II-VI offers miniature tunable optical filter for high-bit-rate DWDM transceivers

II‐VI Inc. (NASDAQ:IIVI) has introduced a miniature tunable optical filter for high-bit-rate DWDM applications. The company positions the miniature MEMS tunable optical filter (mini-MTOF) as an essential component for advanced optical transceivers targeting transmission rates from 100 to 400 Gbps, particularly those that employ such advanced technologies and 64QAM modulation and Nyquist filtering.

The tunable filter features a 4.8-mm profile that enables it to be embedded in optical transceivers in such high-density form factors such as CFP2 and OSFP. The mini-MTOF includes a variable optical attenuator (VOA) to further optimize design space by removing the need for a separate VOA device.

"Beyond 100 Gbps, tunable filters are increasingly required to maximize the optical signal-to-noise ratio in DWDM transceivers and achieve the desired reach," said Dr. Sanjai Parthasarathi, vice president, product marketing and strategy, Optical Communications Group at II-VI. "II-VI is the leading provider of transceiver-embedded tunable filters thanks to our existing products based on MEMS and etalon technologies. Our new mini-MTOF is a second-generation design that combines best-in-class size and out-of-band isolation performance."

The mini-MTOF is expected to be generally available in June 2017. It will be on display, alongside other II-VI products, in Booth 2101 at OFC 2017 in Los Angeles March 21-23.

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