Optical multimode interconnects for printed circuit board application

Summary form only given. In order to make full use of next-generation microprocessors operating with clock speeds of 1 GHz and more there is a great need for high-bandwidth off-chip interconnects. Electrical interconnects on standard pc boards, which are characterized by a limited bandwidth and emission of and sensibility to electromagnetic radiation, cannot provide the required performance. To overcome this bottleneck, optical interconnects, ready established for long-distance telecommunication, can be used for realizing high-bandwidth and high-performance information channels within and between systems. Moreover, they are totally insensible to electromagnetic noise and of course they do not radiate themselves.