Optical interconnect

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In integrated circuits, optical interconnects refers to any system of transmitting signals from one part of an integrated circuit to another using light. Optical interconnects have been the topic of study due to the high latency and power consumption incurred by conventional metal interconnects in transmitting electrical signals over long distances, such as in interconnects classed as global interconnects. The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) has highlighted interconnect scaling as a problem for the semiconductor industry.

In electrical interconnects, nonlinear signals (e.g. digital signals) are transmitted by copper wires conventionally, and these electrical wires all have resistance and capacitance which severely limits the rise time of signals when the dimension of the wires are scaled down. Optical solution are used to transmit signals through long distances to substitute interconnection between dies within the integrated circuit (IC) package.

In order to control the optical signals inside the small IC package properly, microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technology can be used to integrate the optical components (i.e. optical waveguides, optical fibers, lens, mirrors, optical actuators, optical sensors etc.) and the electronic parts together effectively.