Mar 23 2010
CyOptics Inc., an industry leader in the design and manufacture of Photonic Integration Circuits, today announced the successful demonstration of an industry first ½ Terabit/s (500Gbps) Transmit Optical Subassembly (TOSA) and Receive Optical Subassembly (ROSA) targeted at next generation Ethernet applications.
The Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) components leverage a combination of monolithic and hybrid integration to deliver 500Gbps in a single pair of TOSA and ROSA.
While the IEEE is expected to ratify a standard for 100G Ethernet by the middle of 2010, initial industry and standard body discussions have already started on how to make the next leap to 1 Terabit to meet the ever-increasing demand for optical bandwidth. The 500G demonstration marks the successful completion of the 2nd year milestone as part of a three-year project funded by the U.S. Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Advanced Technology Program (ATP) to develop the next generation Terabit Photonic Integrated Circuit (TERAPIC™). The final project goal targets the demonstration of optical laser and receiver components for transmission speeds of up to 1 Terabit/s (1,000Gbps) by the end of 2010.
The TOSA encompasses 12 electro-absorptive modulated lasers (EMLs) with wavelength channels from 1270nm to 1380nm on a 10nm channel grid. The lasers are grouped in three (3) arrays with each array monolithically integrating four (4) EMLs. Each EML has a typical small-signal bandwidth of > 30GHz allowing non-return-to-zero (NRZ) operation at 43Gbps. The three EML arrays are flip-chip bonded to a planar lightguide circuit (PLC), which serves as the mounting platform and provides the optical multiplexer (MUX) function. The ROSA couples the signal through an optical PLC-based de-multiplexer (DeMux) to twelve (12) high-speed PIN detectors with a 3dB bandwidth of more than 50GHz and a continuous wave (CW) responsivity of 0.8A/W. The current package dimensions of the TOSA are 22mm x 22mm, and the ROSA 30mm wide x 26mm long. CyOptics leverages its high speed Indium Phosphide (InP) device technology for the fabrication of the cutting edge 40G EML array and 40G PIN detectors, as well as its highly automated hybridization and planar packaging platforms for the assembly of the TERAPIC components. The PLCs for this demonstration used Silicon on Insulator (SOI) technology designed and fabricated by Kotura, CyOptics' partner in the ATP/NIST project. For the future commercialization of the TERAPIC technology, CyOptics intends to also leverage its in-house Silica PLC platform.
The transmission tests were performed over 2km of SMF with each channel tested at 40Gbps. For the demo, a commercial SOA was used in front of the ROSA to boost the signal. Each channel was tested to be error free to < 10-11 BER with most < 10-12 BER. The total cross-talk was measured to be between 1 and 2dB. The channel spacing of 10nm was chosen to enable the TOSA operation without using a Thermo-Electric-Cooler (TEC) in order to reduce the overall power dissipation. Instead of a TEC, resistive heating can be used to limit the temperature excursions and to enable an operating range of the TOSA from -5 to +75 degC.