OKI Develops Ultracompact Photonic Integrated Circuit Chip Using Silicon Photonics Technology to Realize Various Optical Sensors

Using silicon photonics technology for semiconductor optical circuits, OKI has developed an ultracompact photonic integrated circuit chip with a broad range of potential applications, including optical fiber sensors, laser vibrometers, and optical biosensors. This makes it possible to achieve ultra-miniaturization and low power consumption similar to LSI (Note 1), as well as dramatically lower costs through mass production of optical sensor modules. 

Optical sensors are a technology that uses optical fibers and optical waveguides with low light loss to detect, process, and transmit physical phenomena such as vibration, strain, and temperature in the form of light, and are themselves a green technology that realizes sensing while saving energy. Silicon photonics technology is a technology that can broaden the scope of applications for optical sensors previously limited to localized use, and is expected to make a significant contribution to the advancement of GX (Note 2).

To address various issues faced by modern society, such as aging social infrastructure, labor shortages, environmental problems, and extending healthy lifespans, high-precision sensor technology and network technology capable of seamlessly collecting vast amounts of sensor data are required. While high-precision optical sensors that take advantage of the property of light, i.e., low energy loss, are one effective technology to realize the above, their large size and high cost have limited their applications to a few areas such as research and large-scale infrastructures.

OKI has engaged in research and development on silicon photonics technology over many years, centered on optical transceivers, with the scope of this research still currently expanding to include various optical sensors. Silicon photonics technology is a technology that integrates complex optical circuits—previously realized by wiring individual optical components with optical fibers—on a silicon substrate using semiconductor microfabrication technology. It makes use of the same manufacturing methods as LSI, which is vital for computers, enabling miniaturization, energy saving, and cost reduction through mass production. Devices that were previously large, heavy, and cumbersome can now be downsized to dimensions comparable to a smartphone or tablet, greatly expanding the scope of optical sensor applications.

In November 2023, OKI announced its technology strategy through to 2031, which is aimed at bringing the Edge Platform to reality. The Edge Platform is a technology concept to expand the value provided through edge advancement and data connection and linkage based on OKI’s core competence of “robustness,” which has supported social infrastructures. The technology strategy includes bolstering optical sensing technology across a wide range of areas, from social infrastructure monitoring to the medical field. The development of this photonic integrated circuit chip is based on this technology strategy and is the result of fully capitalizing on silicon photonics technology.