NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate or STMD chose five university-led teams to further study different applications of an emerging, potentially revolutionary technology called integrated photonics.
Under STMD’s Early Stage Innovations awards, recipients will receive as much as a half-million dollars over two to three years to advance technologies tackling high-priority needs. Of the 15 proposals selected, five address integrated photonics, an emerging technology expected to transform any technology that employs light. This includes everything from Internet communications over fiber-optic cable to spectrometers, chemical detectors, and surveillance systems, to name just a few (see related story).
“This is superb recognition by NASA of the importance of integrated photonics,” said Mike Krainak, a Goddard laser engineer who serves as NASA’s representative on a recently formed non-profit consortium aimed at further advancing the technology.
NASA selected the following researchers and topics:
- Karen Berman, Columbia University, Ultra-Low Power CMOS-Compatible Integrated Photonic Platform for Terabit-Scale Communications
- Seng-Tiong Ho, Northwestern University, Compact Robust Integrated PPM Laser Transceiver Chip Set with High Sensitivity, Efficiency, and Reconfigurability
- Jonathan Klamkin, University of California-Santa Barbara, PICULS: Photonic Integrated Circuits for Ultra-Low size, Weight, and Power
- Paul Leisher, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Integrated Tapered Active Modulator for High-Efficiency Gbps PPM Laser Transmitter PICs
- Shayan Mookherjea, University of California-San Diego, Integrated Photonics for Adaptive Discrete Multi-Carrier Space-Based Optical Communication and Ranging