GaAs Smart Pixel Arrays for High Performance Optoelectronic Computing Modules

Abstract

Optoelectronic logic gates interconnected by free space optics (smart pixels) show great promise for efficient implementation of high performance switching, signal processing, and computing systems. Optical interconnects have a number of advantages over electrical interconnects, including (1) lower energy per bit for point to point interconnections; (2) lower chip area used per interconnection which allows a larger interconnect density; and (3) ability to implement high fan-out and high fan-in processing architectures. OptiComp is currently developing smart pixel arrays in GaAs and Si which will contain up to 1,000 smart pixels, each operating at a data rate of hundreds of Mb/s, on a 1 cm2 die. In this paper, we will describe the design of GaAs-based smart pixel arrays which contain up to 8 x 8 elements in a 9 x 9 mm area, and which are projected to operate at data rates in excess of 1 Gb/s/channel. These smart pixel arrays are suitable for incorporation in high performance optoelectronic computing (HPOC) modules.