Integration of photonic functions in and with silicon

Silicon is gaining importance in photonic systems on a chip, either because of the importance of integrating photonic functions with electronic functions or because of the potential of silicon-based technology for photonics as such. In this paper, we discuss two distinct developments. The first is the development of nano-photonic integrated circuits based on photonic crystals or photonic wires. The second is the development of heterogeneously integrated active photonic components on top of silicon by means of wafer bonding.