Open AccessPolymer waveguides for electro-optical integration in data centers and high-performance computers
Author(s) -
R. Dangel,
Jens Hofrichter,
Folkert Horst,
D. Jubin,
Antonio La Porta,
Norbert Meier,
İbrahim Murat Soğancı,
Jonas Weiß,
Bert Jan Offrein
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.23.004736
Subject(s) - silicon photonics , photonics , computer science , cmos , optical interconnect , photonic integrated circuit , interconnection , 3d optical data storage , waveguide , bandwidth (computing) , optical switch , ibm , scalability , optoelectronics , materials science , telecommunications , nanotechnology , database
To satisfy the intra- and inter-system bandwidth requirements of future data centers and high-performance computers, low-cost low-power high-throughput optical interconnects will become a key enabling technology. To tightly integrate optics with the computing hardware, particularly in the context of CMOS-compatible silicon photonics, optical printed circuit boards using polymer waveguides are considered as a formidable platform. IBM Research has already demonstrated the essential silicon photonics and interconnection building blocks. A remaining challenge is electro-optical packaging, i.e., the connection of the silicon photonics chips with the system. In this paper, we present a new single-mode polymer waveguide technology and a scalable method for building the optical interface between silicon photonics chips and single-mode polymer waveguides.