Integrated 3D micro-optical interconnection system

Integrated 3-D Micro-Optical Interconnection System Chip-level optical interconnects is an alternative technology that offers the ability to potentially overcome the interconnect bottleneck projected to occur in high-end computing and telecommunication systems. In this context, we are investigating a fused 3-D micro-optical architecture that enables through-wafer vertical optical interconnects. Based on this architecture a prototype 3-D micro-optical interconnection system is fabricated that is scaleable and can be easily modified to implement various optical interconnect configurations. This prototype consists of an integrated optoelectronic transmitter and receiver multichip module. A diffractive optical element is used for optically interconnecting the multichip modules and in establishing a point-to-point link. The link length, as measured from the optical source of the transmitter to the detector plane of the receiver is 2.332 mm. The transmitter and receiver module dimensions as well as the integrated system volume are a meager 2.9x3.3 mm2, 2.1x2.7 mm2, and 15.27mm3, respectively, and preserve the VLSI-scale. The design, fabrication, integration of this system, and experimental results are presented.