Massively parallel processing using optical interconnections

A group at Heriot-Watt University has been working on the application of optical techniques to digital information processing. In a search for higher system performance, hybrid optoelectronic devices and, currently, silicon-based smart pixel technology, have been used at an operating wavelength of 1-1.1 µm. The group's smart-pixel technology is comprised of InGaAs QCSE-modulators/detectors, solder-bump connected to CMOS processing nodes. Input and interconnect optics exploit diffractive optics extensively. The group's work concentrates on the use of nonlocal optical interconnects between 2D processing arrays with high pin-Hz performance, reaching beyond the capability of pure electronic configurations.