Abstract
Photonics promises numerous exciting applications, from dramatic reductions of energy consumption in data centres by employment of optical interconnects, to augmented reality glasses, sensors for self-driving cars, and even quantum computers.
However, all of these require integration of many photonic components on a tiny chip with high density and efficiency, and in such a way that they are robust to errors in manufacturing and to variations in environment. In particular, implementation of inexpensive and miniaturized ultrafast lasers which can be densely integrated with other photonics on-chip would revolutionize many applications, from medicine to quantum technologies.
This goal can be achieved by introducing state of the art computer optimization and artificial intelligence techniques into photonics design, and by combining this with novel nanofabrication techniques.
