1. Introduction into Photonic Packaging

In the last 20 years, fiber optic systems show a huge development in terms of expanded data rates of 40–160 Gb/s in the telecom core network. Additionally, the data rates in the consumer PC segment such as internal front side bus or external bus structures such as USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt (Intel_Corporation 2011) are also expanding extremely. In automotive applications, the bus speed becomes also in the region of several hundred megabits (MOST 3.0). The advantage of optical fibers depends on its almost infinite transmission bandwidth, but still has strong disadvantages in the field of handling of the fibers and in the fiber–chip coupling, respectively. In this work, the fiber-chip coupling technology will be analyzed, while new coupling techniques and cost optimization basics are presented. Thus, at the beginning, an overview of the technology drivers of optical communications systems will be discussed. Further, many examples of photonic packaging and interconnection technology are presented in depth. All actual adjustment and fixation techniques are focused. A deeper analysis of the optical interconnection technology with basic theory of waveguide coupling and loss mechanisms concludes the introductory part of work. Then, an overview on the modular technology of major photonic components in the field of high-rate fiber optic networks is presented, followed by the analysis of the fiber–chip coupling in these different applications. In the conclusions, a summary and an outlook on the further development of the technology of photonic packaging and interconnection technology will be given.