Polymer Waveguide Based Optical Interconnects for High-Speed On-Board Communications

Data centres and supercomputers are becoming increasingly ubiquitous. Data centres process enormous amounts of user data. Supercomputers perform complex computations that can predict anything from climate to the human genome. Due to their wide ranging applicability in our daily life, there is an ever-increasing demand for faster speed and therefore higher interconnection bandwidth. However the conventional electrical interconnects are being severely challenged due to their fundamental limits. Optical interconnect technologies can provide a possible solution owing to their advantages. Such high-performance, low-cost and low-energy optical interconnects are the central topic of my research.

My project aims to tackle the bandwidth challenge using new embedded optical interconnect technologies by integrating both electronics and photonics. I am mainly interested in polymer waveguides based on siloxane materials that possess favourable optical and mechanical properties, as they can be directly integrated on printed circuit boards (PCBs) using existing electronic manufacturing methods; making the migration of optical interconnects into future electronic systems easier. We are hoping to commercialize and make this technology accessible on a larger scale.

My work to date has lead to a number of publications and presentations in top journals and conferences, resulting in a significant shift in how industries view the capabilities of polymer waveguides. We have demonstrated basic waveguide and waveguide component studies, on-board interconnection architectures, various approaches of enhancing the performance of these waveguides as well as high-speed data transmission demonstrations which remain world-records (using both NRZ and PAM-4). More importantly, our bandwidth studies show that these polymer waveguides can exhibit extremely high bandwidth, an unexpected result that has attracted the interest of both academia and industries.

My research will lead to technical innovation in interconnections within data centres and supercomputers, which will solve crucial social needs by meeting people's ever increasing demand of bandwidth requirements such as high definition video, cloud computing, "Big Data" and "Internet of Things". Also, my work has established that there is tremendous potential in this area and created an enduring field of research. Furthermore, by liaising with both my research group and industry partners I am aiding development of cutting edge commercial products.

- As of June 2016