Optical backplanes with integrated polymer waveguides

An optical backplane for high bit rate data transmission between processor boards is presented. The backplane consists of low-loss polymer multimode waveguides, integrated micromirrors and lenses for focusing/collimation. Free space transmission is used for the coupling between processor boards and the backplane. Due to an expanded beam, high alignment tolerances between the boards and the backplane are obtained. Backplanes are realized for a 55 cm (21 in.) interconnection length, for a ring network and for a 4x4 star network. For each backplane, data transmission with a bit rate >1 Gbit/s is demonstrated and first environmental tests are successfully passed. (C) 2000 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. [S0091-3286(00)00803-5].