We propose a scalable bit-parallel optical interconnect method for use in large-bandwidth interprocessor communications. Flexible fiber image guides are used to transmit spatially parallel optical data between a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser array and a photodetector array. We have studied a lens-based and a fiber-image-taper-based input–output coupling scheme and have modeled power-loss mechanisms and resolution-degradation mechanisms associated with the schemes. We have also performed some experiments to confirm the operational principles of the proposed schemes and to investigate the power efficiency and imaging-resolution performance of the interconnect schemes. Our study indicates that the proposed interconnects can offer a scalable method to transmit hundreds of channels of multigigabyte per second per channel optical data in parallel.

© 1996 Optical Society of America

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