Implementation of a compact, four-stage, scalable optical interconnect for photonic backplane applications

Frederic Lacroix; Eric Bernier; Michael H Ayliffe; Frank A P Tooley; David V Plant; Andrew G Kirk

doi:10.1364/ao.41.001541

Implementation of a compact, four-stage, scalable optical interconnect for photonic backplane applications

Appl Opt. 2002 Mar 10;41(8):1541-55. doi: 10.1364/ao.41.001541.

Authors

Frederic Lacroix¹, Eric Bernier, Michael H Ayliffe, Frank A P Tooley, David V Plant, Andrew G Kirk

Affiliation

¹ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada. fredl@photonics.ece.mcgill.ca

PMID: 11930960
DOI: 10.1364/ao.41.001541

Abstract

We report on the implementation of a dense 512-beam free-space optical interconnect linking four optoelectronic VLSI chips at the backplane level. The system presented maximizes the positioning tolerances of the components by use of slow f-number (f/16) Gaussian beams and oversized apertures. A beam-clustering scheme whereby a 4 x 4 array of beams is transmitted by each minilens is used to provide a high channel density. A modular approach is used to decrease the number of degrees of freedom in the system and achieve passive alignment of the modules in the final integration phase. A design overview as well as assembly and experimental results are presented.