Abstract

In short-distance optical interconnects such as chip-to-chip interconnects, power, area, and speed of the interconnect are critical parameters. The differential pair of optical thyristors is a unique detector/emitter device for such interconnects: a detecting pair with a total area of 60 × 30 μm² has already been shown to latch with a mere 7 fJ optical input at 50 MHz.¹ Higher frequency operation is expected to be achieved soon. As an emitter, however, the optical thyristor is not ideal. This limits the minimum pulse width, which can still supply the required switching energy, it limits the optical fan-out, and it imposes more demands on the quality and the cost of the imaging optics.

© 1996 Optical Society of America