The world is getting smaller all the time—or, at least, maps of the world are. Silicon photonics researchers at the Photonics Research Group of Ghent University and associated with the Interuniversity Microelectronics Center (both in Belgium) used standard CMOS tools to fabricate a map of the world a trillion times smaller than the real thing.
The 40,000-km circumference of the globe at the equator spans only 40 µm on the map. The smallest features resolved are about 100 nm (corresponding to 100km). The map was made using a 30-step fabrication process on a silicon-on-insulator wafer. It was created in one corner of a chip for testing silicon-based waveguides with low propagation loss and structures to provide more efficient coupling on and off the chip.
Yvonne Carts-Powell is a freelance science writer who specializes in optics and photonics.
