28 July 2016

II-VI Inc ramps volume production of LAN-WDM optics for 100Gb/s long- and extended-reach datacenter transceivers

Engineered materials and optoelectronic component maker II-VI Inc of Saxonburg, PA, USA says that it is ramping up shipments of LAN-WDM optics to serve the rapid growth of the 100GBASE-LR4 and ER4 transceiver market.

Data centers are scaling up to keep pace with fast-growing cloud services through increased interconnectivity of data-center computing resources and reduced overall signal latency. Transceivers operating at 100Gb/s are becoming the connectivity workhorse for spine-leaf network topologies. II-VI is therefore ramping up its production output to meet the increasing demand for micro-optics used in transceivers for intra-data-center connectivity.

The IEEE 802.3ba standard (which defines 100GBASE-LR4/ER4 transceivers) is based on LAN-WDM, a technology implemented using four optical channels on 800GHz frequency spacing, each transmitting at 25Gb/s. II-VI leverages its thin-film wavelength division multiplexing technology to build low-loss micro-optics assemblies that merge or multiplex these four optical channels at the transmitter end as they are launched into a single-mode fiber, then function in reverse at the receiver end.

"The role of micro-optics in optical networks continues to expand, this time in the rapidly growing and transforming data center," says Wade Tang, general manager, Advanced Components Division. "Our state-of-the-art thin-film filter fabrication facilities in Santa Rosa, California and Guangzhou, China have enabled our global leadership in this market, especially in the fiber-to-the-home market," he claims. "We have shipped over 200 million filters in the last three years. We are now extending that leadership to the high-bit-rate intra-data-center connectivity."

II-VI offers a broad portfolio of vertically integrated products for optical networks using micro-optics that are designed and manufactured in house with core processes including crystal growth, precision polishing, thin-film coatings and high-volume automated assembly manufacturing. II-VI's LAN-WDM optics are Telcordia qualified and are commercially available in fiber-pigtailed assemblies or in various sub-assembly configurations.

Tags: II-VI Inc

Visit: www.ii-vi-photonics.com