About VISSION

The VISSION project aims to demonstrate the modular integration of a myriad of photonic system elements onto a single chip. Many optical detection and analysis systems would greatly benefit from miniaturisation and incorporation into photonic integrated circuits (PICs), enabling the reduction in size, weight and power that is an ongoing drive across technological development.

The project aims to develop the necessary components for the targeted applications, and prove the capability of the integration techniques with a range of end-product demonstrations. To achieve this, silicon nitride will be used as a passive waveguiding material.

Laser sources will be fabricated from gallium nitride and gallium arsenide, and photodetectors will be made using silicon. Optical modulators will be made with standard metallic heating elements and lead zirconate titanate. These components will then be combined into working optical circuits using a transfer printing method capable of high-volume manufacture.

Firstly, a proof-of-concept narrow-linewidth laser emitting at a wavelength of 461 nm will be demonstrated. Such lasers already have powerful applications in quantum computing research targeting the transition of a strontium atom.

The conversion of these devices to on-chip structures will enable greater future capability as the number of atoms in quantum computing systems increases with the advancement of research in the field. A similar device will be made emitting at 982 nm, a wavelength used in atomic clocks to target a transition in caesium.

Placeholder image, credit: New Scientist atomic_clock.webp

Secondly, a microfluidic flow cytometer will be developed with integrated optical sources and detectors. Flow cytometry is a critical stage in cell therapy cancer treatment, a powerful technique that is currently hindered in its widespread use by the cost and complexity of the technologies involved.

The development within VISSION of specialised integrated circuits to carry out the separation and analysis of individual cells will be a significant step towards the wider availability of cell therapy cancer treatment.

Placeholder image credit: Sarcura. Cell_cytometry.jpeg

Finally, an on-chip optical coherence tomography (OCT) system will be created, operating in the wavelength range 870-970nm. OCT is an imaging tool that is commonly used in the monitoring of ophthalmic health by providing real-time zero-contact imaging of the retinal surface and sub-surface.

By integrating a full OCT system onto a photonic chip, the size and cost can be greatly reduced. Further development of the technology in a wider wavelength range would broaden the range of applications into additional medical diagnostics as well as industrial monitoring.

Placeholder image, credit: G&H. oct.jpeg