Ultralow‐Dispersion Silicon THz Photonic Crystal Interconnects for Multichannel Datalinks

ABSTRACT All‐Silicon (Si) Terahertz (THz) interconnects are a key platform for next‐generation on‐chip communication, leveraging broadband photonics to connect reconfigurable electronics. Yet their potential remains largely unrealized, due to low reported data rates and a lack of systematic insight into the role of dispersion in on‐chip THz data links. We address these challenges by demonstrating aggregate data rates exceeding 400 Gbps through an on‐chip all‐Si broadband low‐dispersion THz photonic crystal waveguide‐interconnect. Seven data channels deliver 452 Gbps of complex‐modulated data, aided by the waveguide's low dispersion with group velocity dispersion (GVD) reaching as low as 2.9 ps 2 mm −1 . Our THz waveguide interconnect delivers a record 9.81 Tbps aggregate figure of merit (FoM), outperforming prior THz waveguide data transfer reports. Our demonstration of high data rates, elucidating the role of GVD for on‐chip THz data interconnects, and superior FoMs pave the way for all‐Si THz photonic crystal waveguides as centimeter‐scale on‐chip interconnects for augmenting data center infrastructure.