Silicon photonic 2.5D multi-chip module transceiver for high-performance data centers

Abstract

Widespread adoption of silicon photonics into datacenters requires that the integration of the driving electronics with the photonics be an essential component of transceiver development. In this article, we describe our silicon photonic transceiver design: a 2.5D integrated multi-chip module (MCM) for 4-channel wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) microdisk modulation targeting 10 Gbps per channel. A silicon interposer is used to provide connectivity between the photonic integrated circuit (PIC) and the commercial transimpedance amplifiers (TIAs). Error free modulation is demonstrated at 10 Gbps with -16 dBm received power for the photonic bare die and at 6 Gbps with -15 dBm received power for the first iteration of the MCM transceiver. In this context, we outline the different integration approaches currently being employed to interface between electronics and photonics - monolithic, 2D, 3D, and 2.5D - and discuss their tradeoffs. Notable demonstrations of the various integration architectures are highlighted. Finally, we address the scalability of the architecture and highlight a subsequent prototype employing custom electronic integrated circuits (EICs).