Polymeric optoelectronic interconnects

Electrical interconnects are reaching their fundamental limits and are becoming the speed bottleneck as processor speeds are increasing. A polymer-based interconnect technology was developed for affordable integrated optical circuits that address the optical signal processing needs in the telecom, datacom, and performance computing industries. We engineered organic polymers that can be readily made into single-mode, multimode, and micro-optical waveguide structures of controlled numerical apertures and geometries. These materials are formed from highly-crosslinked acrylate monomers with specific linkages that determine properties such as flexibility, robustness, optical loss, thermal stability, and humidity resistance. These monomers are intermiscible, providing for precise continuous adjustment of the refractive index over a wide range. In polymer form, they exhibit state-of-the-art loss values and exceptional environmental stability, enabling use in a variety of demanding applications. A wide range of rigid and flexible substrates can be used, including glass, quartz, silicon, glass-filled epoxy printed circuit board substrates, and flexible plastic films. The devices we describe include a variety of routing elements that can be used as part of a massively parallel photonic integrated circuit on the MCM, board, or backplane level.