To address the next generation of transceivers in Data Centre (DC) infrastructures, targeting 800G and >1Tb/s aggregate data rates, expected to massively use Silicon Photonics based PICs, not only fabrication processes needs to be enhanced, but also the entire module manufacturing process, including packaging steps, and test and measurement operations. Indeed, with increasing manufacturing volumes, and increasing complexity level of the Silicon Photonics PICs, existing technologies are too limited in term of scalability, manufacturing throughput and test duration. As an example, today, assembling a ribbon fiber, held in a glass v-groove array, to a PIC through active alignment is typically limited by the assembly process time, an active final alignment.
MASSTART targets the exploitation of the following technologies to achieve the targets of enhanced performance at the lowest possible cost for the next generation 800Gb/s and higher Datacom transceivers :
* Glass waveguide technologies.
* Laser integration.
* Assembly techniques
* Characterization of the high speed modules
* Photonic/Electronic Integration, leveraging last decade development in the field of 3D packaging.
In addition to that, renowned end-users (module and network building blocks providers) are willing to lead developments, following a roadmap to On-Board module integration . Coordinating all these skills and know how, especially those related to assembly and test automation, at the European level within the MASSTART project, will allow Europe to unleash a breakthrough in Photonic transceivers assembly targeting data rates of at least to 400Gb/s aggregate bandwidth, in a relatively short term of 3-5 years. The mass automation in the assembly and the characterization is expected to bring down the cost for the rack-to-rack communication links to less than €1/Gb/s with minimum intervention by human hands. By addressing this major cost problem, MASSTART will reverse the current trend of job migration to Asia for exploitation of cheap labour and will render feasible the repatriation of many photonic jobs back to Europe.
The development of the MASSTART industrial and self-consistent process flow will be assessed by fabricating and characterizing demonstrators, addressing the mid-term requirements of next generation transceivers required by DC operators and covering both inter- and intra- DC applications. It will be devoted to help a standardization for future modules and their related packaging.
