Future Optical Networks: Impact of Silicon Photonics

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Future Optical NetworksImpact of Silicon
Photonics

• John E. Bowers
• University of California, Santa Barbara

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Where is Silicon Photonics Heading?
Silicon Evanescent Amplifier

• Integration with CMOS electronics
• 100,000 electronic and photonic devices/die
• Redundant elements
• Self testing, flexible, software controlled IO
  formats
• High yield, High reliability
• Laser, amplifier, modulator, photodetectors,
  delay lines, AWGs on chip

PDs
Silicon Evanescent Laser
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What does VLSI Photonics Require?

• 100,000 electronic and photonic devices/die
• CMOS Integration
• Redundancy
• Self testing, flexible, software controlled IO
  formats
• High yield
• High reliability
• Laser, amplifier, modulator, photodetectors, low
  loss delay lines, optical buffers, AWGs on chip

Suppose Silicon Photonics is able to do this by
2008. What is the impact in 2010-2015?
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Cost

• 6 wafer has 73,000 0.5 mm sized die sites.
• Cost per laser
• PICs Laser size 10x100 microns.
• Cost per laser 0.00002
• This is just like estimating the cost of
  transistors. They are free. Only the PIC cost
  matters.
• Lasers, modulators, photodetectors will be free.

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PIC Cost

• CMOS die cost 1/cm2
• Hybrid silicon evanescent PIC cost 2/cm2
• PICs with interface and drive electronics, and
  tens of lasers, modulators and PDs cost

Example Silicon DWDM Transmitter
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Future Optical Networks

• Transceivers will be cheap and ubiquitous hence
  the network must scale to millions or more
  transceivers.
• Transmitters and receivers will adapt to the
  channel characteristics.
• Data rates will self adjust depending on the
  channel quality.
• Networks will be reconfigurable and adaptable.

• Challenge
• How to make use of billions of elements on the
  network.
• How to make silicon PICs for a penny a PIC.