Matsushita's Optical Waveguide Realizes 10Gbps w/ 1m Circuit

Jan 18, 2008 18:28 Mayuko Uno, Nikkei Electronics

Matsushita Electric Works Ltd developed an optical-waveguide film material for printed-circuit boards (PCB) equipped with both electric and optical circuits and a processing method for the material.

The company confirmed that it is possible to transfer signals at 10Gbps with a 1m circuit. Before this film material was developed, only about 10cm of optical waveguide had been confirmed to be practical.

The new film material enables to adopt an optical waveguide not only for a short circuit in a mobile device or small part of PCB such as a circuit around a microprocessor but also for the entire PCB of a communication device like a server and router.

Matsushita Electric Works exhibits a prototype of the PCB at the 9th Printed Wiring Boards Expo, which takes place from Jan 16 to 18, 2008, at Tokyo Big Sight.

The prototyped PCB is as large as a Japanese post card (148 × 100mm) and spirally printed with a 1m-long optical waveguide whose cross section measures 40 × 40µm. When 850nm-wavelength light is used, the loss of the optical circuit including the mirrors at the both ends of the optical waveguide is 12dB, which the company considers as a practical level.

The film material is made of epoxy resin and can be used for both rigid and flexible substrates, Matsushita Electric Works said. The material is suited for build-up substrates, multilayer PCBs made by piling materials.

Its linear loss is less than 0.1dB/cm, and the loss in the mirror parts is 0.5dB. The company plans to provide PCB manufacturers with the film material and the method to process optical waveguides. It aims to achieve the practical use of the film in 2010 or 2011.

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