Simultaneous high-capacity optical and microwave data transmission over metal waveguides.

ABSTRACT

The implementation of power efficient and high throughput chip-to-chip interconnects is necessary to keep pace with the bandwidth demands in high-performance computing platforms. In recent years, considerable effort has been made to optimize inter-chip communications using traditional copper waveguides. Also, optical links are extensively investigated as an alternative technology for fast and efficient data routing. For the first time, we experimentally demonstrate simultaneous microwave and optical high-speed data transmission over metallic waveguides embedded in polymer. The demonstration is significant as it merges two layers of communications onto the same structure towards increased aggregated bandwidth, and energy-efficient data movement.