As the demands and forms of computers evolve, new hardware is needed to realize different types of computing interfaces. Foundry silicon photonics leverages the maturity of microelectronics manufacturing to fabricate photonic integrated circuits. Today, silicon photonics is mostly used in the short-wave infrared spectrum for fiber optic communication. I will discuss how foundry silicon photonics in the visible spectrum can be an enabling technology for future computing, addressing applications such as displays, neural implants, and quantum computing.

Joyce Poon is the Managing Director at the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto, and an Honorary Professor in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Technical University of Berlin. She currently serves as a Director-at-Large for Optica (formerly the Optical Society, OSA). She and her team specialize in integrated photonics on silicon. Prof. Poon obtained the Ph.D. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Caltech in 2007 and 2003 respectively, and the B.A.Sc. in Engineering Science (physics option) from the University of Toronto in 2002. Recognitions she has received include a Canada Research Chair (2012-2019), ECE Department Teaching Award (2017), OFC Top-Scored Paper (2017), the McCharles Prize for Early Research Career Distinction (2013), MIT TR35 (2012), and the IBM Faculty Award (2010, 2011). She is an Optica Fellow (formerly OSA).