Future Trends in Microelectronics: From Nanophotonics to Sensors to Energy

What Will Modern Photonics Contribute to the Development of Future Optical Communication Technology?

Djafar K. Mynbaev

Dept. of Electrical and Telecommunications Engineering Technology, New York City College of Technology-CUNY, Brooklyn, NY 11201, U.S.A.

1.   Introduction

Optical communications is the linchpin of modern telecommunications; in fact, the vast majority of global telecommunications traffic today is delivered optically, which means that optical communications laid the foundation for all the beneficial changes in our lives that the Internet now provides. The optical communications industry, in fact, is one of the largest consumers of electronic and photonic products; hence, developments in the optical communications area will, to a great extent, shape trends in electronics and photonics.

Optical communication today ranges widely in three dimensions: in space, in time, and in frequency (spectrum).

In space (that is, transmission distance), optical communication ranges from nanometers in optical interconnects to tens of thousands of kilometers in intercontinental links. In time, the optical communications industry operates from kilobits per second in short-reach connections to terabits per second in longdistance links; these bit rates correspond to characteristic times that range from milliseconds to picoseconds. In spectrum, optical communication covers the wavelength range from 850 nm (local) to 1650 nm (long-haul).

If this variety of the characteristics is insufficient ...