Lecture Topics
The detailed schedule of the lectures will be posted in March. Stay tuned.

Introduction to silicon photonics
by
Prof. Roel Baets,
Ghent University – imec, Belgium

Integrated Optical Isolators
by
Prof. Tetsuya Mizumoto,
Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan
An optical isolator allows light waves to propagate in a specified direction and not in the opposite. By virtue of this behavior, the isolator plays an essential role in preventing undesired optical feedback from interacting with optical active devices. In this lecture, various types of optical isolators that are integratable on silicon phonic platforms are presented including non-magneto-optical devices.
Most part of lecture focuses on a magneto-optical isolators fabricated in silicon waveguides. The lecture addresses the device design principles as well as the state-of-the-art performance characteristics demonstrated in fabricated devices.

Silicon Nitride Integrated Photonics
by
Prof. Daniel Blumenthal,
University of California Santa Barbara, U.S.A

Passive Silicon Photonics: from basics to circuits
by
Prof. Andrea Melloni,
Politecnico di Milano, Italy
The lecture provides a panorama of the potentials and limits of the silicon photonic platform to implement passive functionalities. Aspects apparently trivial or negligible that can have a large impact on the overall performance of the entire circuit will be considered with detail. The state of the art of passive devices will be shown and rings resonators will be treated in detail, starting from an historical survey and going through theory and applications. Several arguments have the scope to trigger further interests and are propaedeutic to the other lectures.

Polarization management in sillicon photonics
by
Prof. Daoxin Dai,
Zhejiang University, China
Since silicon nanophotonic waveguides usually have ultra-high birefringence due to the ultra-high index-contrast and the nano-scale cross section, polarization management is playing an important role in silicon photonics. In this lecture, I will discuss new technologies and silicon photonic devices for on-chip polarization management, including polarizers, polarization beam splitters, as well as polarization rotators. The challenges in this field will also be discussed.

Multilayer Silicon Photonics
by
Prof. Joyce Poon,
Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, Germany

Topological photonics on silicon,
by
Dr. Andrea Blanco-Redondo,
Nokia-Bell Labs, USA

Design Methodologies in silicon photonics,
by
Dr. Dominic Gallagher,
Photon Design, UK

High-speed Modulators and Detectors in Silicon Photonics
by
Dr. Laurent Vivien
C2N, CNRS, Uni. Paris-Sud, Uni. Paris Saclay, France

Heterogeneous Integration for high-speed modulators in silicon photonics
by
Prof. Dries Van Thourhout,
Ghent Univerity – imec, Belgium
Standard silicon phase modulators based on carrier dispersion effects suffer from a relatively low efficiency and/or high loss, and residual amplitude modulation. Therefore several alternatives are being investigated. Non-standard materials such as BTO, Lithium Niobate, PZT, EO-polymers or 2D-materials are integrated using heterogeneous integration methods and do allow for pure phase modulation. We will review state-of-the-art, open challenges and end with prospects for future work.

Noise in silicon photonics transceivers and other optical systems
by
Prof. Jeremy Witzens,
RWTH Aachen University, Germany
The analysis of noise is an essential aspect of optical communications and sensing, but also one of the more subtle ones. I will cover the physical origin and modeling of laser, optical amplifier and transceiver noise with the objective to enable a comprehensive point-to-point system analysis. Application examples in both optical communications and metrology will be given.

Transfer printing for silicon photonics
by
Prof. Gunther Roelkens,
Ghent University – imec, Belgium
In this lecture I will discuss micro-transfer printing as a novel technique to realise heterogeneous silicon photonic integrated circuits, through the integration of III-V opto-electronic components and other devices/materials on the silicon photonics platform.

III-V/Si lasers
by
Sylvie Menezo,
SCINTIL Photonics, France

Beamforming using silicon photonics
by
TBA

Programmable Silicon Photonics
by
Prof. Wim Bogaerts,
Ghent University – imec, Belgium
We will introduce the field of large-scale programmable photonics. In the past few years, new concepts for general-purpose, programmable photonic integrated circuits (PIC) have been proposed to manipulate light in a more flexible way. Today, most PICs are developed for one function, and are therefore called application-specific photonic integrated circuits (ASPIC), and a new chip has to be designed for each new application The new class of programmable PICs can be used more like electronic microcontrollers and field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), and programmed in software for different tasks. Simple programmable PICs have already been experimentally demonstrated, reproducing functionality in programming hitherto limited to custom-designed hardware. This programming is done through electro-optic tuners like waveguide heaters or MEMS. We will discuss different architectures for programmable PICs, and the technology stack that is needed to realize the full programmable PICs: waveguides, actuators, monitors, control loops, programming algorithms and a user interface that makes the hardware accessible to the users. We will briefly discuss the economics behind programmable PICs, and draw parallels with programmable electronics, which have put complex functionality in the hands of the maker community.

Visible light and neurophotonics
by
Prof. Joyce Poon,
Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, Germany

Integrated Microwave Photonics
by
Prof. David Marpaung,
University of Twente, the Netherlands
In this lecture I will discuss new technologies and paradigms underpinning the second-wave of integrated microwave photonics, including optical frequency combs, plasmonic modulators. programmable photonics, and photon-phonon interactions.

Mid-IR Silicon Photonics
by
Prof. Delphine Marris-Morini,
Paris Sud University, France
First applications of silicon photonics were dedicated to Datacom in the near-InfraRed (near-IR) wavelength range. However, it appeared that Si photonics also presents major advantages spectroscopic applications in the mid-infrared (mid-IR) wavelength range. In this lecture I will review recent progress in the field of mid-IR silicon photonics, and the perspectives open by these works in terms of spectroscopic applications.

Packaging in silicon photonics + cases
by
Padraic Morrissey,
Tyndall National Institute – PIXAPP, Ireland
Photonic device packaging can account for over 50% of the photonic product manufacturing cost. Therefore, industries developing photonic-based products must understand the materials, technologies and processes required to package photonic devices. In this short lecture, we will review some of the main principles of photonic packaging and how they apply to Silicon Photonics. This includes an overview of some key packaging and assembly building blocks, with examples of how they are applied in real-world examples.

Neuromorphic Computing using silicon photonics
by
Prof. Peter Bienstman,
Ghent University – imec, Belgium
Machine learning has made tremendous progress recently, as evidenced by the success of deep learning and neuromorphic photonics. In this lecture, we will discuss how silicon photonics can be an interesting hardware platform for the implementation of these paradigms. We will focus mostly on a technique called reservoir computing, and illustrate how it can be used to perform e.g. non-linear dispersion compensation in telecom links, or to identify different kinds of particles in a flow cytometer setup.

Electronics for transceivers
by
Prof. Johan Bauwelinck,
Ghent University – imec, Belgium
Modulation and multiplexing formats in silicon photonics transceivers
by
TBA

Pushing the boundaries of nanophotonics through inverse design
by
Dr. Dries Jo F Vercruysse,
Stanford University, U.S.A
By allowing for arbitrary device geometries, inverse design methods enable nanophotonics devices with improved efficiencies, reduced footprints, and novel functionalities. We explore how these new design methods can be leveraged to improve integrated photonics further and enable new applications.

Frequency combs using silicon photonics and their applications
by
Prof. Bart Kuyken,
Ghent University - imec, Belgium
