Forum for Science, Industry and Business

Darpa Funds New Photonic Research Center at Illinois

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has received a grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to create a photonic research center to develop ultra-fast light sources for high-speed signal processing and optical communications systems. The grant will provide $6.2 million in funding over four years.

The Hyper-Uniform Nanophotonic Technology Center is directed by Norman K.Y. Cheng, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and a researcher at the university’s micro and nanoelectronics laboratory. Illinois is the lead university for the center. Partner institutions are Columbia University, the Georgia Institute of Technology and Harvard University.

"The HUNT Center’s mission is to develop critical technologies - including hyper-uniform nanophotonic fabrication methods, high-performance quantum dot arrays and ultra-fast lasers - for optoelectronic interconnects," Cheng said. "The center will address the high-performance optical switching and data routing technologies needed for flexible connections-on-demand and efficient bandwidth delivery in next-generation communications systems."

James E. Kloeppel | ctm
Further information:
http://www.uiuc.edu

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