Mode-Division Multiplexing for Silicon Photonic Network-on-Chip

Optical interconnect is a potential solution to attain the large bandwidth on-chip communications needed in high-performance computers in a low-power and low-cost manner. Mode-division multiplexing (MDM) is an emerging technology that scales the capacity of a single wavelength carrier by the number of modes in a multimode waveguide, and is attractive as a cost-effective means for high bandwidth density on-chip communications. Advanced modulation formats with high spectral efficiency in MDM networks can further improve the data rates of the optical link. Here, we demonstrate an intra-chip MDM communications link employing advanced modulation formats with two waveguide modes. We demonstrate a compact single wavelength carrier link that is expected to support 2 x 100 Gb/s mode multiplexed capacity. The network comprised integrated microring modulators at the transmitter, mode multiplexers, multimode waveguide interconnect, mode demultiplexers, and integrated germanium on silicon photodetectors. Each of the mode channels achieves 100 Gb/s line rate with 84 Gb/s net payload data rate at 7% overhead for hard-decision forward error correction (HD-FEC) in the OFDM/16-QAM signal transmission.