Imec launches optics research program

Imec has launched an industrial affiliation program on high-bandwidth optical input/output (I/O). The primary objective of the program, which is part of imec’s research platform on deep-submicron CMOS scaling, is to explore the use of optical solutions for realising high-bandwidth I/O between CMOS chips.

According to the ITRS roadmap, the aggregate data rate for off-chip communication is expected to exceed 100 Tbps by 2020. However, no known manufacturable solution for achieving such bandwidth density is available.

Silicon photonics has been identified as a prime candidate as a solution for enabling short-range optical links.

The main benefits of silicon-based optical interconnects are their high speed, compact footprint, low power consumption and low cost. The compatibility with existing CMOS processing infrastructure as well as the possibility of co-integration with CMOS circuits are additional important assets of the silicon photonics technology.

During the past 10 years, imec and its associated lab, INTEC at Ghent University, have demonstrated the performance of silicon-based optical devices for high-speed data transmission, using silicon-on-insulator substrates.

Imec’s optical I/O program aims at further developing a silicon-photonics solution for addressing the upcoming scaling challenges in interconnecting CMOS chips, in close collaboration with imec’s industrial partners.

The program includes a twofold path-finding effort.

First, the complete electrical-to-optical-to-electrical transmission path will be modelled for various technological implementations and benchmarked against the requirements for various applications, as well as against existing solutions.

This benchmarking effort will focus on optimising bandwidth density, power consumption, thermal robustness and cost at the system level.

Second, demonstrators of the full optical link will be realised in silicon, including all required components such as optical modulators, germanium-based photodetectors and thermally robust optical multiplexers, as well as their CMOS-based driving and receiving circuits.