Comprehensive analysis of silicon optoelectronic technology

These unassuming chips installed in data center servers have been constantly developing, and the optical technology that makes up the chips is also constantly improving. Silicon optoelectronic technology uses silicon semiconductors as the optical signal medium to transmit digital signals much faster than traditional electronic semiconductor devices.

Silicon photonics technology involves several core components. First, the laser is the heart of any optical device. Lasers currently use silicon and indium phosphide to produce consistent infrared lasers. Then the photon needs to be modulated to break the light to form a light pulse. Optical waveguides and other interconnected devices move pulses from one place to another. In addition, because 100% of the optical system is a device that is completely optically connected by an optical chip, it is likely to take decades to realize, and it also needs some way to convert electrical signals into optical signals, and then return.

Fortunately, each optical component can basically be manufactured using current technology for manufacturing semiconductor electronics. In fact, it is entirely possible to manufacture electronic and optical components on the same substrate to create a hybrid chip and complete countless telecommunications and network functions.

In the short term, silicon photonic chips will be deployed in high-speed signal transmission systems, which will far exceed the capabilities of copper cables. Earlier this year, Kotura announced its Optical Engine, which can achieve a data transmission rate of 100Gbps by using wavelength division multiplexing, allowing multiple data signals of different wavelengths to share the same optical path. This type of equipment is suitable for data centers and high-performance computing applications to solve the problem of insufficient performance of Ethernet networks based on copper wires. Major chip manufacturers such as IBM, Intel and NEC are also developing silicon photonic devices.

With the development of silicon photonics, the chip will become more complex. It can be expected that this technology will be applied to multi-tasking chips to connect multiple cores and increase the speed of access to shared cache and bus. In the end, silicon photonics may be put into more practical and extensive applications, and can even replace optical chips such as semiconductor transistors to obtain higher computing performance.

Another application area of ​​silicon photonics includes biometrics. Researchers at the Center for Nano and Biophotonics at the University of Ghent in Belgium used the technology to create implantable medical devices, similar to blood glucose meters, which can be used with spectrometers on a chip, together with other medical / diagnostic equipment.