In the proposed work key design and implementation issues will be addressed which will make free-space optics a more viable interconnect alternative at the board interconnection level. The major goals of this work are to: a) Develop a layout and design program which includes relevant optical and electrical properties of free space optical interconnects. b) Combine the alignment properties of lithographically formed binary optical elements with the high spatial frequency recording capability and single exposure formation properties of volume gratings. c) Evaluate methods to reduce misalignment effects of free space beams propagating between boards, and establish a minimal set of substrate-mode holographic interconnects for distributing signals in the plane of the board. d) Develop and evaluate alignment and packaging techniques for stacked optical systems with electronic processor elements. e) Use the interconnect design model to build a board level interconnect system which transfers data in parallel between three boards. The interconnect locations on boards will be optimized to reduce latency effects.
