Si Photonics Breakthrough at Kotura

Silicon photonics products maker Kotura Inc. announced its demonstration of a modulator with two-volt, peak-to-peak driving voltage.

Permitting the use of inexpensive CMOS drivers, the modulator has achieved speeds greater than 11 GHz and an ultralow energy consumption of 50 fJ/bit. It delivers an on-chip device loss of 2 dB, among the lowest ever demonstrated according to the company.

“This technology breakthrough will enable the development of silicon photonics circuits for optical interconnect,” said Dr. Ashok Krishnamoorthy, principal investigator of the project and director at Sun Microsystems. “This development opens the door for wavelength-multiplexed optical interconnects, which will reduce the complexity impact of connectors and cabling in such systems.”

The modulator was developed as part of the DARPA’s Ultraperformance Nanophotonic Intrachip Communications (UNIC) program in conjunction with Sun Microsystems, under the leadership of Dr. Jagdeep Shah.

For more information, visit: www.kotura.com