Demonstration of a Multichannel Optical Interconnection by use of Imaging Fiber Bundles Butt Coupled to Optoelectronic Circuits

Through five experiments, we demonstrate and characterize the basic functionality of imaging fiber bundles for optoelectronic chip-level interconnections. We demonstrate the transmission of spot arrays with spot sizes and a spot pitch roughly equal to 2 and 4 times the core pitch, respectively. We show that optoelectronic integrated circuits, including sources and detectors, can be butt coupled directly to fiber bundles without any additional optical elements. We demonstrate a 16-channel interconnect with 23 dB of cross talk, and we characterize the most significant optical loss mechanism. Finally, we show how imaging fiber bundles can be used to implement more complex interconnection structures by an example of a hybrid-bonded structure that implements a low-cost, high-connectivity solution for more advanced system architectures.