POET Technologies chooses Lumentum for high-speed DMLs
Optical engine developer POET Technologies Inc. (TSX Venture: PTK; NASDAQ: POET) says it has chosen Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LITE) to supply directly modulated lasers (DMLs) for POET’s upcoming products. First up will be 400G FR4 transmit optical engines with integrated drivers that POET expects to begin sampling in the first half of 2023, with production following by the second half of the year (see "POET Technologies unveils optical engines for 400G FR4 and 800G").
POET is best known for its POET Optical Interposer, which the company positions as a building block for a number of designs and applications (see, for example, “POET Technologies optical interposer platform for electronic and optical component co-packaging in single MCM unveiled," and "POET Technologies lands customer for Optical Engines"). The company targets its efforts at the support of 400G, 800G, and 1.6T pluggable optical transceivers for hyperscale data center and other applications.
The 400G FR4 optical engines will be delivered as photonic chiplets. POET asserts the devices will represent the first implementation of DMLs with flip-chip integration on an optical interposer at such data rates. POET envisions optical transceiver vendors will use the chiplets as components not only for 400G optical modules but in 800G and 1.6T transceiver designs as well.
“The majority of the 400G transceivers in the market today use either externally modulated lasers or silicon photonics combined with external lasers. These solutions require multiple components and involve several cumbersome and costly active alignments,” commented Suresh Venkatesan, chairman and CEO of POET. “POET has a significant opportunity to disrupt the market with a highly integrated solution with all passive alignments and monolithically integrated waveguides and multiplexers, which translates to lower cost, power, and size benefits to our customers.”
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Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave
Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.
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