Furukawa Electric samples micro ITLA for 100G coherent transmission

Furukawa Electric Company, Ltd. has developed a micro integrable tunable laser assembly (ITLA), a key component in high-speed optical digital coherent transmission devices operating at 100 Gbps.

The micro ITLA is a light source that has been made smaller, consuming less electricity while retaining the same specifications of conventional ITLAs. These specifications include communications protocol and optical-electric properties.

Furukawa says it has also developed a new wavelength-tunable laser chip that enables a 20% reduction in power consumption. When used in combination with the micro ITLA, it further reduces power consumption by 40% against conventional products and nearly doubles the optical output when compared with other micro ITLAs, the company claims. The new wavelength-tunable laser chips will be mounted on the micro ITLA devices beginning in early 2014.

The new wavelength-tunable laser chips from Furukawa can reduce power consumption by 20% from 5 W to 4 W. The power reduction comes through the use of AlGaInAs crystals for the light-emitting layer instead of the conventional GaInAsP crystals. By using this material, Furukawa says it has achieved better control of the optical output at higher temperatures, improving it to 16 dBm or higher compared with 13.5 dBm from conventional GaInAsP products. In addition, the new wavelength-tunable laser chips also boost the operating temperature by 15°C, thus reducing the power consumption on the thermoelectric cooler.

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