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 w aveguides, integrated micromirrors and lenses for focusing/collimation. Fre e space transmission is used for the coupling between processor boards and the backplane. Due to an expanded beam, high alignment tolerances between t he 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 n etwork. For each backplane, data transmission with a bit rate >1 Gbit/s is demonstrated and first environmental tests are successfully passed. (C) 200 0 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. [S0091-3286(00)00803- 5].