminium Nitride-based piezoelectric photonics as an enabler for next-generation photonics and nanosensors

Aluminium Nitride (AIN) may soon be the key ingredient in developing more affordable, smaller-scale nanosensors working in the mid-infrared range that can be used to monitor the environment, detect gas leakages in industrial settings, as well as in smart homes for healthcare applications.

The material offers great design flexibility due to its non-linearity and piezoelectric property and compatibility to complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. The project will investigate both non-linearity and Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems tuning mechanisms for AlN-based tunable optical function elements like resonators, filters, coupler and memory. It will also look to leverage existing silicon photonics technology by exploring multilayered AlN/silicon photonics as a new CMOS optoelectronics integrated circuits technology.

The research findings could be of strong interest to the local photonics industry and optical chipmakers, as well as to Singapore’s Smart Nation initiative.