Groundbreaking research from Intel Corp. demonstrated at IPR

The Optical Society (OSA) is pleased to recognize the groundbreaking research presented yesterday at its topical meeting, Integrated Photonics Research, Silicon and Nano Photonics (IPR), by Intel Corporation. IPR is currently being held at the Monterey Plaza Hotel in Monterey, Calif., USA through today. During a special keynote presentation Justin Rattner, Intel chief technology officer and director of Intel Labs, demonstrated their 50Gbps Silicon Photonics Link prototype which is the world's first silicon-based optical data connection with integrated lasers. The transmitter chip is comprised of four distributed Bragg reflector lasers integrated directly into silicon waveguides using the novel wafer-bonding concepts pioneered at UC Santa Barbara. Each laser is independently modulated with a silicon-photonic Mach-Zehnder modulator at 12.5 Gbs and the four streams are combined with a monolithic wavelength multiplexer into a single fiber output. At the other end of the link, a monolithic wavelength demultiplexer on the receiver chip separates the four optical beams and directs them into integrated photodetectors, which convert data back into electrical signals. The link is said to move data over longer distances than electrical solutions at speeds of up to 50 gigabits of data per second. A paper describing Intel's research can be found here: http://www.opticsinfobase.org/abstract.cfm?URI=IPRSN-2010-PDIWI5

"This is an exciting example of the groundbreaking research being presented at OSA's conferences, in particular at IPR," said Tom Koch, IPR program co-chair and OSA board member. "We are pleased that Intel chose IPR to make such a pivotal demonstration and it certainly reinforces the belief we share that silicon photonics and photonic integration have extraordinary potential for impacting our future."

Source: Optical Society of America