Optical transmission between III-V chips on Si using photonic wire bonding

Area of Science:

• Optoelectronics
• Materials Science
• Nanofabrication

Background:

• Chip-scale optical interconnections are crucial for high-speed data processing.
• Existing methods face challenges in flexibility and integration.
• 3D-freeform polymer waveguides offer a potential solution.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate flexible chip-scale optical interconnection using Photonic Wire Bonding (PWB).
• To optimize PWB fabrication for efficient optical transmission.
• To achieve chip-to-chip optical transmission between laser and detector chips.

Main Methods:

• Utilized two-photon polymerization of SU-8 for fabricating 3D-freeform polymer waveguides.
• Determined fabrication conditions for the two-photon absorption process.
• Numerically simulated coupling structures for high efficiency.
• Fabricated a 2.5-μm-wide PWB connecting optical chips with a 140-μm gap.

Main Results:

• Achieved chip-to-chip optical transmission between laser and detector chips.
• Demonstrated a 2.5-μm-wide PWB with a 1:3 aspect ratio.
• Realized optical interconnection with a connection loss of approximately 10 dB.

Conclusions:

• Photonic wire bonding is a viable technique for flexible chip-scale optical interconnections.
• The developed PWB method shows potential for integrated optoelectronic systems.
• Further optimization may reduce connection loss for improved performance.