Meta-coupler for Emission Reconfiguration in Laser Integration (MERLIN)

The MERLIN project focuses on developing fully integrated photonic devices capable of dynamically controlling light emission. This advancement aims to overcome the limitations of current systems, which rely on separate components to generate and process light. To achieve this, the project will combine GaSb-based lasers with reconfigurable photonic devices integrated into silicon photonic platforms, creating compact, efficient, and energy-saving devices. This approach will enable applications in fields such as telecommunications, sensing systems, and advanced optical devices.

The most critical aspects in developing these devices have been identified as the coupling elements, both for transferring the laser-generated light to the guiding system and for enabling its coupling to free space. For this reason, the general goal of the project is to integrate advanced technologies to optimize the coupling of light from the laser to the guiding system and to enable dynamic and efficient control of the emission between guided waves and free-space propagation. The project aims to advance in three key areas: the growth and characterization of GaSb epitaxial lasers on silicon platforms, including optimizing their coupling to the guiding system; the design and fabrication of reconfigurable couplers capable of dynamically adjusting the light coupling to free space; and the integration of these technologies into a single functional device. To accomplish this, MERLIN adopts an interdisciplinary approach, combining advanced design, innovative materials, CMOS-compatible fabrication techniques, and high-precision characterization processes.

The project addresses various technological challenges, such as integrating GaSb lasers with silicon platforms, overcoming material incompatibilities and defects during epitaxial growth. It also innovates in the development of reconfigurable meta-couplers, utilizing phase-change materials that allow multiple operational states. These innovations, combined with optimized multiphysics design, will result in devices capable of generating, modulating, and directing light efficiently and at scale.

The MERLIN project team is led by Prof. Ana Díaz-Rubio, an expert in metamaterials and metasurfaces, and Prof. Víctor Jesús Gómez Hernández, a specialist in III-V semiconductor epitaxy on silicon. The team also includes postdoctoral researchers and Ph.D. students with expertise in advanced materials, photonic integration, and multiphysics simulation. The project will be carried out at the Nanophotonic Technology Center (NTC) of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV). The NTC is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, including epitaxy laboratories (4 MBE), CMOS-compatible fabrication capabilities (electron beam lithography, ICP-RIE etching, and ALD deposition), and advanced characterization tools (SEM, AFM, spectroscopy, and cathodoluminescence). Additionally, it offers simulation tools such as COMSOL and RSOFT, making it an ideal environment for the development of the project.