Polymer-based All-optic Reconfigurable Interconnects

PHYSICAL OPTICS CORPORATION (POC) PROPOSES A NOVEL ALL-OPTIC WAVEGUIDE SWITCH, BASED ON AN IN-HOUSE DEVELOPED BIREFRINGENT DYE POLYMER. THIS SWITCH WILL USE VISIBLE LIGHT FOR PROGRAMMABLE BEAM ADDRESSING TO PROVIDE ALL-OPTIC RECONFIGURATION IN BOTH SINGLE AND MULTI-MODE WAVEGUIDE GEOMETRIES. AN ARRAY OF WAVEGUIDE BEAMS CAN BE READDRESSED WITHIN MILLISECONDS, USING VERY MODERATE OPTICAL BEAM POWERS, BELOW 100 um PER BEAM. THIS ALLOWS GREEN LIGHT EMITTING DIODES (LEDs) TO BE USED FOR READDRESSING, AND EITHER REGULAR IR LASER DIODES (LDs) OR LEDs TO BE USED FOR SIGNAL TRANSMISSION. ITS ALL-OPTIC POLYMER PACKAGING GEOMETRY IS COMPATIBLE WITH GLASS, POLYMER, OR POLYIMIDE WAVEGUIDES. THEREFORE, UNLIKE MOST OTHER STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGIES, ALL OF THE INTEGRATED-OPTIC MATERIALS WILL HAVE CLOSELY MATCHED REFRACTIVE INDICES. POC'S RECONFIGURABLE OPTICAL INTERCONNECTS ARE BASED ON RADIATION-HARDENED MATERIALS, COMPATIBLE WITH MCM PACKAGING. THEY INCLUDE SUCH OUTSTANDING BASIC PARAMETERS AS GOOD SPEED, HIGH SWITCHING SENSITIVITY, LOW WAVEGUIDE LOSS, LOW OPTICAL NOISE LEVELS, COMPATIBILITY TO MCM PACKAGING, RADIATION HARDNESS, ERASABILITY, COMPATIBILITY TO GLASS/POLYIMIDE/POLYMER WAVEGUIDES, POTENTIAL FOR ALL-INDEX MATCHING, EASE OF FABRICATION, AND REASONABLE COST. CONSIDERING THESE ADVANTAGES, POC'S INTERCONNECTS SHOULD OUTPERFORM ALL KNOWN STATE-OF-THE-ART RECONFIGURED INTERCONNECT TECHNOLOGIES.