Evaluation of multimode optical waveguides for optical bus interconnects

In this paper, we evaluate the performance of polymer multimode waveguide and metallic hollow core waveguide for complicated board level optical interconnect structures such as optical bus. Numerical simulation suggests that metallic hollow core waveguide with 50μmx50μm dimension can provide acceptable optical propagation loss as low as 0.045dB/cm, less than 0.5dB bending loss per 180 degree turning with 5mm radius, 0.25dB extra splitting loss, and a large tolerance to angular deviation of the micro-mirror coupler. The conclusion is that silver coated metallic hollow core waveguide will be a better choice for board level optical bus than conventional polymer multimode waveguide.

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