CONFERENCE REPORT I ISLC
Advancing hybrid PICs Innovations in InP laser design are destined to keep the energy consumed by the internet in check BY RICHARD STEVENSON JUDGED IN TERMS of its impact on our climate, the internet is both a friend and a foe. It has enabled teleworking and the remote attendance of international conferences, leading to a reduction in the number of journeys taken by car and plane; but it is having an impact on the climate that is roughly equivalent to the aviation industry, accounting for around 2 percent of the world’s CO2 emissions, according to the Boston Consulting Group. With humanity’s insatiable desire for data, there is the threat that the internet’s contribution to the global
carbon footprint will rocket. Fortunately, though, gains in the efficiency of infrastructure are offsetting exponential rises in the transmission and consumption of data. To ensure that this equilibrium continues, much effort is being devoted to developing components that set a new benchmark for the energy required per bit. If they are to have a commercial impact, competitively pricing is also essential. Addressing both of these key requirements is the hybrid photonic integrated circuit (PIC), combining the low cost, large wafer size and high level of maturity of silicon technology with the InP laser, the only realistic choice for a high-performance light source operating in the spectral domains employed for data transfer. At the 27th International Semiconductor Laser Conference (ISLC), held in Postdam, Germany, from 10-14 October and organised by FBH Berlin, engineers showcased a variety of technologies for forming InP-based lasers on silicon substrates. Triumphs announced at that meeting included an 8-channel transmitter by Intel, featuring distributed feedback (DFB) lasers; a laser with a wide tuning range and a two-storied ridge structure, pioneered by a team led by Sumitomo Electric Industries; and a GaInAsP laser within a buried-ridge waveguide structure, trailblazed by researchers at Tokyo Institute of Technology.
Turbo-charging optical engines Intel is well-known for its development of optical transceivers for data centres. These products, which first hit the market in 2016, are produced with a 300 mm hybrid silicon photonics platform that features advanced lithography. At ISLC, Intel’s Duanni Huang outlined to delegates attending in-person and on-line how the deployment of these transceivers will evolve over time. Huang 46 ISSUE VIII 2021
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