Events Calendar

Integrated Systems Seminar Series - Spring 2014

Speaker: Alexander Rylyakov , IBM

Talk Title: Silicon Photonics: Believe the Hype or Forget About It?

Series: Integrated Systems Seminar Series

Abstract: Silicon Photonics is certainly not a new technology with early papers published in 1980s and first commercial products available in 1990s. It also has a number of well-known and very significant technical challenges, especially when it is compared to mature III-V based optical communication devices, such as VCSELs and InP photonic integrated circuits. And yet in recent years it very clearly has entered a dramatic hype cycle, with many companies developing the technology (e.g., Cisco/Lightwire, Mellanox/Kotura, Molex/Luxtera, Samsung, IBM, Intel, and many others) and announcing products. The overall situation tends to be extremely polarizing, with hard core proponents citing only the advantages of Silicon Photonics (high level of integration, cost, compatibility with CMOS) and skeptics focusing mostly on the issues (absence of optical gain, coupling losses, device performance). I will try to provide a balanced view, based on my personal experience designing the driver/receiver circuits for Silicon Photonic devices, VCSELs and InP PICs. I will review recent IBM Research results on optical transceivers and switches, comparing key parameters (power efficiency, density, reach) of different approaches. During the review I will necessarily have to touch on sensitive subjects such as direct laser modulation vs different modulator types (MZ, ring, EA), hybrid approach vs monolithic integration of optics and circuits and so on. I don’t have a roadmap or a crystal ball, so I will not make any conclusions or forward looking statements, but so far it has been a very exciting area of research, with a clear potential for more.

Biography: Alexander Rylyakov received the M.S. degree in physics from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology in 1989 and the Ph.D. degree in physics from State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1997, where he worked on the design and testing of superconductor integrated circuits based on Josephson junctions. In 1999 he joined the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center as a Research Staff Member, working on the design and testing of high-speed digital and mixed-signal communication circuits for optical and channel-limited wireline communications. Many of those circuits, implemented in various generations of CMOS and SiGe bipolar, are now used in IBM products and several of them have established performance records in their respective technologies. Dr. Rylyakov's current research interests are in the areas of digital phase-locked loops for communication and microprocessor clocking, high-speed low power transceivers and equalization for wireline and optical communication, and integrated circuits for silicon photonics. He has published over 80 papers and has 20 patents issued.
Recent IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Awards: “Advancements in the Science of Silicon Nanophotonics” (2012), “Development of Digital PLL Technology and Its Establishment in IBM Product Roadmaps” (2013), “Technologies for Terabit/s Optical Transceivers” (2013)


Host: Hossien Hashemi, Mike Chen, Mahta Moghaddam, Sushil Subramanian

More Info: http://mhi.usc.edu/activities/integrated-systems/

Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Sushil Subramanian

Event Link: http://mhi.usc.edu/activities/integrated-systems/