Abstract

In the following paper we describe the optical design of an alignment tolerant microchannel free-space interconnection scheme developed for photonic backplane applications. Implementing a free-space backplane that will be competitive with conventional electronic systems will be a challenging task. The interconnection links must be compact enough to meet current printed circuit board (PCB) pitch standards, typically of the order of 25mm. In addition, the interconnect must be rugged enough to be unaffected by external operating conditions such as temperature variations and vibrations. These factors place exacting demands on the optical and optomechanical design of the interconnect.

© 1998 IEEE