Flip chip mountable optical waveguide amplifier for optical backplane systems

A concept study of a planar optical waveguide amplifier is presented, where the amplifier is to be used in optical backplane or motherboard systems with planar polymer optical waveguides. The amplification device can be flip chip mounted on the backplane to pre-amplify an incoming signal, compensate optical losses due to signal routing, or post amplify an output signal. The hybrid concept design guarantees compatibility with the processes of the PCB industry. In addition to the amplifier design, a review of recent literature of polymer waveguide systems and optical amplifiers using silicon technology was performed to analyze the expected losses in an optical backplane.