NeoPhotonics announces general availability of 30-40mW CW DFB lasers for silicon photonics-based 400G 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 announced general availability (GA) of its non-hermetic 30-40mW distributed feedback (DFB) laser sources for use in silicon photonics 100G-per-wavelength CWDM4 FR4 and 1310nm DR1 and DR4 transceivers. The lasers are available with and without integral spot-size converters (SSC).

NeoPhotonics’ low-loss SSC technology enables direct attachment of the indium phosphide laser to a silicon photonics waveguide, increasing manufacturing scalability and reducing costs. The efficient, high-power DFB lasers can operate at up to 75°C and are compliant with Telcordia GR-468-CORE, making them suitable for use in non-hermetic silicon photonics-based small-form-factor pluggable modules, such as 400G QSFP-DD.

Silicon photonics (SiPho) has emerged as a promising technology for optical data transmission over intermediate reaches of about 500m (DR) to 2km (FR) inside data centers. A SiPho photonic integrated circuit (PIC) can combine four different high-speed modulators on a single chip, but it requires a light source to be modulated. A separate laser (or laser array) generating sufficient optical power at the specified wavelength(s) to overcome losses in the silicon modulator and waveguides must be coupled to the SiPho chip. NeoPhotonics’ family of high-power DFB lasers is designed to efficiently couple to the SiPho modulator chip and they do not require hermetic packaging, making them suitable for next-generation transceiver modules.

A high-speed SiPho modulator chip, due to its high Vp, generally requires a driver amplifier with a large voltage swing, which is also supplied by NeoPhotonics. The firm’s gallium arsenide (GaAs)-based 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.

“Silicon photonics is rapidly transforming the data-center transceiver marketplace by bringing the scale and cost structure of semiconductor electronics to optics, and our laser sources and drivers are helping to unleash the potential of silicon photonics,” says chairman & CEO Tim Jenks.

Tags: NeoPhotonics PICs

Visit: www.neophotonics.com