Alexander Demkov delivered a lecture titled "Ferroelectrics for Emergent Silicon-Integrated Optical Computing."
His talk explored innovative advancements in semiconductor materials and their potential to revolutionize computing. With traditional CMOS-based computing approaching its physical limits in terms of miniaturization, speed, and power consumption, researchers are exploring alternative technologies. Two of the most promising approaches are neuromorphic computing, inspired by brain-like computation, and optical quantum computing. Both of these technologies rely on silicon photonics (SiPh) and require efficient, ultra-low-power optical modulators to enable the transition from electron-based to photon-based systems.
The challenge lies in integrating active and passive photonic elements onto a single chip. While silicon modulators have limitations, such as relatively high power consumption and large size, materials like ferroelectric oxides are being explored as a potential solution. Dr. Alex Demkov's research focuses on the integration of ferroelectric oxides with SiPh to create compact, energy-efficient modulators that leverage the linear electro-optic effect. These advancements could enable neuromorphic circuit architectures and facilitate new machine learning paradigms, all while utilizing current manufacturing infrastructure. The result could be a new generation of computers that are both more power-efficient and capable of higher bandwidth, driving significant improvements in computing performance.
About Dr. Alex Demkov
Dr. Alexander Demkov is a Professor of Physics at The University of Texas at Austin. He previously worked as a principal staff scientist at Motorola (1997-2005), where he focused on low- and high-k dielectric materials. Prof. Demkov has published over 280 papers, holds ten U.S. patents, and has written and edited many books. He is a Fellow of American Physical Society and a Senior Member of IEEE.
