OFC conference to showcase energy-efficient optical links that result in faster, low-power photonic chips

(Press-News.org) Researchers have demonstrated an integrated optical link on a silicon wafer that exhibits high-speed data transmission with very low power consumption. The advance, which was possible because of new low-energy membrane photonic devices made from indium phosphide, could help improve the power efficiency of integrated photonic circuit boards and chip packages without compromising speed.

Tatsurou Hiraki from NTT Corporation in Japan will present this research at OFC, the premier global event for optical communications and networking, which will take place 30 March – 03 April 2025 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

“Low power consumption is undoubtedly a critical performance criterion in data transport, especially in hyper-scaler deployments, alongside other key considerations,” said Patrick Guo-Qiang Lo, Advanced Micro Foundry (AMF), Singapore, OFC Subcommittee Chair. “This work impressively demonstrates an innovative membrane approach that advances key components toward achieving that goal.”

To meet the increasing data processing demands of AI and machine learning, the data transfer connections within circuit boards and chip packages have significantly increased in speed. Although new wafer-level packaging enables high-speed data transfer on silicon wafers by reducing the length of interconnects between components, reducing power consumption is more difficult because traditional copper wires result in inefficient power usage. As a result, the power consumption required to transfer data between servers, packages and chips will increase, hindering the further development of AI and machine learning.

Optical interconnects are promising solutions for reducing power consumption, and researchers are developing these technologies for use in data centers. However, challenges remain in reducing power consumption for short-distance interconnects, such as within boards and packages.  Integrating lasers and modulators into a photonic chip is one potential solution, but traditional photonic devices still require the same level of power consumption as an electric link. New membrane-based indium phosphide devices are promising thanks to their efficiency and better integration with low-loss optical waveguides but need further refinement to optimize performance for ultra-short-distance interconnects inside computing packages.

To address this challenge, the researchers developed a new low-energy membrane electro-absorption modulator-integrated with distributed feedback (EA-DFB) laser, which they integrated with a membrane photodiode. These devices were coupled to a 7.6-mm-long silicon oxide waveguide to form an E-O-E link on a silicon wafer.

“We used a membrane laser with a 100-um-long active region to achieve a low threshold current and high differential quantum efficiency,” said Hiraki. “The resulting E-O-E link used just 0.14 or 0.26 pJ/bit of energy to transmit 50- and 64-Gbit/s non-return-to-zero signals, respectively. The optical link is therefore a key to achieving a lower power consumption than that of the electrical links, such as the PCIe 6.0 standard and beyond.”

OFC will feature over 650 high-impact, peer-reviewed scientific presentations, including this one, during the five-day technical conference in San Francisco.

About OFC

The 2025 Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC) is the premier conference and exhibition for optical communications and networking professionals. For 50 years, OFC has drawn attendees from all corners of the globe to meet and greet, teach and learn, make connections and move business forward.

OFC includes dynamic business programming, an exhibition of global companies and high impact peer-reviewed research that, combined, showcase the trends that are shaping the entire optical networking and communications industry. OFC is co-sponsored by the IEEE Communications Society (IEEE/ComSoc) and the IEEE Photonics Society and co-sponsored and managed by Optica. OFC will be held in-person, 30 March – 03 April 2025, at the Moscone Center, San Francisco, California, USA, with on-demand access to content available post-conference. All technical sessions, workshops, panels and exhibit floor sessions—with speaker permission—will be accessible to Full Conference registrants.

Learn more and engage on LinkedIn, follow @OFCConference on X and watch highlights on OFC’s YouTube channel.

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