photonics opinion
rhombus4
Table 2: Key required areas of continued research and development in photonic integration
passive routing, multiplexing, and other vehicles to accomplish this. Unfortunately, toward digitization will occur when
functions. The same yield management the route to full digitization in photonic economics are part of the design process:
improvements that enable higher active integration will be slow given the traditional the design for low cost functionality. The
counts support larger passive elements, as metrics from the semiconductor IC industry. massive application will certainly drive a
well. In general, the size of shared passive With the progress of analog photonic cost-efficient solution; standardization will
elements will scale with the active devices and demonstrated levels of allow the production to be decoupled from
element count. A single 1000 x 1000 port component and functional integration in the the design as in foundry manufacturing.
AWG die may not be as significant an order of 100s, full digitization in photonics is
achievement as one in which numerous still probably 5-10 years away. To accelerate It is hoped that large photonic foundries
active functions are multiplexed through that the progress, there must be industry-wide which operate on standard materials,
AWG on the same die. It is hoped that if efforts in the following areas: processes, and design rules will permit mass
this method is followed, all yielded die will production of highly complicated but more
be treated with similar rules. ring6 address common fabrication and process efficient PICs with building block architecture
techniques to feed those massive applications.
Table 2 identifies key required areas of ring6 better simulation tools to standardize
continued research and development in device structures Digitization is the vehicle to unify the
photonic integration and might be ring6 agreement in the industry for common photonic integration industry. It may allow
considered the beginning of a roadmap devices with less custom specifications new metrics such as flops/sec, a common
toward digitization. ring6 agreement in the photonic industry to metric seen today in silicon digital
utilize foundries processors, to appear in photonic-based
10.0 Summary ring6 common road and trend maps for both systems. Only then will the Holy Grail of
If photonic integration had come first, the academia and industry photonic integration be possible. Photonic
metrics would be different…but it didn’t. integration has yet to achieve this digitized
The photonic integration community needs While a volume application is needed to level of integration, and is currently in the
to redefine integration metrics for the bring competitive cost structures to analog domain from a functional as well as
industry. Road and trend maps are good photonic integration circuits, progress component standpoint.l
A single 1000 x 1000 port AWG die may not be as significant an
achievement as one in which numerous active functions are
multiplexed through that AWG on the same die
32
www.compoundsemiconductor.net October 2009
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