Self-configuring photonic circuits and limits in optics

Keynote talk at Photonics West, 2023 – “Self-configuring algorithms, topologies and fundamental limits for photonic circuits and structures”

Micro- and nano-fabrication allow new optical systems well beyond previous conventional optics. These possibilities cause us to think of optics quite differently. One approach uses “circuits” with topologies and configuration algorithms. Some such topologies support algorithms allow rapid self-configuration, adapting automatically, such as undoing scattering between multiple overlapping beams. Other approaches, such as inverse design, allow almost arbitrarily complex structures. Such different optics need new theoretical approaches and results, giving new scalings, limits and bounds. This talk will summarize work on optical circuits for applications, in computing, communications, and sensing, and new fundamental directions in understanding limits to optical systems, including recent results on understanding the need for thickness in optics.

Talk reference

D. A. B. Miller, “Self-configuring algorithms, topologies and fundamental limits for photonic circuits and structures,” (Keynote talk), Integrated Optics: Devices, Materials, and Technologies XXVII, SPIE Photonics, Conference 12424, 30 January – 2 February 2023 San Francisco, CA, Paper 12424-18

Major references for the talk

D. A. B. Miller, “Why optics needs thickness,” Science 379, 41-45 (2023) Open access link to Science paper https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ade3395 Author’s final version (with Supplementary Materials)

D. A. B. Miller, “Waves, modes, communications, and optics: a tutorial,” Adv. Opt. Photon. 11, 679-825 (2019) https://doi.org/10.1364/AOP.11.000679

W. Bogaerts, D. Pérez, J. Capmany, D. A. B. Miller, J. Poon, D. Englund, F. Morichetti and A. Melloni “Programmable photonic circuits,” Nature 586, 207–216 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2764-0 Open access link https://rdcu.be/b8caY

Other references in the talk

S. Pai, I. A. D. Williamson, T. W. Hughes, M. Minkov, O. Solgaard, S. Fan, and D. A. B. Miller, “Parallel programming of an arbitrary feedforward photonic network,” IEEE J. Sel. Top. Quantum Electron. 25, 6100813 (2020) http://doi.org/10.1109/JSTQE.2020.2997849

D. A. B. Miller, “Self-aligning universal beam coupler,” Opt. Express 21, 6360-6370 (2013) https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.21.006360

D. A. B. Miller, “Self-configuring universal linear optical component,” Photon. Res. 1, 1-15 (2013). http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/PRJ.1.000001

D. A. B. Miller, “Perfect optics with imperfect components,” Optica  2, 747-750 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.2.000747

C. M. Wilkes, X. Qiang, J. Wang, R. Santagati, S. Paesani, X. Zhou, D. A. B. Miller, G. D. Marshall, M. G. Thompson, and J. L. O’Brien, “60  dB high-extinction auto-configured Mach–Zehnder interferometer,” Opt. Lett. 41, 5318-5321 (2016) http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OL.41.005318

A. Annoni, E. Guglielmi, M. Carminati, G. Ferrari, M. Sampietro, D. A. B. Miller, A. Melloni, and F. Morichetti, “Unscrambling light – automatically undoing strong mixing between modes,” Light Science & Applications 6, e17110 (2017) https://doi.org/10.1038/lsa.2017.110

M. Milanizadeh, F. Toso, G. Ferrari, T. Jonuzi, D. A. B. Miller, A. Melloni, and F. Morichetti, “Coherent self-control of free-space optical beams with integrated silicon photonic meshes,”. Photonics Research 9, 2196-2204 (2021), http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/PRJ.428680

M. Milanizadeh, SM. SeyedinNavadeh, F. Zanetto, V. Grimaldi, C. De Vita, C. Klitis, M. Sorel, G. Ferrari, D. A. B. Miller, A. Melloni, and F Morichetti, “Separating arbitrary free-space beams with an integrated photonic processor,” Light: Science & Applications 11, 197 (2022) (2022) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-022-00884-8

D. A. B. Miller, “Establishing optimal wave communication channels automatically,” J. Lightwave Technol. 31, 3987 – 3994 (2013) https://doi.org/10.1109/JLT.2013.2278809

SeyedMohammad SeyedinNavadeh, Maziyar Milanizadeh, Francesco Zanetto, Vittorio Grimaldi, Christian De Vita, Giorgio Ferrari, David A. B. Miller, Andrea Melloni, and Francesco Morichetti, “Multi-channel free-space optical communication between self-configuring silicon photonics meshes,” 23rd European Conference on Integrated Optics, Milano, Italy, 4 – 6 May 2022 (https://www.ecio-conference.org/2022-proceedings/), Paper F.E.2

S. Pai, Z. Sun, T. W. Hughes, T. Park, B. Bartlett, I. A. D. Williamson, M. Minkov, M. Milanizadeh, N. Abebe, F. Morichetti, A Melloni, S. Fan, O. Solgaard, and D. A. B. Miller, “Experimentally realized in situ backpropagation for deep learning in nanophotonic neural networks,” DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2205.08501

S. Pai, T. Park, M. Ball, B. Penkovsky, M. Milanizadeh, M Dubrovsky, N. Abebe, F. Morichetti, A. Melloni, S. Fan, O. Solgaard, and D. A.B. Miller “Experimental evaluation of digitally-verifiable photonic computing for blockchain and cryptocurrency,” DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2205.08512

D. A. B. Miller, “All linear optical devices are mode converters,” Opt. Express 20, 23985-23993 (2012)
https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.20.023985