ACTIVE ALIGNMENT CORRECTION WITH VERTICAL CAVITY SEMICONDUCTOR OPTICAL AMPLIFIER (VCSOA)

In this Phase II SBIR proposal, Ziva proposes to demonstrate a prototype optical array connector between a board and a backplane which not only provides optical regeneration ~10dB but is tolerant to both angular and lateral misalignment. Ziva’s approach is scalable in bandwidth to >40Gbps, operates with very low inter-channel crosstalk, provides high connection density, has layout flexibility and is process and cost compatible with mainstream electronic manufacturing. Ziva’s unique solution is derived from the remarkable properties of Vertical-Cavity Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers (VCSOA) to provide amplification gain and be able to achieve high direct modulation rates. Low cost VCSOA’s will be fabricated in a 1x12 dense arrays providing low cost high areal density solutions for amplification, while being able to provide self induced optical beam re-alignment for both direct free-space board to board and board to backplane optical alignment tolerances of up to 4 degrees and lateral misalignment of up to 0.2mm with no mechanical moving parts.