Great and relevant excerpt of Yu from GFS proto! I did a search for the word modulator on the article and found these paragraphs of interest too.
Thousands of different components must be integrated in a silicon-photonics IC, including the modulator that translates data into photons, the waveguide that shines light around the IC, and the detector that converts photons to electrons to be processed. Packaging is also important for moving data into and out of the package, as lasers and fiber optics have to be attached separately, said Yu.
GlobalFoundries rolled out its first-generation silicon-photonics platform in 2016, tapping into the trove of silicon-photonics technology acquired in its takeover of IBM’s semiconductor manufacturing arm.
Yu said the company had the foresight to create a separate silicon-photonics business the same year, in a bet that the world would have to use the power of light to move enormous amounts of data within and between the data centers popping up around the world. While the industry standard for bandwidth was 40 GB/s at the time, technology giants today are gearing up for data rates of 400 GB/s and 800 GB/s.
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