Synchronous optical clock distribution for optoelectronic interconnections

Abstract

Optoelectronic communication with high data rates requires a clock distribution without a time skew. We propose an approach for a optical clock distribution to boards, with a time skew well below 10 ps, using ellipsoidal mirrors placed at positions determined by a set of ellipses. For this purpose a fan-out element is necessary, which generates a set of fan-out beams with defined angles and equal (or well-defined) intensities. Because of their high flexibility in design, diffractive optical elements are well suited as fan-out elements.