- 4 February 2005 -

Versatile InP SOA from CIP

The Centre for Integrated Photonics, Ipswich, UK has launched a new 1550nm InP multiple QW semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) device, with optimised non-linear operating characteristics, that may be used to implement advanced all-optical networking functions such as wavelength conversion.

"Investment in backbone network infrastructure is coming to the fore again, and this device with its novel 40Gb/s performance offers a versatile platform for new developments," says Neil Weston, CIP's VP of sales & marketing. "We are backing the component with comprehensive engineering and production services and able to optimise the performance characteristics of the device, or add extra functions - either by monolithic or hybrid integration."

The SOA-NL-OEC-1550 component,has an extremely fast gain recovery. That makes it ideal for use at 40Gb/s transmission speeds. In addition it offers large-spot interfaces with ultra-low reflectivity, allowing it to be passively aligned in the building of integrated optical sub-systems.

The SOA is highly optimised for next-generation WDM applications, and been used successfully for wavelength conversion and 2R signal regeneration at 40Gb/s. Among its optimised operating parameters are a saturated gain recovery time (1/e) of less than 25 picoseconds - which supports 40Gb/s transmission speeds - and a polarisation dependent saturated gain of less than 0.5dB.

The device also offers a high gain figure of over 30dB for small signal inputs. To optimise performance in its target applications the device features an internal active waveguide with a high confinement factor of over 20%.

The SOA can be controlled to exploit four-wave mixing, cross-gain modulation or cross-phase modulation effects to implement all-optical wavelength conversion - providing a dynamic mesh connectivity capability to dramatically enhance the flexibility of point-to-point optical networks.

The phase change characteristics of the non-linear SOA - and its high gain - may also be employed to regenerate optical signals and the device is ideal for implementing all-optical Boolean logic.

The SOA is the latest in a comprehensive range of compound-semiconductor device functions for optical networking developed over many years by CIP.

CIP's pedigree in optoelectronics is well known to sources from Corning, and earlier, British Telecom's Photonic Technology Research Centre. With it's own fab, it is able to create variants on the SOA with application-specific performance requirements such as custom device lengths, additional active optical processing functions, or as an integrated array of devices.

The new LS-SOA is supplied in a butterfly package for use with an external temperature controller, and is available for immediate delivery in small quantities.

In addition CIP's capabilities in hybrid integration also allow the SOA to be offered packaged with customer-specified planar silica waveguide optoelectronic elements such as interferometers. CIP already makes a hybrid variant of the device with a Mach-Zehnder interferometer.

Contact:info@ciphotonics.com.