an important breakthrough in the field of silicon-based photonics

Bahram Jalali is a Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of California at Los Angeles.

A June 28, 2006, press release from UCLA entitled "UCLA Engineering Announces Breakthrough in Silicon Photonics Devices," highlights an important milestone in Professor Jalali's ongoing work in the newly-emerging field of "silicon photonics," which involves the integration of optical technologies into silicon chips made using standard CMOS fabrication methods. You can read more about the "value proposition" of silicon photonics by clicking here..

The specific breakthrough referenced in the UCLA press release involves a solution to a basic problem in silicon photonics that this versatile semiconductor stops being transparent at high optical intensities, which makes light unable to pass through it, thereby preventing the desired continuous operation of the system.

The method developed by Professor Jalali not only eliminates the electron build-up that would otherwise interfere with the smooth functioning of a chip's optical capabilities, but manages to derive small but significant amounts of power at the same time, putting these particles to practical use while eliminating their annoying interference with ongoing photonic activity.

a video interview with Professor Jalali to discuss this breakthrough

Technology Products World talked with Professor Jalali this morning in his UCLA campus office about the physics and engineering, and about the process of creative scientific thought, that led him to make this breakthrough, which, in addition to its significance as a further step in understanding how the physical world operates, has the potential to help in the preservation of Moore's Law, which says that the power of microelectronic circuitry will double every two years, but which has been running into some trouble lately as chip designers have begun to run out of microscopic space in which to put increasing numbers of switches. .

You can watch and listen to that conversation with Professor Jalali by clicking on the appropriate button in the Photonics Channel Brightcove Player below.