News: Optoelectronics
7 March 2023
OpenLight demos 224G InP-based modulator for Tower’s PH18DA platform
OpenLight of Santa Barbara, CA, USA (which launched as an independent company in June 2022, introducing the world’s first open silicon photonics platform with heterogeneously integrated III-V lasers) says that it has developed and demonstrated a 224G indium phosphide (InP)-based modulator available for Tower Semiconductor’s PH18DA platform. Measured as part of a fully operational photonic integrated circuit (PIC), OpenLight extended the speed of its PAM4 modulator and demonstrated a PAM4 224G eye.
The new 224G modulator is integrated on a demonstration PIC with a heterogeneous integrated laser and other required silicon photonics (SiPh) components to enable a full transmitter. Fabricating these components on a heterogeneous SiPh platform enables significant gains in yield, decrease of production complexity, and improved performance, says OpenLight.
Datacom customers can now extend their multi-lane DR- and FR-based datacom designs to 224G per wavelength, doubling overall speed without increasing PIC cost.
“This new modulator doubles the speed of every PIC,” says CEO Dr Adam Carter. “For instance, our 800G DR8 PIC which was recently announced can become a 1.6T PIC (8x200G). Alternatively, a 400G DR4 PIC can now deliver 800G with four lanes. Our latest offering allows datacom customers to not only prepare for the future, but also keep up with the growing need for increased connectivity speeds,” he adds.
“Our partnership with OpenLight continues to increase the accessibility of PICs across industries,” says Dr Marco Racanelli, senior VP & general manager of Tower Semiconductor’s Analog business unit. “OpenLight’s technology through Tower Semiconductor allows customers to achieve 224G operation on a silicon photonics platform and achieve the same benefits offered by on-chip lasers and optical gain without the need for separate lasers and costly attachment methods,” he adds.
“200G modulation is a key building block and critical path to the delivery of next-generation Ethernet speeds based upon 200G/lane,” says Jim Theodoras, VP of Research & Development at HGGenuine USA. “This is not just a 200G modulator, but one that is available in a hybrid photonic integrated circuit. Next-generation Ethernet cannot be delivered at the power and densities being requested by datacom customers without photonic integrated circuits, and we are happy to partner with OpenLight on their industry-leading PIC technology that will enable not just 1.6T today, but also 3.2T in the near future,” he adds.
“As the demand for higher data rates continues to grow unabated, the development of advanced technologies to meet these needs becomes ever more crucial,” notes Sameh Boujelbene, VP Datacenter and Campus Ethernet Switch market research at Dell’Oro Group. “200G/channel optical links will be crucial in bringing 1.6Tb and 3.2Tb optical links at the right density and power consumption in parallel with the release of next-generation SerDes for use in a variety of architectures to support the massive bandwidth scaling required for cloud, AI/ML and HPC applications.”
OpenLight is now offering early-access packages for its 224G modulator, enabling customers to begin designing PICs based on the latest modulator offering. Evaluation vehicles will be made available later this year for customers to enable testing of OpenLight’s 224G modulator.
OpenLight announces availability of first PDK sampler to accelerate component testing
OpenLight unveils open silicon photonics platform with integrated lasers
