OneChip unveils PIC-based 40G and 100G receiver chips

OneChip Photonics Inc. says engineering samples of its photonic integrated circuit (PIC)-based 40GBase-LR4 and 100GBase-LR4 receiver chips will be available for partner testing in the second half of this year.

The new chips will enable transceiver manufacturers to address short and intermediate reach (up to 10 km), long-wavelength (around 1300 nm) data communications applications more cost-effectively and efficiently than ever before, the startup claims.

The PIC-based receiver chips monolithically integrate, on a single indium phosphide (InP)-based chip, all of the active and passive optical components required to receive 40GBase-LR4 or 100GBase-LR4 signals. The chips will be ideally suited to data communications applications in general, and the development of high-density interfaces for next-generation data center interconnects in particular, OneChip asserts.

Karen Liu, principal analyst for components at market research firm Ovum, said, "The industry is in the midst of switching gears from raw device speed to photonic integration, as optical interconnect speeds reach 40 Gbps, 100 Gbps, and beyond. PIC chips like OneChip's offering will be critical to enable the required cost and density for transceiver and system solutions addressing exploding communications needs in a wide variety of applications."

OneChip also expects to make engineering samples of its 40GBase-LR4 transmitter optical components and 100GBase-LR4 single-chip transmitter PICs available later in the year, after the release of its PIC-based receiver chips. The 40GBase-LR4 transmitter components will include spot-size converted DFB directly modulated lasers at 1271, 1291, 1311, and 1331-nm wavelengths, with integrated monitor photodiodes. The 100GBase-LR4 transmitter PICs will integrate four DFB-EAM externally modulated lasers operating in the 1300-nm window on 800-GHz spacing at 25 Gbps each, monitor diodes, a WDM combiner, and spot-size converter on a single chip.

OneChip claims that its PIC-based 40GBase-LR4 and 100GBase-LR4 integrated receiver chips will cost significantly less to package and manufacture than competing hybrid integration and silicon photonics technologies, and will also have the smallest footprint on the market. The company anticipates these PICs will make LR4 transceivers cost-effective enough to be used at short- and intermediate-range applications in the data center.

OneChip’s PICs are designed and manufactured using its “multi-guide vertical integration” (MGVI) platform – the company's unique, regrowth-free photonic integration technology -- resulting in lower costs and higher yields than alternative approaches, the company claims.

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