Richard Soref plenary talk: Group IV Photonics for the Mid-Infrared

In "Group IV Photonics for the Mid Infrared" Richard Soref outlines the challenges and benefits of applying silicon-based photonic techniques in the 2 to 5 um mid-infrared (MIR) wavelength range for chem.-bio sensing, medical diagnostics, process control, environmental monitoring, secure communications, signal processing, and more. On-chip passive and active components, mostly waveguided, will enable opto-electronic CMOS and photonic integrated circuits for MIR system-on-a-chip applications such as spectroscopy and lab-on-a-chip.
Active heterostructures employing Si, Ge, SiGe, GeSn and SiGeSn are key for laser diodes, photodetectors, LEDs, switches, amplifiers, and modulators that provide totally monolithic foundry integration, while a variety of III-V semiconductor MIR devices offer practical hybrid integration on Si PICs.

Soref is Research Professor of Physics at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. For the past 50 years, he has engaged in basic and applied research, mainly in photonics and semiconductors. In 2006, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the IEEE Group IV Photonics Conference. He is a Fellow of IEEE, OSA, IOP and AFRL.