The future of photonic integration

Photonic integration is in its infancy relative to the electronics industry, and many of the techniques used in scaling silicon ICs can be leveraged to drive continuous improvement in the manufacture of PICs. This promises ongoing scaling of device capacity, functionality, and reductions in the "cost per bit" for optical transmission capacity.

But even in its infancy photonic integration has proven the ability to be a break-through technology; given the benefits it provides, once available why would optical transmission system designers revert back to the use of discrete single-function devices over photonic integrated circuits? The impact of photonic integration on the telecommunications industry can therefore be as significant as that of electronic integration, especially as network capacity grows and fiber deployments penetrate further into the network.

In the future, use of PICs, like today's electronic ASICs, will be limited only by the imagination of designers. Future PIC developments could pave the way for even more advanced packages, integration of electronics and optics, and the development of functional "macros" similar to those available for electronic ICs to enable standardized design and fab out-sourcing of PICs. Infinera is proud to have initiated these developments, and looks forward to leading the field of photonic integration.

© 2008 Infinera Corporation.