A big trend in to reduce cost is use on near-hermetic packaging. But when only the best will do, hermetic is still the packaging technology of choice. A recent product announcement from optical networking company Oclaro highlights use of hermetic package for their newest high performance modulator components.
Original article here.
Oclaro Strengthens Lithium Niobate Portfolio with High-Bandwidth Single and Dual Carrier PM-QMZ Modulators
– High-bandwidth single carrier PM-QMZ enables 600G transmission on a single wavelength
– Dual wavelength PM-QMZ achieves 1Tbs transmission through the use of a single gold box
– Both modulators are available today to provide customers with the key optical components needed to deploy next generation 400G and 1T DWDM networks
SAN JOSE, Calif., March 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Oclaro, Inc. (NASDAQ: OCLR), a leading provider and innovator of optical communications solutions, today announced it has expanded its lithium niobate (LiNbO3) portfolio with the availability of a dual wavelength PM-QMZ external modulator for data rates up to 1Tbs. This new product joins the Oclaro high-bandwidth single carrier PM-QMZ modulator, which has been available since September 2015 and tested in many labs and R&D centers operating at different symbol rates up to 64 Gbaud and at different modulation formats up to 128-QAM.
“This announcement builds upon Oclaro’s proven track record in delivering high-speed, high-volume lithium niobate external modulators that our customers need to deploy 400G and 600G networks,” said Adam Carter, Chief Commercial Officer at Oclaro, Inc. “By adding a two wavelength capability to our already proven single wavelength product portfolio, we can now provide customers with the flexibility to design next-generation networks based on their cost, performance and power requirements.”
About the Oclaro Dual Wavelength External Modulator
The Oclaro dual wavelength PM-QMZ lithium niobate external modulator is designed to enable data rates up to 1Tbs by using two wavelengths “packed” in a single gold box. This modulator is a high electro-optic bandwidth Polarization Multiplexed Quad Parallel Mach-Zehnder (PM-QMZ) device that integrates into a hermetic package two PM-QMZ sets, each of which includes an input beam splitter, four parallel Mach-Zehnder modulators configured for I-Q modulation, a polarization combiner, and monitor photodiodes for power and bias control.
Key features of the dual carrier lithium niobate external modulator include the following:
- 3dB electro-optic bandwidth exceeding 28GHz.
- Very smooth optical response up to 45GHz enabling a symbol rate of up to 45 Gbaud.
- Extinction ratio above 25dB to enable complex modulation formats.
- Insertion loss below 12dB for high efficiency.
- Supports L-Band operation similar to all other Oclaro LiNbO3 modulators.