News: Optoelectronics
8 March 2022
NeoPhotonics shipping 53Gbaud PAM4 driver ICs for 100G and 400G hyperscale data-center networks
NeoPhotonics Corp of San Jose, CA, USA – a vertically integrated designer and manufacturer of silicon photonics and hybrid photonic integrated circuit (PIC)-based lasers, modules and subsystems for high-speed communications – says that it has shipped more than 1 million single and quad drivers for PAM4 transceivers used in hyperscale data-center networks.
NeoPhotonics’ 53Gbaud PAM4 driver IC is a linear, differential driver based on gallium arsenide (GaAs) and optimized for 1 x 100Gbps, 4 x 100Gbps and 8 x 100Gbps PAM4-based applications. The drivers are in volume production and provide a high RF output voltage swing with high linearity and are suited to modulating silicon photonics Mach-Zehnder modulators (MZM) used in 400G data-center transceivers, while maintaining what is claimed to be exceptional quaternary transmitter dispersion eye closure (TDECQ).
NeoPhotonics’ linear drivers feature high output voltage >3.4Vppd, low crosstalk, high gain, high bandwidth of >35GHz (supporting 53Gbaud) and low total harmonic distortion (THD) to enable what is claimed to be best-in-class PAM4 performance.
“We are pleased to have achieved multiple design wins for our family of 53Gbaud suite of drivers and are now shipping them in high volume,” says chairman & CEO Tim Jenks. “We have been shipping GaAs drivers for nearly a decade and have a deep technology base. We started with 10Gbps devices, and are now shipping devices for 400Gbps transceivers,” he adds. “We continue to improve our product performance and have recently introduced versions of the driver that deliver more than 20% power reduction. Furthermore, we are currently developing next-gen versions that we believe will feature 50% power savings verses the current generation.”
