News: Optoelectronics
6 July 2022
POET samples 200G FR4 Transmit and Receive optical engines for QSFP56 transceivers for Cloud data centers and 5G connectivity
POET Technologies Inc of Toronto, Ontario, Canada has begun sampling its 200G FR4 Transmit (TX) and Receive (RX) optical engines, which are based on the POET Optical Interposer (a unique hybrid integrated photonics packaging platform).
The firm has shipped samples to multiple lead customers through Super Photonics (its China-based joint venture formed in October 2020 with Sanan Integrated Circuit Co Ltd of Xiamen City, Fujian province) and expects the 200G FR4 TX and RX optical engines to be in production at Super Photonics by the end of 2022.
The 200G FR4 Transmit optical engine integrates four high-speed directly modulated lasers (DMLs), each operating at 50Gb/s speed, with a low-loss AWG (arrayed waveguide grating)-based multiplexer that is monolithically integrated on the Optical Interposer. Monitor photodiodes are built into the optical engine for active power monitoring.
The 200G FR4 Receive optical engine integrates four high-speed photodetectors, each operating at 50Gb/s speed, with a low-loss AWG-based demultiplexer that is monolithically integrated on the Optical Interposer. A single-mode optical fiber with LC connector is attached to the TX and RX optical engines for seamless integration in a 200GBASE-FR4 transceiver module.
“We see significant customer interest in 200GBASE-FR4 transceivers,” says Raju Kankipati, VP of product line management (PLM). “Our highly integrated optical engines will enable customers to offer cost-effective and scalable 200GBASE-FR4 and 2x200GBASE-FR4 transceivers to cloud data-center end customers,” he adds. “We, through our joint venture Super Photonics, have started sampling multiple lead customers, who we expect to work closely with through their transceiver design completion phase.”
Key features of the 200G FR4 Transmit and Receive optical engines are listed as:
- supports 200GBASE-FR4 (4x50Gbps) PAM-4 transmission;
- uncooled DFB lasers (CWDM wavelengths) and PIN photodetectors;
- low-loss AWG-based quad-wavelength multiplexer and demultiplexer that are temperature independent and monolithically integrated into the optical waveguide layer of the Optical Interposer;
- A small-size form factor, which enables an 200GBASE-FR4 and 2x200GBASE-FR4 in a QSFP56 optical transceiver module.
