Chip-scale optical interconnects based on hybrid integrated multiple quantum well devices

Vertical optical power delivery and inter-chip interconnect concept based on surface-normal MQW modulators

“…High density polymer multimode optical waveguides and vertical coupling fabrics are lithographicallydefined to deliver CW light to the MQW modulators and provide optical links at the chip level [4].…”

“…Different from conventional photolithography that generates binary patterns on the photoresists, the grayscale mask has a varying optical density that results in varied UV exposure does across the chip so that three-dimensional features (e.g., prisms, facets, etc. [4]) in the top waveguide layer are created. The contrast curve of one of the photoresists chosen is shown in Figure 2.…”

“…With vertical coupled waveguides added to the source chip (or top-chip), it can also be used as a "bridge" chip for inter-chip coupling of the high-density signals [4]. Silicon Microprocessors are becoming rapidly limited in chip-scale interconnect capacity due to the rigorous scaling of CMOS critical dimensions with Moore's law.…”

“…Chip-level optical interconnects based on surface-normal electro-absorption multiple quantum well (MQW) modulators and multimode polymer waveguides integrated with silicon electronics have shown the potential to meet the requirements for energy efficiency and bandwidth density [1][2][3][4]. A critical advance was the demonstration of efficient, small footprint waveguide vertical coupling structures that enable the minimum-sized (hence low capacitance) reflection-mode high density MQW modulator arrays in a surface-normal configuration [4].…”

“…A critical advance was the demonstration of efficient, small footprint waveguide vertical coupling structures that enable the minimum-sized (hence low capacitance) reflection-mode high density MQW modulator arrays in a surface-normal configuration [4]. The lithographically-defined optical fabric minimizes misalignment issues for surface-normal devices.…”