Intel optical chips smash 40Gb/sec barrier

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 26 Jul 2007 at 11:38

Intel researchers have made a significant breakthrough with optical interconnect technology that could massively accelerate data transfer between motherboard and components.

The chip giant has created a laser modulator out of silicon that is capable of encoding data at 40Gb/sec.

Current optical modulators are made out of more expensive and rarer materials, such as lithium niobate. However, Intel's Photonics Technology Lab claims to be able to match lithium niobate's speed with silicon, potentially paving the way for the technology to be used in desktop computers.

"The high-speed silicon modulator could find use in various future applications," says Intel researcher, Ansheng Liu. "For example, a highly integrated silicon photonic circuit may provide a cost effective solution for the future optical interconnects within computers and other devices.

"With the demonstration of the 40Gb/sec silicon modulator and the electrically pumped hybrid silicon laser, it will become possible to integrate multiple devices on a single chip that can transmit terabits of aggregate data per second in the near future - truly enabling tera-scale computing," he claims.

Full details of the new silicon modulator can be found on the Intel Research blog.