Abstract

The combination of vertical optical taps with planar optical waveguides could improve the functionality of guided wave devices for a number of reasons: (a) They permit three-dimensional optical interconnection between different layers or boards. This offers a considerable improvement of the processing capabilities of information systems, (b) Such structures are very interesting for applications such as OSM (optical surface mount)¹ and OBPI (optical backplane interconnect). In these applications light is tapped from the waveguide into a functional component or board; after processing, new light signals are injected into the waveguides. The functional component can be a single optical device (optical isolator, optical amplifier, optical modulator, etc.), a single opto-electronic device (laser diode, detector), or an opto-electronic system consisting of opto-electronic transducers and electronic processors (receiver-transmitter module, OBPI, etc.).

© 1994 IEEE