Silicon photonics for high energy physics data transmission applications

Tens of thousands of optical data transmission links are currently installed in all four experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) [1] for the transmission of timing, control and read-out data to and from the detector systems. Work has started on identifying new technologies and optical components which could meet the requirements of the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC); an upgrade of approximately of an order of magnitude to the luminosity of the LHC planned to take place in 10 years time. Silicon photonics is one of the newly available technologies being investigated for future data transmission applications at the HL-LHC. A silicon photonics circuit, with components that can resist the harsh radiation environments of the HL-LHC [2], could be of interest to HL-LHC applications because of its potentially small size, high speed, and low power consumption. Radiation tolerant components for HL-LHC applications must withstand radiation levels several orders of magnitude higher, both in terms of non-ionizing and ionizing radiation, than other environments (e.g. space) where radiation is a concern.