Quantitative modeling of thermo-optic effects in optical networks-on-chip

Optical networks-on-chip (ONoCs) is a new promising communication paradigm that upgrades the traditional on-chip networks (NoCs) with the ultra-high communication bandwidth and low latency. Silicon microring resonators (MRRs), as a critical component of ONoCs used to implement the selection and redirection of optical signals, are inherently sensitive to the environmental temperature. The applicability of the ONoCs is essentially restricted by the performance of these optical devices that relies on the thermal conditions of the chip. In this paper, we study the thermo-optic effects of the MRRs quantitatively, build and verify the models of the MRRs based on the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. We present formal relationship models between the temperature of a MRR and its optical losses and resonance wavelength. For the first time, the variation between the two types of MRRs, the parallel microring resonators (PMRs) and the crossing microring resonators (CMRs), are systematically addressed, which greatly improves the accuracy and applicability of the models. The results presented in this paper are systematically verified using professional optics methodology, and can be widely applied for accurate and efficient analysis of the thermo-optic effects in different domains of the ONoC community.