Board-level 2-D data-capable optical interconnection circuits using polymer fiber-image guides

We present various board-level optical circuits capable of transmitting large-bandwidth two-dimensional (2-D) parallel data for intracomputer optical interconnect applications. The backbone technology of these circuits is a polymer fiber-image guide that can transmit optical data generated from an optoelectronic transmitter array such as a 2-D vertical cavity surface-emitting laser array. We demonstrate both point-to-point circuits and circuits incorporating nodes with splitting and combining capabilities. We also present main performance characteristics, such as insertion loss and spatial resolution, and discuss other advantages and limitations of the new optical circuit technology.