Photonic Integrated Circuits for Data Center Interconnects

摘要

Next generation optical transceivers for data center interconnects are expected to feature bandwidths in excess of 400Gb/s, while exhibiting a smaller footprint, lower power consumption and lower cost per Gb/s compared to current generation 100Gb/s transceivers. To this end, new technologies such as photonic hybrid integration are explored within research and industry and standardization efforts are made to ensure cross compatibility between vendors and ultimately to reduce costs. New packaging concepts such as optical BGAs (OpBGA) are needed to increase RF bandwidth between DSP and optical engine and use of standard Surface Mount Technology (SMT) assembly methods as known from the electronics industry allows for a high degree of automation, eliminating the need for time consuming manual assembly processes. Similarly, automated wafer scale testing of electronic-photonic integrated circuits (EPIC) is a critical part in reducing manufacturing time and thus will lead to reduced DCI costs.