Title :
Free-space optical link with spatial redundancy for misalignment tolerance
Author :
Bisaillon, E. ; Brosseau, D.F. ; Yamamoto, T. ; Mony, M. ; Bernier, E. ; Goodwill, D. ; Plant, D.V. ; Kirk, A.G.
Author_Institution :
AcceLight Networks, Inc, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Abstract :
Free-space optical interconnects can provide high bandwidth with no physical contact, but suffer from poor tolerances to misalignment. In order to obtain high misalignment tolerances, we propose the use of an active alignment scheme in conjunction with an optimized optical design. The active alignment scheme uses a redundant set of optical links and the active selection of the best link. The optical design maximizes the alignment tolerances between the two boards to /spl plusmn/1 mm of lateral and /spl plusmn/1/spl deg/ of angular misalignment for a target data rate of 1.25 Gb/s.
Keywords :
microlenses; optical interconnections; optical links; photodetectors; ray tracing; redundancy; semiconductor laser arrays; surface emitting lasers; 1.25 Gbit/s; Gaussian beam propagation; achromatic macrolenses; active alignment scheme; active best link; angular tolerance; double bidirectional interconnect; free-space optical interconnects; free-space optical link; high bandwidth; higher data rates; microcontrolled translation stages; misalignment tolerance; optical loss; optimized optical design; packaging; parallel implementation; photodetectors; planar microlens array; ray tracing; receiver module; reduced area; redundant set of links; scalable design; spatial redundancy; transmitter module; vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser; Bandwidth; Design optimization; Kirk field collapse effect; Optical arrays; Optical crosstalk; Optical design; Optical fiber communication; Optical interconnections; Redundancy; Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers;
Journal_Title :
Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE
