Photonic integrated circuits (PICs) have attracted great attention as promising platforms for high-data-rate communications and high-performance computing. For the PICs, photonic devices with compatible materials, compact footprint, high-performance, and sophisticated functionalities are necessary building blocks. Design optimization to implement such devices for target applications and requirements are of critical importance. In this respect, inverse design methods, including iterative optimizations and deep neural networks, have demonstrated significant advantages over the traditional simulation-based trial-and-error optimization approach. We provide an overview of the recent progress on the inverse designs for the integrated photonic devices. The principles and procedure of the inverse design methods are presented and discussed, followed by a summary of the methods employed for specific integrated photonic devices in different integrated photonics material platforms. Finally, topics of future applications and fabrication constraints for the inverse design methods are discussed.
Low-NA focusing systems can offer longer working distances than the high-NA ones, thereby enabling fabrication of 3D structures of great heights/thicknesses. However, degradation of the longitudinal resolution occurs at low NAs as a consequence of diffraction of the light waves. Here, we report on high-resolution laser printing of three dimensional (3D) structures of heights up to a few centimeters with a sub-10 μm longitudinal resolution by incorporating a simultaneous spatiotemporal focusing (SSTF) scheme into the femtosecond laser direct writing. Remarkably, the SSTF can ensure generation of symmetric focal spots (i.e., spherical focal spots) of comparable sizes along both the horizontal and vertical directions. The resolutions are tunable in real time by dynamically varying the power of the writing laser beam. The ability to simultaneous achieving the large heights and high longitudinal resolutions in femtosecond laser 3D micromachining is of great use for applications ranging from microfluidics to infrared and THz photonics.
We present a method based on simultaneous spatiotemporal focusing (SSTF) of the femtosecond laser pulses that enables to fabricate 3D structures on the centimeter scale. The isotropic spatial resolutions of fabrication have been achieved in different materials, making this approach easy to implement. For example, applying simultaneous spatiotemporal focusing (SSTF) of femtosecond laser pulses in two-photon polymerization (TPP) (i.e., termed as SSTF-TPP hereafter) uniquely allows for producing centimeter-scale 3D structures at a spatial resolution as high as ~10 μm. The fabrication resolution can be tuned simply by varying the power of femtosecond laser. The capacity of this SSTF-TPP method is confirmed by fabricating complex 3D structures such as Chinese guardian lions and a Terra Cotta Warrior. In addition, based on the SSTF scheme, we demonstrate 3D microprocessing in glass with a nearly invariant spatial resolution for a large range of penetration depth without any aberration correction. The SSTF technique can be useful for a broad range of superfine 3D printing applications such as micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), infrared or Terahertz photonics, microfluidics, and 3D bio-printing.
For higher-density integration and acceleration of operating speed in Si ICs, 3D integration of wafers and/or dies is essential. Fabrication of current 3D ICs relies on 3D assembly which electrically connects stacked chips to form a single circuit. A key technology for the 3D assembly is TSVs which are vertical electrical connections passing completely through silicon chips to electrically connect vertically assembled Si ICs. Typical TSVs have wide features, with diameters of a range from several microns to 50 μm and depths up to 500 μm with aspect ratios up to 15 depending on the application and integration scheme. In this work, we present high-throughput, taper-free TSVs fabrication using femtosecond Bessel beams operated at different wavelengths from 400 nm to 2.4 μm. Furthermore, special phase filters are designed to suppress the damages induced by the side-lobes of Bessel beams for high-quality TSVs fabrication. Our technique can be potentially used for 3D assembly in manufacture of 3D silicon integrated circuits.
According to specific configurations, three-dimensional (3D) patterning involves both 3D bioimaging and laser
micromachining. Recent advances in bioimaging have witnessed strong interests in the exploration of novel microscopy
methods capable of dynamic imaging of living organisms with high resolution, and large field of view (FOV). For most,
applications of bioimaging should be limited by the tradeoff between the speed, resolution, and FOV in common
techniques, e.g., confocal laser scanning microscopy and two-photon microscopy. However, a recently proposed
temporal focusing (TF) technique, based on spatio/temporal shaping of femtosecond laser pulses, enables depth-resolved
bioimaging in a wide-field illumination. This lecture firstly provides a glimpse into the state-of-the-art progress of
temporal focusing for bioimaging applications. Then we reveal a bizarre point spread function (PSF) of the temporal
focusing system, both experimentally and theoretically. It can be expected that this newly emerged technique will
exhibited new advances in not only 3D nonlinear bioimaging but also femtosecond laser micromachining in the future.
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