What is optical core technology?

Optical core technology is a kind of photonic chip technology. The researchers integrated the luminescent characteristics of indium phosphide and the optical routing ability of silicon into a single hybrid chip. When a voltage is applied to InP, light enters the waveguide of the silicon wafer, generating a continuous laser beam, which can drive other silicon photonic devices.

This silicon-based laser technology can make photonics more widely used in computers, because large-scale silicon-based manufacturing technology can greatly reduce costs. Intel believes that although the technology is still a long way from commercialization, it is believed that in the future, dozens or even hundreds of hybrid silicon lasers will be integrated into a single silicon chip together with other silicon photonic devices. This marks the beginning of mass production of silicon photonic chips with high integration and low cost.