Abstract

Computing systems employing thousands of optical interconnects are currently being strongly pursued. In particular, 32×64 arrays of self-electro-optic effect devices (SEEDs) have been demonstrated.¹ If the elements in such an array switched in 1 ns, the total throughput of the array would be near 1 Tbit/s, a level of computing power unforeseeable for purely electronic systems. It appears that by integrating transistors with the SEED-type modulators, switching energies per element can be reduced to about 100 fJ. To obtain 1 ns switching then requires at least 100 pW of power per element, or about 0.2 W total for the above array. While this seems reasonable to obtain from semiconductor diode lasers, taking into account the losses incurred in the optical system, which currently pass about 1% of optical power from one stage of the system to the next, it appears that many watts of power may be necessary to operate the system.

© 1993 Optical Society of America