News: Optoelectronics
2 June 2021
II-VI Inc unveils 100Gbps InP directly modulated lasers
Optical communications component maker II-VI Inc of Saxonburg, PA, USA has introduced 100Gbps indium phosphide (InP) directly modulated lasers (DMLs) for high-speed transceivers deployed in data centers.
The growing demand for 400 and 800 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) transceivers is driving substantial investments in technology advancements of DMLs due to their lower cost and lower power consumption compared with electro-absorption modulated lasers (EMLs) currently used in these high-speed transceivers. II-VI says that its 100Gbps DMLs can achieve state-of-the-art modulation speed and signal quality at high output power and low power consumption, making them preferable to EMLs in 400GbE and 800GbE transceivers that use 100Gbps optical lanes.
“Our early results were published in the journal Nature Photonics in January,” notes Dr Charlie Roxlo, vice president, Indium Phosphide Devices business unit. “This breakthrough performance was achieved thanks to multi-year R&D investments and deep expertise across a broad internal multi-disciplinary team of semiconductor laser physicists, high-speed RF analog integrated circuit designers, and transceiver experts.”
II-VI’s new DMLs are built on its InP technology platform - one of the very few in the industry that has been proven with more than 100 million lasers in the field deployed over the last decades. The low power consumption of the DMLs and their design for non-hermetic packaging suit both existing pluggable form factors and future co-packaged solutions, the firm adds.
II-VI’s portfolio of InP components includes Fabry-Pérot lasers, DMLs, EMLs and tunable lasers, as well as photodiodes for high-speed receivers and power monitoring. Lasers are available in LAN-WDM and CWDM wavelength plans.
The firm is showcasing its portfolio of optical communications products at the Optical Networking and Communication Conference & Exhibition (OFC 2021) being held virtually on 6-11 June.
