Low-cost micro-optics for PCB-level photonic interconnects

Jürgen Van Erps; Christof Debaes; Michael Vervaeke; Lieven Desmet; Nina Hendrickx; Geert Van Steenberge; Heidi Ottevaere; Pedro Vynck; Virginia Gomez; Sara Van Overmeire; Yuzo Ishii; Peter Van Daele; Alex Hermanne; Hugo Thienpont

doi:10.1117/12.705844

14 February 2007 Low-cost micro-optics for PCB-level photonic interconnects

Jürgen Van Erps, Christof Debaes, Michael Vervaeke, Lieven Desmet, Nina Hendrickx, Geert Van Steenberge, Heidi Ottevaere, Pedro Vynck, Virginia Gomez, Sara Van Overmeire, Yuzo Ishii, Peter Van Daele, Alex Hermanne, Hugo Thienpont

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6476, Optoelectronic Integrated Circuits IX; 64760L (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.705844
Event: Integrated Optoelectronic Devices 2007, 2007, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

One of the grand challenges in solving the interconnection bottlenecks at the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) and Multi-Chip-Module (MCM) level, is to adequately replace the PCB and intra-MCM galvanic interconnects with high-performance, low-cost, compact and reliable micro-photonic alternatives. Therefore we address the following components in this paper: 1) out-of-plane couplers for optical waveguides embedded in PCB, 2) peripheral fiber ribbons and two-dimensional single- and multimode fiber connectors for high-speed parallel optical connections, and 3) intra-MCM level optical interconnections via free-space optical modules. For the fabrication of these micro-optical interconnect modules, we are focusing at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel on the continuous development of a rapid prototyping technology, which we call Deep Proton Writing (DPW). The special feature of this prototyping technology is that it is compatible with commercial low-cost mass replication techniques such as micro injection moulding and hot embossing. Laser ablation is used at Ghent University for the fabrication of PCB-embedded waveguides and integrated micro-mirrors. The main advantage of this technology is that it is compatible with present-day PCB manufacturing. For the free-space MCM-level optical interconnect module, we furthermore give special attention to the optical tolerancing and the opto-mechanical integration of the components. We use both a sensitivity analysis to misalignment errors and Monte Carlo simulations. It is our aim to investigate the whole component integration chain from the optoelectronic device to the micro-opto-mechanical components constituting the interconnect module.

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Jürgen Van Erps, Christof Debaes, Michael Vervaeke, Lieven Desmet, Nina Hendrickx, Geert Van Steenberge, Heidi Ottevaere, Pedro Vynck, Virginia Gomez, Sara Van Overmeire, Yuzo Ishii, Peter Van Daele, Alex Hermanne, and Hugo Thienpont "Low-cost micro-optics for PCB-level photonic interconnects", Proc. SPIE 6476, Optoelectronic Integrated Circuits IX, 64760L (14 February 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.705844

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