ABSTRACT
However, the bene„ts of integration do not come without consequences. One in particular is that power consumption increases as transistor density increases (see Figure 1.2), which can in turn lead to lifetime and performance degradation due to heating [9]. It can also lead to power-hungry devices, which may create a more global issue as technology becomes more ubiquitous, and as more
users embrace it. One candidate solution to the heating and power (and other) problems is the use of photonics to transfer information to various sections of the chip (intrachip) and between the chips (interchip), thereby minimizing the use of metallic pathways as much as possible. It is these pathways that introduce many of the deleterious e›ects discussed previously. Figure 1.3 illustrates how, in the near future, a photonics solution might be utilized within a multilayer integrated circuit (IC) [10]. Optical pathways do not su›er from joule heating and hence do not dissipate power in the same way in order to propagate data signals. Furthermore, these pathways do not have the same magnitude of impedance limitations that may a›ect the speed of data signals, and so data can be transmitted at nearly the speed of light. Hence, in order for the microelectronics industry to continue along the integration path, it may need to evolve by embracing optical components in addition to electronic ones.
