Reconfigurable integrated waveguide meshes for photonic signal processing and emerging applications

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in reconfigurable integrated photonic waveguide meshes, highlighting their programmable capabilities for traditional and advanced signal processing applications across various platforms.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of theoretical and experimental developments in integrated photonic waveguide meshes and discusses their diverse applications.

Findings

Demonstrated programmable photonic filters and delay lines

Reported experimental results in Silicon and Silicon Nitride platforms

Discussed algorithms for implementing complex optical functionalities

Abstract

We review the recent advances reported in the field of integrated photonic waveguide meshes, both from the theoretical as well as from the experimental point of view. We show how these devices can be programmed to implement both traditional signal processing structures, such as finite and infinite impulse response filters, delay lines, beamforming networks as well as more advanced linear matrix optics functionalities. Experimental results reported both in Silicon and Silicon Nitride material platforms will be presented. We will also discuss the main programming algorithms to implement these structures and discuss their applications either as standalone systems or as part of more elaborated subsystems in microwave photonics, quantum information and machine learning