1.   Plasmonic modulators recently demonstrated ultrafast operation (>170 GHz), ultra-compact footprints (10s µm²) and ultra-low power consumption (10s fJ/bit), with reliable operation beyond 130°C when based on ferroelectric materials on silicon. In turn, Integrated Microwave Photonics (IMWP) has been identified as an enabling technology for next-generation wireless communication systems, as it provides efficient techniques for optical signal generation and distribution of mm-waves towards antenna terminals or remote radio heads, optical control of phased arrays, and more. The application of this novel plasmonic platform to IMWP systems offers new frontiers and possibilities, and may provide unprecedented compactness and theoretically unlimited RF bandwidth to on-chip IMWP systems. Starting from a report on recent advances on plasmonic modulator devices at ETH Zurich, including plasmonic phase modulators, Mach-Zehnder and IQ-modulators, in this talk we discuss the potential of this platform for microwave photonics applications, with emphasis on mm-wave and sub-THz wireless communications and signal processing.

Location:
Montreal, Switzerland