NeoPhotonics announces limited availability of Nano-ITLA ultra-compact external-cavity tunable laser for coherent 400G-1.2T applications

At the Optical Networking and Communication Conference & Exhibition (OFC 2019) in San Diego (5-7 March), 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 networks) has announced limited availability of its Nano ultra-compact external-cavity integrated tunable laser assembly (ITLA).

The Nano-ITLA is based on the same proven and reliable high-performance external-cavity architecture as NeoPhotonics’ Micro-ITLA product line. Further, the Nano-ITLA maintains comparable ultra-narrow-linewidth, low-frequency phase noise and the low power consumption for which the existing product is known, but in a compact package approximately half the size.

Utilizing an ASIC control IC that reduces the size of the required electronic control circuitry, the Nano-ITLA is suitable for use in 400ZR small-form-factor pluggable coherent modules, including OSFP and QSFP-DD, and for compact daughter cards for 600G and 1.2T applications.

Coherent communications is moving simultaneously to higher data rates per wavelength and to smaller form factors, requiring higher performance from the optical components at the same time that the size and power must be significantly reduced, notes NeoPhotonics. Increasing the symbol rate to 64 Gbaud and using higher-order modulation, such as 16 QAM to 64 QAM, can increase the data rate per wavelength to 400G or 600G. However, such higher-order modulation schemes are more sensitive to both amplitude and phase noise since the separation between states is necessarily reduced. As a result, this situation requires the most stable, ultra-narrow-linewidth laser sources, the firm states. The new Nano-ITLA uses a miniaturized design while maintaining the performance of an external-cavity design, which results in high output power, low electrical power consumption and what is claimed to be the narrowest linewidth in the industry, resulting in high fidelity in higher-order modulation formats.

“We are pleased to begin commercial shipments of our new ultra-compact Nano-ITLA and to provide our customers with the components to enable the next generation of 400G and 600G compact optical modules,” says chairman & CEO Tim Jenks. “This Nano-ITLA delivers similar performance advantages to our current Micro-ITLA, but with the laser size reduced by half,” he adds.

At OFC, NeoPhotonics is also demonstrating its next-generation Pico Tunable Laser, which is based on silicon photonics and designed for further integration.

Tags: NeoPhotonics PICs

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