World's first 40G silicon laser modulator

Silicon Photonics Research (Intel)

A laser modulator that encodes optical data at 40 billion bits per second.

A photonic integrated circuit (PIC) could provide a cost-effective
solution for optical communication and future optical interconnects in
computing industry. PICs on silicon platforms have attracted particular
interest because of silicon’s low cost and high volume
manufacturability.

The high-speed silicon modulator could find use in various future applications. For example, a highly integrated silicon photonic circuit may provide a cost effective solution for the future optical interconnects within computers and other devices. With the demonstration of the 40 Gbps silicon modulator and the electrically pumped hybrid silicon laser, it will become possible to integrate multiple devices on a single chip that can transmit terabits of aggregate data per second in the near future – truly enabling tera-scale computing.