Design, implementation and characterization of a 2-D bi-directional free-space optical link

摘要

A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) based free-space parallel optical interconnect is presented. The rigid optical link interconnects bi-directionally two PCBs over a distance of 3 inches. The 312 optical channels were grouped in 4 by 8 clusters on a 750- mu m pitch, where each cluster is a 4 by 4 array of channels on a 125- mu m pitch. Modules combining both microlenses and minilenses were used to propagate light from the VCSELs to the detectos. Details of the optical design and assembly process ar presented.