IBM chip first to transfer information at 1Tb/s

The unprecedented speed of the Holey Optochip's transceiver is equivalent to the bandwidth consumed by 100,000 users at today's typical 10Mb/s high speed internet access. "Reaching the one trillion bit per second mark with the Holey Optochip marks IBM's latest milestone to develop chip scale transceivers that can handle the volume of traffic in the era of big data," said IBM Researcher Clint Schow, part of the team that built the prototype. "We have been actively pursuing higher levels of integration, power efficiency and performance for all the optical components through packaging and circuit innovations. We aim to improve on the technology for commercialization in the next decade with the collaboration of manufacturing partners." Using a novel approach, scientists in IBM labs developed the Holey Optochip by fabricating 48 holes through a standard silicon cmos chip. According to the researchers, the holes allow optical access through the back of the chip to 24 receiver and 24 transmitter channels to produce an ultra compact, high performing and power efficient optical module capable of record setting data transfer rates. The module is constructed with components that are commercially available today, providing the possibility to manufacture at economies of scale. The scientists claim the Holey Optochip achieves record speed at a power efficiency that is among the best ever reported, consuming less than 5W - the power consumed by a 100W light bulb could power 20 transceivers. Parallel optics is a fibre optic technology primarily targeted for high data, short reach multimode fibre systems that are typically less than 150m. Parallel optics differs from traditional duplex fibre optic serial communication in that data is simultaneously transmitted and received over multiple optical fibres. A single 90nm IBM cmos transceiver IC with 24 receiver and 24 transmitter circuits becomes a Holey Optochip with the fabrication of 48 through silicon holes, or optical vias – one for each transmitter and receiver channel. Simple post processing on completed cmos wafers with all devices and standard wiring levels results in an entire wafer populated with Holey Optochips. The transceiver chip measures 5.2 x 5.8mm. 24 industry standard 850n vertical cavity surface emitting laser and photodiode arrays are directly flip chip soldered to the Optochip. The IBM researchers say this direct packaging produces high performance, chip scale optical engines. The Holey Optochips are designed for direct coupling to a standard 48 channel multimode fibre array through an efficient microlens optical system that can be assembled with conventional high volume packaging tools. The report will be presented at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference taking place in Los Angeles.