Single-mode lasers need no isolation

Eblana Photonics has developed a breakthrough series of low priced uncooled single-mode laser products designed for mass market applications.

Eblana Photonics has developed a breakthrough series of low priced uncooled single-mode laser products designed for mass market applications.

This product series exploits Eblana's NFI (nullified feedback influence) technology to eliminate the need for optical isolators when single-mode lasers are employed in optical communications.

NFI technology is a laser chip based approach which is an integrated extension to its existing PGB (photon bandgap) laser technology platform.

Narrow line lasers, such as DFB lasers, typically require the laser diode to be combined with an optical isolator to prevent laser light retroreflected from fibre terminations etc degrading transmission quality.

The elimination of the isolator component from narrow line laser transmitter modules greatly reduces cost, facilitates production assembly, and ensures high reliability due to having fewer assembled components.

It also significantly reduces component alignment sensitivity that complicates transceiver manufacture.

This product innovation will provide a faster, more certain and cheaper track to production for companies looking to make an entry into broadband access and enterprise markets.

It will also allow existing companies to more rapidly expand their current product offerings and drive the proliferation of optical solutions in next-generation broadband applications.

"This product will reduce the bill of materials, lower manufacturing costs and improve first pass system manufacturing yield for transceiver vendors", said James O'Gorman, Eblana Photonics CEO.

He continued: "Our new feedback-insensitive laser technology adds to other Eblana innovations, including low beam wander, low tracking error, and our distinct ultra-circular beam emission that greatly simplifies fibre and PLC waveguide coupling in optical module designs".

"With all the recent activity in the production of bi-directional diplexer transceiver modules for EPON FTTx, this feature has been of special interest to our customers".

"We are committed to product consistency and to the never-ending drive towards lower cost transceiver manufacturing".

"One of the key challenges facing the optical industry today is the low cost manufacture of high quality components for mass market subsystems or systems", said Ray Milano of Vitesse Semiconductor.

"The best way to reduce overall system cost is through the use of high quality components with uniform, repeatable characteristics".

"The result is a subsystem or system with high manufacturing yield and reliability".

This breakthrough product builds on Eblana's commitment to high performance photonics for mass-market applications, as demonstrated by our recent joint announcement to manufacture Eblana's laser products on its 4in IC fab line.

"Our NFI products are available in a variety of conventional and customer specific next generation packages", Daniel Tine, Eblana's Head of North American Laser Sales and Business Development added.

"Many of our PON customers are focused on next generation package designs that will improve performance while greatly reducing cost".

"Clearly, for applications requiring narrow line lasers, such as PX20 EPON, the elimination of the isolator from the module package achieves these objectives".

"In our view driving the deployment of advanced optical packaging technology and mass-market broadband applications will require total removal of the isolator requirement from optical transmission products".

"We are therefore offering these reflection insensitive lasers at prices less than that of the standard isolator used with conventional DFB based modules in these ultra-high-volume applications".

Robert Goldman, who supports Eblana's advanced packaging operations commented: "This innovation in narrow line laser diodes will add to the tremendous attention Eblana is receiving from transceiver module customers gearing up for high volume FTTx PON deployment".

"Eblana already offers excellent Fabry Perot lasers, enabling many customer next generation GBE PON transceiver designs".

"Eblana is one of the very few laser companies offering non-TO-headered devices, and is focused on supporting its customers to develop the most cost-effective, high performance module package possible".

The product series is designed for GPON, Sonet OC-3 to OC-48, SDH STM1 to STM-16, Gigabit Ethernet and Fibre Channel applications that require up to 2.5Gbit/s transmission speed.

The product has extremely stable single wavelength temperature performance over temperature range of 0 to 85C and typically features side mode suppression ratio (SMSR) better than 35dB.

Eblana offers the product in TO and TOSA packages.

Advanced next generation packaging and header-less options are also available.

Devices in conventional TO-56 headers are priced below $19 for high volume applications such as PX20 EPON.

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