Fabrication of diffractive-reflective optical interconnects for infrared operation based on total internal reflection

Area of Science:

• Optoelectronics
• Photonics
• Optical Engineering

Background:

• Diffractive-reflective optical interconnects (DROIs) were first proposed in 1988 for chip-to-chip communication.
• Existing DROIs face challenges in efficient light guiding and coupling.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate the use of total internal reflection for light guiding in DROIs.
• To develop holographic grating couplers for efficient optical interconnects.
• To fabricate fan-out DROIs using dichromated gelatin.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing total internal reflection within a glass plate for light propagation.
• Fabricating holographic grating couplers by exploiting the wavelength shift from blue light recording to red light reconstruction.
• Employing dichromated gelatin as the recording medium for holographic gratings.

Main Results:

• Successful demonstration of light guiding using total internal reflection within a glass plate.
• Fabrication of holographic grating couplers enabling efficient light coupling.
• Development of several types of fan-out DROIs.

Conclusions:

• Total internal reflection is an effective method for light guiding in DROIs.
• Wavelength-shift-based holographic gratings are suitable for fabricating optical interconnects.
• Dichromated gelatin is a viable material for creating fan-out DROIs for optical chip-to-chip interconnection.