Title:  Low Loss and High Tolerance Out-of-plane Single-mode Optical Interconnections in Glass Interposers

Committee:

Dr. Rao Tummala, ECE, Chair , Advisor

Dr. Stephen Ralph, ECE

Dr. Gee-Kung Chang, ECE

Dr. Venky Sundaram, PRC

Dr. Suresh Sitaraman, ECE

Abstract: 

The objective of this thesis research is to design and demonstrate low loss and high tolerance out-of-plane optical interconnections for single-mode fiber-to-chip coupling using low cost glass interposer technology, to address the bottleneck to short-distance optical communication – packaging cost. The specific challenges being addressed in this thesis are: 1) high fiber-to-chip coupling loss, 2) lack of high density fiber-to-chip coupling solutions, and 3) high cost active fiber alignment. The optimized optical interconnection is able to achieve < 2 dB of coupling loss at fiber-like alignment tolerance. It includes a parallel-processed 45° turning mirror, and a fiber alignment groove in glass to allow passive alignment. The results demonstrated in this research confirm the cost, performance, and density advantages of glass interposer technology for short-distance optical communications.