What is it about?

This review covers the design principles for resonator based wavelength division multiplexed interconnects, from link architecture all the way down to the resonator devices themselves, and discusses the various tradeoffs and co-dependencies that must be considered at each level.

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Why is it important?

Resonator-based photonic interconnects leverage the inherently wavelength selective characteristics of resonant devices to independently operate on multiple optical carrier wavelengths propagating along the same waveguide. This wavelength division multiplexing allows for the multiplication of channel bandwidth in an incredibly dense form factor, while maintaining extremely low energy spent per bit. These energy efficient and bandwidth dense interconnects have the potential to drive the future of high performance computing and artificial intelligence platforms, which are currently limited by the interconnect bandwidth bottleneck between nodes in the system and total power consumption.

Perspectives

This paper serves as a starting point for anyone interested in working on resonator-based optical interconnects. It represents the cumulative sum of a lot of work between myself and my colleagues, and while we're very proud of it, it should not be taken as pure gospel. As with any complex topic, there is an abundance of nuance that accompanies every detail, and depending on context there are exceptions to almost every rule. I imagined this review as the type of paper I would have like to read at the start of my PhDs to help contextualize and guide ways of approaching both the system and device level designs of these links. I hope our work inspires new ideas and thoughtful discussion on the topic.

Asher Novick
Xscape Photonics

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: High-bandwidth density silicon photonic resonators for energy-efficient optical interconnects, Applied Physics Reviews, November 2023, American Institute of Physics,
DOI: 10.1063/5.0160441.
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