Nanophotonics and computing

The long heralded transition of photonic technology from a rack to rack interconnect to an integral part of the system architecture is underway. Silicon photonics, where the optical communications devices are fabricate using the same materials and processes as CMOS logic will allow 3D or monolithically integrated devices to be created minimizing the overhead for moving between the electronic and photonic domains. It is possible to view photonics as simply “better wires”. However to fully exploit the capabilities of integrated silicon photonics we need to reconsider systems architecture to make use of capabilities such as broadband switching and distance independence. The combination of new device technologies and innovative system architectures will be critical in establishing the path to Exascale computing.