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StatusOngoing
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Status date2024-04-25
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Activity Code6B.124
RELINO aims to increase the reliability and manufacturing yield of high-speed (>55 GHz) electro-optic modulators. The modulators are based on thin-film lithium niobate and are manufactured by Versics AG.
The reliability improvement shall be obtained after performing environmental, endurance, constructional, mechanical and control tests. The tests are planned to follow international testing workflows such as Telcordia.
The yield improvement shall be obtained through optimised microfabrication and assembly workflows. The microfabrication tasks include yield analysis of the fabrication process, while the assembly tasks focus on advanced packaging processes and their yield for high-speed electro-optic modulators.
The key challenges are two-fold. First, to find the failure modes of the thin-film lithium niobate technology as it requires advanced photonic packaging, and second, to increase microfabrication yield in a material stack that is currently available in 4- and 6-inch wafers.
The high-speed electro-optic modulator based on thin-film lithium niobate offers a larger bandwidth with the same half-wave voltage as the bulk lithium niobate technology.
Also, the technology enables a footprint reduction of the photonic integrated circuit (PIC) and, thus, the final product footprint. Such reduction has two advantages for the end user: it can reduce the cost per PIC as more PICs are fabricated per square millimetre. It also implies that future IQ modulators or a mix of phase and amplitude modulators can be assembled in a single packaged device.
The 3-dB modulation bandwidth of the product reaches more than 55 GHz and is usable for microwave experiments and systems up to 110 GHz. The bandwidth improves by a factor of 2 compared to bulk lithium niobate with the same half-wave voltage.
When comparing product footprints, the thin-film lithium niobate can be as small as half the usual size on bulk lithium niobate modulators.
The RELINO project develops an optical component, not a sub-system or system. However, the electro-optic modulator can be tested under a system architecture of a microwave link (on the optical side, laser sources are connected to the modulator, and on the electrical side, a modulated RF signal is fed into the modulator).
The project plan can be classified into three main stages: first, the requirements on manufacturing and reliability must be drafted and approved. Second, the manufacturing of enough test devices must be performed. Third, the electro-optic modulators undergo a series of environmental, endurance, constructional and mechanical tests that have been previously defined.
The project was kicked-off on 22 May 2023. The requirements of the manufacturing and testing campaigns are being drafted before the Critical Design Review (CDR). Test Readiness Review (TRR) and Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) meetings are scheduled after CDR and before Final Review (FR).
