Achromatic design of holographic optical interconnects

Abstract

Optical interconnects that rely on holographic optical elements commonly suffer from strong chromatic aberrations. These aberrations limit the coupling efficiency of optical links if the laser wavelength varies with time or from sample to sample. Semiconductor lasers are the only candidates for optical links because of their efficiency and compactness. Unfortunately, these lasers show a strong tendency to wavelength drifts. Therefore, the flexibility of holographic interconnects can be ensured only if the chromatic aberrations are reduced. Four different achromatized optical interconnecting schemes are discussed that have been under investigation for the last few years in our department. The achromatization efforts for space-invariant and space-variant interconnects are summarized.