Patent Application
20060210215
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to optical interconnects and is more specifically directed to a high speed optical transceiver array.
2. Background
As computers and communication devices become ever faster and the demand for communication bandwidth increases, there is a corresponding need to increase the speed of connections between the components used in such devices to enable the devices can achieve the desired speed and bandwidth. Conventional electronic circuits are unable to achieve data speeds between components greater than about 10 Gbps over any appreciable distance, such that increasing attention is being directed to optical interconnections. While optical systems can achieve much higher speeds, they are more expensive to fabricate, and this greater expense has been an obstacle to the adoption of optical interconnect expedients.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved, lower cost optical interconnect solutions capable of high speed operation.
In one aspect, the present invention comprises an optical transceiver array, having a laser for generating a beam of light, a waveguide divider coupled to the laser for providing a plurality of light signals from said light beam, each of the light signals traveling in a discrete optical channel, a plurality of optical modulators corresponding to the plurality of optical channels, each of the optical modulators being coupled to a driver circuit for providing an electrical signal, such that the electrical signals cause modulation of the light signals in the associated optical channels, and a plurality of output connectors corresponding to said plurality of optical channels, for transferring modulated light signals to another device. The optical transceiver, optical channels and optical modulators are preferably formed on a single substrate and the optical connectors are formed or mounted on said substrate. In preferred embodiments, the electrical signals originate from an integrated circuit device that is flip-chip mounted on said substrate. The integrated circuit device may also have a plurality of photodetectors formed therein for receiving and transducing optical signals. The optical modulators are preferably Mach-Zehnder modulators and comprise polymeric electro-optical material. The substrate may comprise at least one electric wiring layer and an electrical connector, such as an edge connector.
In another aspect, the aforementioned optical transceiver further comprises a second integrated circuit device mounted on said substrate, a plurality of secondary optical channels for receiving said light signals from said plurality of connectors, each of said secondary optical channels being coupled to a photodetector for transducing the light signal in said secondary optical channel into an output electrical signal, wherein output electrical signals are inputted into said second integrated circuit device. The plurality of photodetectors is preferably integrated into the second integrated circuit device. In this embodiment, each of the two integrated circuit devices may have a laser, a waveguide divider, a plurality of modulators, a plurality of connectors and a plurality of photodetectors associated therewith, such that each of said two integrated circuit devices can optically transfer signals to the other. At least one of the integrated circuit devices may be a central processing unit (CPU).
In another aspect, the present invention is directed to an optical transceiver formed on a substrate having an electrical wiring layer and an optical wiring layer, an integrated circuit device, having a plurality of photodetectors associated therewith, flip-chip mounted on the substrate, a constant light intensity laser diode mounted on the substrate, an optical divider for dividing the light emitted by said laser diode into a first plurality of optical channels, a plurality of optical modulators associated with the plurality of optical channels, the optical modulators being electrically coupled to a corresponding plurality of driver circuits associated with the integrated circuit device, such that a plurality of modulated optical output signals corresponding to the electrical signals from the integrated circuit device are generated, a second plurality of optical channels for transmitting modulated light signals to the photodetectors associated with the integrated circuit device, such that electrical signals are formed and inputted to the integrated circuit device. The plurality of driver circuits and the plurality of photodetectors may be integrated in the integrated circuit device.
In yet another aspect, the present invention is directed to a method of optical communication, comprising generating constant intensity light using a laser diode mounted on a substrate, dividing the light from the laser into a plurality of optical channels formed within the substrate, modulating the light in the optical channels using a plurality of driver circuits associated with an integrated circuit device mounted on the substrate to create a plurality of modulated optical output signals, and transmitting the modulated optical output signals to at least one other device. The other device may be mounted either on or off of the substrate.
Substrate 30 preferably is a multilayer substrate that includes one or more electrical wiring layers so that electrical power and signals can be routed to and from IC device 20. Electrical connection paths 40 and 41, embedded within substrate 30, illustrate electrical signals routed between electrical components 42 and 43, respectively, and IC chip 20 via solder bumps 21a and 21b. It will be appreciated that the number of electrical connections will generally be far greater than two. Likewise, while two electrical components are shown in
According to the present invention optical signals are used for high speed, multi-channel signal transfer. In certain prior art designs, an electronic device would have an integrated light emitter for each optical channel. Thus, some known IC devices have a plurality of built-in vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs), with a separate VCSEL for each optical channel. The use of a large number of VCSELs, or other integrated light emitting devices, is costly and has made the use of optical signal transmission unattractive. In known devices, each VCSEL is independently driven to provide the desired optical signal in a channel.
Instead of using multiple VCSELs, or other light emitting devices, the present invention uses a relatively higher power laser 50, which provides light for multiple optical channels. As depicted in
The output of laser 50 is divided into multiple channels using a waveguide splitter 60. While the figures show splitter 60 having eight channels, more channels can be created using known waveguide splitter technology. The light intensity in the channels is, preferably, substantially equal and constant. Because the light intensity in each branch of splitter 60 diminishes as the number of branches is increased, there is a practical limit to how many channels can be fed from one laser diode. If necessary, multiple lasers can be used to increase the number of channels.
Preferably, waveguide splitter 60 is integrated into substrate 30. Thus, as shown, for example, in
After the light from laser 50 has been divided into a plurality of optical channels, it is directed to a corresponding plurality of optical modulators 70. Electrical signals from device 20 are used to drive modulators 70, transducing the electrical signals into optical signals. Preferably, optical modulators 70 are also integrated into substrate 30 and comprise polymeric electro-optical (“EO”) material. In one embodiment, modulators 70 are Mach-Zehnder modulators. Modulator array 70a-70n may be constructed having a length of 7.5 mm and a pitch of 0.125 mm using current fabrication technology. The construction and operation of an optical modulator 70 of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is described below in connection with
The modulated light from optical modulators 70 is then transmitted via a plurality of waveguides 90 formed in substrate 30 to a connector array 100 which transfers the optical signals to at least one other device. In the embodiment of
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that a terminator array 80 may be used to avoid back reflection of electrical signals into the optical modulators. Various types electrical terminators, and their manner of construction, are well known, and need not be described in further detail.
In the embodiment of
Waveguides 130 lead to a corresponding plurality of optical bumps (not shown), or other structures for coupling light from the waveguides to a corresponding plurality of photodetectors 140 associated with IC device 20. Photodetectors 140 transduce light signals from waveguides 130 into corresponding electrical signals. Preferably, photodetectors 140 are integrated into IC device 20, such that the electrical signals they produce are inputted directly into the device.
In
A lower light confinement or cladding layer 210 is then formed over base layer 200. Lower light layer 210 may be formed from a glass, a polymer or other material which is compatible with the remaining structures. Suitable materials for lower light confinement layer 210, and methods of forming layers of such materials, are well known and need not be described in further detail. Layer 210 can have a thickness in the range of 2-4 microns.
An active modulator layer 220 is then formed over lower light confinement layer 210. Modulator layer 220 is described below in connection with
Finally, an upper light confinement or cladding layer 230 is formed over active modulator layer 220. Upper light confinement layer 230 may be formed of materials and in a manner which is similar to lower light confinement layer. Thus, for example, upper light confinement layer may be formed of a glass resin or polymer with a suitable index of refraction. Upper confinement layer may also have a thickness in the range of 2-4 microns, but it is not necessary for upper and lower confinement layers to have the same thickness.
An electrode structure 240 is then formed on upper light confinement layer 230 to control modulation of light in active modulator layer 220. Electrode structure 240 is electrically coupled to an external driver circuit 270 associated with IC device 20. Preferably, driver circuit 270 is integrated into IC device 20. Electrode structure 240 may comprise two electrodes that are connected to driver circuit 270 using solder bumps 21 on IC device 20. This arrangement allows for a very short electrical path and, therefore, effectively reduces parasitic resistance, inductance and capacitance. Electrode structure 240 may comprise a thin layer of gold, or other suitable conductive material, which is patterned using standard and well known photolithographic techniques.
Turning to
Electrical fields created by electrode structure 240 cause variations in the refractive indices of the EO material in channels 256 and 257. This, in turn, causes relative phase shifting of the light passing through the two branch channels. When the light is recombined, the phase shifted signals interfere, causing modulation in the intensity of output light signal 260. There is an inverse relationship between the length of the branch channels and the necessary driving voltage—the longer the channel the lower the needed voltage—and so there is a design trade off between driver output and compactness of design. The operation of Mach Zehnder optical modulators is well known in the art, and need not be described in further detail. The response time of available EO polymers is less than 1 picosecond, such that operational speeds of over 100 Gbps, perhaps as much as 200 Gbps, can be attained with EO polymer Mach Zehnder modulators. EO modulators made of lithium niobate (LNO) and similar crystal can also be used, but are less preferred because of their slower response time caused by their larger dielectric constant than EO polymer.
Input waveguide channel 255, branch channels 256 and 257, and output waveguide channel 258 are, preferably, all formed of the same EO material, preferably an EO polymer. The remainder of layer 220 is, preferably, formed from a compatible polymer with a suitable index of refraction to confine the light in channels 255-258. Channels 255-258 can be formed by patterning layer 220 using photolithography to create trenches, filling the resulting trenches with a liquid EO polymer, and then curing the polymer. Suitable fabrication techniques for forming such structures are well known in the art.
For illustrative purposes, optical modulator 70 is shown in
While the present inventions have been particularly described with respect to the illustrated embodiments, it will be appreciated that various alterations, modifications and adaptations may be made based on the present disclosure, and are intended to be within the scope of the present inventions. While the inventions have been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the scope of the appended claims.
