TECHNOLOGY FOR CHANGE

Europe Focuses Fiber Optics on Silicon Photonics

R. Colin Johnson | Date: 09-06-10 | Comments

The European Union is aiming to lower the cost of fiber-optic communications by developing inexpensive silicon chips that turn photonics into a mass market.

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Europe Focuses Fiber Optics on Silicon Photonics
Today, fiber-optic communications are ultra-high-speed, but also ultra-high-cost compared to conventional copper wires. But by recasting photonics onto silicon chips, instead of the exotic indium-gallium-arsenide compounds used today, a mass market for fiber optics will result. The European Union is planning to play a leadership role.

The European Silicon Photonics Cluster is a multiyear, $36 million effort that aims not only to develop the technology but to raise awareness of silicon photonics and its potential applications in optical communications, optical interconnects between semiconductor chips and circuit boards, optical signal processing, optical sensing and biological efforts.

The Cluster is divided into 10 project "consortia," in which most of the leading European research institutes, universities and companies are participating.

The BOOM consortium is creating completely optical routers similar to those developed in the United States by IBM. To create an all-optical router that runs at terabit-per-second speeds, the BOOM consortium is developing a variety of silicon components, including wavelength converters, laser transmitters, photodetector receivers and micro-ring wavelength cross-connects. The Platon consortium will also develop a router, but using plasmonics for Tbs optical-routers that can filter, multiplex and automatically detect headers.

BOOM uses silicon-on-insulator (SOI) process technology to develop photonic components capable of terabit-per-second, high-speed broadband networks.

Next: Other Consortia >>

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