Silicon photonics PAM4 modulator for optically connected memory links

Optically connected memory (OCM) architectures provide reconfigurable and high-bandwidth links for current data center applications. However, the continuously increasing computing demands on these applications, e.g., artificial intelligence and scientific computing, require efficient energy scaling in the order of 1 pJ/bit. In this work, an optimized carrier-depletion silicon modulator is proposed to demonstrate a PAM4 interconnect for an optically disaggregated memory architecture. We conduct an exploration of feasible multi-project wafer constraints for use in waveguide and carrier depletion design. Lastly, basic performance metrics for the OCM disaggregated link will be provided, namely, the number and type of devices, and the aggregated bandwidth.