Shayan Mookherjea
University of California, San Diego
Spacecrafts and commercial communications satellites operate under stringent power, size and weight constraints but are being required to transfer rapidly-increasing amounts of data back to Earth or across a network in space. Photonic microchips can make energy-efficient, high-bandwidth communication possible while freeing resources for the benefit of science payload instruments. UC San Diego researchers will develop the technology for integrated photonic transceiver components that will comprise a variable-bit-rate coherent laser optical communication and relay network in near-Earth space at wavelengths near 1550 nm.