Optical communication substrate using glass interposer

Abstract

Described herein photonic interconnects based on glass interposers. Glass interposers of the types described herein are used to photonically interconnect multiple smaller photonic integrated circuits (PIC), as opposed to using a single, larger PIC. The typical yield of a glass interposer is significantly higher than the yield of a PIC. This is because glass interposers are passive in nature, while PICs include active photonic elements. Active photonic components (e.g., photonic transceivers and switches) tend to be more susceptible to manufacturing defects than passive photonic components (e.g., waveguides and couplers) because active components require additional manufacturing steps (e.g., ion implantation, sputtering, epitaxial growth, etc.). The approach described herein improves performance because instead of having to slice a large number of continuous reticles from a wafer, one can pick and choose reticles known to have yielded.