IBM has invented a chip that combines photonics and silicon on a single 90 nanometer(nm)die,which is capable of transferring data at 25Gbps.
The so-called silicon nanophotonics device(shown below)allows the integration of different optical components side-by-side with electrical circuits on a single silicon chip using,for the first time,sub-100nm semiconductor technology,according to IBM.
John Kelly,senior vice-president and director of IBM Research,described the device as a breakthrough,paving the way to large-scale fabrication.
"This allows us to move silicon nanophotonics technology into a real-world manufacturing environment that will have impact across a range of applications,"he said.
The company originally developed a proof-of concept device in 2010.
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IBM has now industrialised the chip by adding silicon nanophotonics into a high-performance 90nm CMOS fabrication line.It claims its manufacturing process is able to integrate optical components like wavelength division multiplexers(WDM),modulators and detectors side-by-side with a CMOS electrical circuitry.
As a result,single-chip optical communications transceivers can be manufactured in a conventional semiconductor foundry,providing significant cost reduction over traditional approaches,according to IBM.
Big data analysis is one of the real-world applications of silicon nanophotonics.IBM said the technology could provide answers to big data challenges by seamlessly connecting various parts of large systems,whether a few centimetres or some kilometres apart,and move terabytes of data via pulses of light through optical fibres.