Hybrid integration of electrical and optical interconnects

In this paper, we describe a novel approach for fabrication of low-cost optoelectronic modules for optical interconnect applications. The concept includes: (1) placement of optical and electrical components on a common substrate using a chip-first MCM structure to improve thermal handling capabilities, (2) fabrication of both optical and electrical interconnects using planar processes compatible to standard IC processes in manufacturing to reduce nonrecurring engineering costs, and (3) application of adaptive interconnect for device-to-waveguide alignment to reduce recurring packaging costs. Preliminary results on waveguide fabrication and modeling of adaptive interconnect are discussed in this paper.