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The evolution of silicon photonics as an enabling technology for optical interconnection
Author(s) -
Doylend J.K.,
Knights A.P.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
laser and photonics reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.778
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1863-8899
pISSN - 1863-8880
DOI - 10.1002/lpor.201100023
Subject(s) - terabit , photonics , silicon photonics , microelectronics , telecommunications , silicon , interconnection , computer science , transmission (telecommunications) , substrate (aquarium) , nanophotonics , nanotechnology , materials science , engineering physics , engineering , optoelectronics , wavelength division multiplexing , wavelength , oceanography , geology
Silicon photonics defines a significant advancement in the development of highly integrated devices on a single semiconductor substrate. As a revolutionizing technology it benefits from the vast infrastructure accumulated over the previous six decades to service the burgeoning microelectronics industry and has found application in a range of areas such as telecommunications, sensing and optical interconnects. It is this latter application which is addressed primarily in this review. The potential for silicon photonics as a solution to high data rate transmission through the description of the devices and processes which have emerged in the last decade is discussed. An attempt is thus made to demonstrate that the integration of photonic and electronic functionality on a silicon substrate has the potential to propel communication beyond the Terabit per second threshold in a widely deployable paradigm.