Innovative Applications of A Germanium Based Light Source

IOTs promises to revolutionize the way we communicate using a global network of sensors, with exponential growth in communication needs in data centers.

For global data centers, cloud computing, and fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), there is a strong desire to enable monolithic light sources integrated on silicon photonic chips, but for optically interconnected applications, we have to overcome severe power requirements

The main advantage of using optical interconnects rather than metallic wiring is the reduction in power in addition to higher data rates. Quantum efficiencies as high as those of III-V lasers are required to be replaced by a Germanium based lasers.

a germanium

If a Germanium lasers developed in the future can operate very fast, which means at least as fast as 10 Gbps and ideally more than 25 Gbps, then direct modulation without the use of a modulator will be possible. In this case, there would be no need for the energy consumption estimated for the modulator, which would slightly relax the requirements for quantum efficiency.

There are many other possible applications for a germanium based light sources, such as automotive LANs or biosensing.

For these applications, as long as the quantum efficiency of Ge-based LEDs is reasonable laser operation may not be necessary. For example, LEDs are used for LAN in automobiles due to the relatively slow data rates of about 25 Mbps.The advantages of using Ge-based light sources would be the cost and integration capability using CMOS processes.

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