Intel Photonics Link: Intel Achieved Lightning Speed of 50 Gbps Data Transfer

Silicon Photonics Research
Silicon photonics is a research effort at Intel to revolutionize computing platforms by creating optical communication devices using traditional silicon manufacturing techniques. Bringing optical technology into the computing industry will transform the way computers work and the value that they provide to people. Research Milestone: 50G Silicon Photonics Link Intel Labs has announced an important advance in the quest to use lasers to replace the use of electrons to carry data in and around PCs and servers – a 50Gbps Silicon Photonics Link. This research prototype represents the world’s first silicon-based optical data connection with integrated lasers. This concept vehicle is the result of a multi-year silicon photonics research agenda, which included numerous “world firsts.” It is composed of a silicon transmitter and a receiver chip, each integrating all the necessary building blocks from previous Intel breakthroughs including the first Hybrid Silicon Laser (see below) as well as high-speed optical modulators and photodetectors announced in 2007.  The transmitter chip is composed of four such lasers, whose light beams each travel into an optical modulator that encodes data onto them at 12.5Gbps. The four beams are then combined and output to a single optical fiber for a total data rate of 50Gbps. At the other end of the link, the receiver chip separates the four optical beams and directs them into photo detectors, which convert data back into electrical signals. Both chips are assembled using low-cost manufacturing techniques familiar to the semiconductor industry. For more information, read the 50G Silicon Photonics Link whitepaper or download the technical paper presented at the Integrated Photonics Research conference.   Building Block Research In order to "siliconize" photonics, there are six main areas or building blocks for investigation. These include generating the light, selectively guiding and transporting it within the silicon, encoding light, detecting light, packaging the devices and finally, intelligently controlling all of these photonic functions. Intel is working to address these areas, and this research has produced a few recent success stories, including the Hybrid Silicon Laser as well as modulators and detectors running at up to 40 Gbps. Explanatory and demo video of Photonics Link: