POET Technologies unveils optical engines for 400G FR4 and 800G

June 30, 2022
The components leverage the company’s POET Optical Interposer integration platform and are expected to be in production by the end of the third quarter of this year.

Optical component supplier POET Technologies Inc. (TSX Venture: PTK; NASDAQ: POET) says has begun shipping samples of its 400G FR4 and 800G (2x400G FR4) Receive (RX) Optical Engines to multiple lead customers. The components leverage the company’s POET Optical Interposer integration platform and are expected to be in production by the end of the third quarter of this year.

The 400G FR4 Receive Optical Engine integrates four 56-Gbaud photodetectors, each operating at 100 Gbps, with a polarization- and temperature-independent arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) -based demultiplexer that is monolithically integrated on the Optical Interposer. A singlemode optical fiber with LC connector is attached to the optical engine for integration in a 400GBASE-FR4 optical transceiver. The resultant device, at 3.8x10 mm, is small enough to enable an 800G 2x400G configuration in both QSFP-DD800 and OSFP optical transceiver modules, the company asserts.

Production of the engines will take place at Super Photonics, a joint venture between POET Technologies and Xiamen Sanan Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd. created to assemble, test, package, and sells optical engines based on POET’s patented Optical Interposer platform.

“We are excited to announce the completion of design, verification testing, and availability of pre-production parts for customers to take advantage of our highly integrated optical engines to build 400G FR4 and 800G (2x400G FR4) transceivers,” said Vivek Rajgarhia, president of POET Technologies. “Our small-form-factor and easy-to-integrate optical engine enables cost-effective and scalable solutions for cloud data centers. Customers can integrate a single receive engine or dual engines in a QSFP-DD or OSFP pluggable transceiver form factor to achieve a 400GBASE-FR4 or 800G (2x400GBASE-FR4) solution. The shipping of 400G receive samples marks a significant milestone for the company, as we continue to commercialize multiple products and align them with the needs of customers.”

For related articles, visit the Optical Technologies Topic Center.

For more information on optical components and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.

To stay abreast of optical communications technology, subscribe to Lightwave’s Enabling Technologies newsletter.