Heterogeneous Integration Technology Drives the Evolution of Co-Packaged Optics

Area of Science:

• Optoelectronics and Photonics
• Materials Science
• Computer Engineering

Background:

• The growth of AI, data centers, and HPC demands advanced optical interconnects.
• Co-packaged optics (CPO) integrate photonic integrated circuits (PICs) with electronic integrated circuit (EIC) packages.
• Existing CPO technologies face challenges in performance, integration, and energy efficiency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the evolution and performance of CPO technologies.
• To investigate advanced packaging techniques for CPO, including FOWLP, TSV, and TGV.
• To examine novel waveguide fabrication methods and optical coupling strategies.

Main Methods:

• Review of fan-out wafer level packaging (FOWLP), through-silicon via (TSV), and through-glass via (TGV) packaging.
• Analysis of femtosecond laser direct writing and ion-exchange glass waveguides.
• Exploration of micro ring resonators (MRRs) and non-volatile neuromorphic photonics with phase-change materials (PCMs).

Main Results:

• Micro ring resonators (MRRs) offer high-density, energy-efficient solutions but face thermal tuning limitations.
• Phase-change materials (PCMs) enable non-volatile neuromorphic photonics, overcoming thermal crosstalk and static power issues.
• Deep integration of photonic memory and CPO promises synergistic benefits.

Conclusions:

• CPO technology is crucial for meeting the demands of AI and HPC.
• Advancements in packaging, waveguides, and materials are driving CPO performance.
• The combination of CPO with neuromorphic photonics is key to developing next-generation, high-efficiency computing hardware.