NeoPhotonics makes available ultra-narrow-linewidth tunable C++ LASER micro-ITLA with 50% wider tuning range for coherent transmission

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 ultra-narrow-linewidth tunable C++ LASER micro-ITLA (integrated tunable laser assembly), which has a tuning range of 6THz (covering the full ‘Super C-band’), which is 50% more spectrum than a standard 80-channel, 50GHz-spaced laser.

The C++ LASER supports full gridless tuning and accommodates any channel spacing, including 50, 75, 100, 125 and 150GHz. The new laser is based on the same proven and reliable high-performance external-cavity architecture as NeoPhotonics’ micro-ITLA product line. The C++ LASER maintains comparable ultra-narrow linewidth, low phase noise and low power consumption (for which the current product is known) over a full 6THz tuning range.

New coherent transmission systems use higher baud rates (e.g. 64 or 96Gbaud) to enable a long-haul 200Gbps or 400Gbps transmission systems. However, these higher-baud-rate systems require wider DWDM channel spacings, which result in a lower number of available channels within a fixed total bandwidth, and therefore the total fiber capacity is compromised. Similarly, data-center interconnect and metro systems use these higher baud rates to achieve data rates of 400Gbps-and-above per channel and encounter these same limitations.

The C++ LASER can tune over 80 channels with a 75GHz-per-channel spacing, for example, to fully capture the increase in fiber capacity generated by these newer modulation approaches. Similarly, it can tune over 120 channels on a standard 50GHz grid spacing. The availability of this new laser dovetails with recent developments in fiber amplifiers as well as NeoPhotonics’ C++ ICR (intradyne coherent receivers) and C++ CDM (coherent driver modulators), completing the eco-system necessary to support transmission over the Super C-band.

“We are pleased to announce GA of our C++ LASER, which along with our C++ ICR and C++ CDM, enables an increase in fiber capacity of up to 50%,” says chairman & CEO Tim Jenks. “The ability of our C++ LASER to tune over the full 6THz range of the ‘Super C-band’ is a testament to the robustness of our external-cavity tunable laser technology, which maintains industry-leading linewidth and phase noise along with high optical power output with low electrical power consumption over the entire range.”

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