OneChip Photonics introduced a Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC)-based 100 Gbps device that monolithically integrates all of the optical functions required for an optical transceiver into a single Indium Phosphide (InP)-based chip. All of the active components (Distributed Feedback “DFB” laser, Electro-Absorption Modulator “EAM,” and Waveguide Photodetector “WPD”) and passive components (Wavelength Division Multiplexing “WDM” combiner, splitter and Spot-Size Converter “SSC”) of the chip are, uniquely, integrated in one epitaxial growth step – without re-growth or post-growth modification of the epitaxial material.
The company said its Multi-Guide Vertical Integration (MGVI)-based PICs will enable transceiver manufacturers to produce high-speed, low-power and small-size modules for Data Center Interconnect (DCI) applications.
The MGVI platform in Indium Phosphide is based on the same process that inherently produces the best and fastest Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors (HBTs) used in Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFICs). As such, the company also will be able to integrate electronics, such as Transimpedance Amplifiers (TIAs) and modulator drivers, within a commercially available and volume-scalable process. The silicon photonics dream of leveraging high-volume electronic chip production, while combining photonics and electronics onto the same substrate, is ironically best realized in Indium Phosphide.
