Seung Ho Ahn

Optical backplane system using waveguide-embedded PCBs and optical slots

As discussed in this paper, a practical optical backplane system was demonstrated, using a waveguide-embedded optical backplane board, processing boards, and optical slots for board-to-board interconnection. A metal optical bench was used as a packaging die for the optical devices and the integrated circuit chips in both the transmitter and the receiver processing boards. The polymer waveguide was produced by means of a hot-embossing technique and was then embedded following a conventional lamination processes. The average propagation loss of these waveguides was approximately 0.1 dB/cm at 850 nm. The dimension and optical properties of the waveguide in an optical backplane board were unchanged after lamination. As connection components between transmitter/receiver processing boards and an optical backplane board, optical slots were used for easy and repeatable insertion and extraction of the boards with a micrometer-scale precision. A 1/spl times/4 850-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser array was used with 2 dBm of output power for the transmitter and a p-i-n photodiode array for the receiver. This paper successfully demonstrates 8 Gb/s of data transmission between the transmitter processing board and the optical backplane board.

Board-to-board optical interconnection system using optical slots

A practical optical backplane system was prepared with transmitter-receiver processing boards and an optical backplane made of polymeric-waveguide-embedded optical printed-circuit boards. As connection components between the transmitter-receiver processing boards and backplane board, optical slots were used to enable easy and repeatable insertion and extraction of the boards with micrometer precision. We report an 8-Gb/s data transmission between transmitter processing board and optical backplane.

Experimental demonstration of 10?Gbit?s transmission with an optical backplane system using optical slots

A practical optical backplane system was prepared with transmitter-receiver processing boards and an optical backplane made from polymeric-waveguide-embedded optical printed-circuit boards. Optical slots were used as connection components between the transmitter-receiver processing boards and the backplane board to permit easy and repeatable insertion and extraction of the boards with micrometer precision. We report 10 Gbit/s data transmission between an optical backplane and the transmitter-receiver processing boards.

Fabrication of thermally stable and cost-effective polymeric waveguide for optical printed-circuit board.

A thermally stable polymeric optical waveguide has been fabricated using ultraviolet (UV)-curable epoxy resins for the core and clad materials. A simple and cost-effective fabrication method that uses reusable polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) masters has been developed. The 12-channel under-clad layer of the UV-cured epoxy was prepared using a PDMS master whose embossed channels had been fabricated by a polycarbonate (PC) secondary master. The thermal stability of the fabricated waveguide was tested at 200 degrees C for one hour. The optical waveguide was not damaged physically by thermal stress. Propagation losses detected by a cut-back method were 0.16 dB/cm and 0.26 dB/cm, respectively, before and after the thermal stability test at 850 nm. Loss increase after the thermal treatment can be attributed to the formation of the absorbing and scattering sources. This waveguide can be applied for areas that require thermal stability such as an optical printed-circuit board.

Chip-to-Chip Optical Link System Using an Optical Wiring Method

A practical optical link system was prepared with a transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx). The optical TRx module consisted of a metal optical bench, a module printed circuit board, a driver/receiver integrated circuit, a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser/photodiode array, and an optical link block composed of plastic optical fiber (POF). For the optical interconnection between the light-sources and detectors, an optical wiring method has been proposed to enable easy assembly. The optical wiring link was constructed with POFs mounted on a v-grooved polymethylmethacrylate bench. The data transfer measurements were presented successfully.

5-Gb/s Chip-to-chip Optical Interconnection Using Polymeric Waveguides

A chip-to-chip optical interconnection system using polymeric waveguide was fabricated. Hot-embossing technique was used to fabricate polymeric waveguide. Thermally stable polycarbonate as a clad material and UV-curable epoxy resin as a core material were used for optical waveguides. Eye diagram was successfully measured at the speed of 5 Gb/s/ch.