NeoPhotonics shipping early limited volumes of single and quad 53Gbaud GaAs linear driver ICs for silicon photonics modulators in 100G-per-wavelength DR1 and DR4 data-center transceivers

NeoPhotonics Corp of San Jose, CA, USA (a vertically integrated designer and manufacturer of hybrid photonic integrated optoelectronic modules and subsystems for high-speed communications) has shipped early limited volumes of its new 53 Gbaud linear driver ICs designed to work with silicon photonics-based Mach-Zehnder modulator chips in 100G-per-wavelength data-center optical transceiver modules. Manufactured using NeoPhotonics’ proven, in-house gallium arsenide (GaAs) wafer fabrication facility, the driver ICs are available in both single and quad formats.

Silicon photonics (SiPho) has emerged as a promising technology for optical data transmission over intermediate reaches of about 500m (DR) inside data centers. Several vendors have designed 53Gbaud SiPho modulator chips that can modulate four separate optical signals using 4-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM4) encoding to achieve 100Gbps on four separate channels, resulting in a total of 400Gbps for the module. The SiPho modulator chip designs generally require a larger voltage swing than is normally produced by the CMOS electronics used in the PAM4 digital signal processor (DSP) chip. NeoPhotonics’ linear driver IC amplifies the electrical signal so that it is of an appropriate voltage to operate the SiPho modulator and produce the desired optical signal. NeoPhotonics’ quad driver chip combines four separate drivers in a single compact, low-power chip designed to support compact pluggable modules such as OSFP and QSFP-DD.

The SiPho-based transceivers also need a high-power laser to provide the initial input light to the modulator. NeoPhotonics also offers such high-power, non-hermetic lasers and has begun volume shipments. The high-power DFB lasers are qualified to the non-hermetic test compliance with Telcordia GR-468-CORE Issue 2.

“We are pleased to announce the initial shipments and availability of our 53Gbaud GaAs driver ICs just before the Fiber Optic Expo in Tokyo, as these products have been designed and manufactured at our NeoPhotonics Semiconductor GK division in Hachioji City of Tokyo,” notes chairman & CEO Tim Jenks. “Our 53Gbaud driver ICs and our high-power, non-hermetic DFB lasers, high-speed photo-detectors, trans-impedance amplifiers (TIAs) and EML lasers provide designers with several of the key optical components required for the highest-speed data-center transceivers,” he adds.

NeoPhotonics is exhibiting its new driver chips and other lasers and optical ICs for 100G and 400G data-center applications, along with its suite of coherent components for 100G to 600G data-center interconnect (DCI) and telecom applications, plus its switches and passive products, at the Fiber Optic Expo (FOE) trade show on Stand 12-43 (Hall B) at Aomi Hall in Tokyo, Japan (17-19 July).

Tags: NeoPhotonics PICs

Visit: www.neophotonics.com