News: Optoelectronics
8 March 2023
Sivers demos CW-WDM MSA-compliant DFB laser arrays at OFC
In booth #5400 at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC 2023) in San Diego, CA, USA (7–9 March), IC and integrated module supplier Sivers Semiconductors AB of Kista, Sweden says that its subsidiary Sivers Photonics of Glasgow, Scotland, UK has successfully demonstrated its CW-WDM MSA-compliant distributed feedback (DFB) laser arrays with the SuperNova remote optical source of silicon photonics-based chip-to-chip optical connectivity firm Ayar Labs of Santa Clara, CA, USA, supporting next-generation applications including artificial intelligence (AI) connections, disaggregated data centers, 6G, and phased-array sensory systems.
The joint demonstration showcased the 8-wavelength DFB laser array from Sivers Photonics, powering Ayar Labs’ SuperNova light source. The live demonstration showed two SuperNova modules, each with 64 total wavelengths, running without active cooling.
Built on the InP100 product platform at Sivers 100mm UK wafer foundry, the DFB laser array is fully compliant with CW-WDM MSA (Continuous-Wave Wavelength Division Multiplexing Multi-Source Agreement) standards, with an output power of more than 65mW per channel CW operation and 400GHz channel spacing around 1300nm. These devices are compatible in a variety of integration platforms, such as silicon photonics and co-packaged optics (CPO).
The SuperNova optical source from Ayar Labs provides up to 16 wavelengths of light, powering up to 16 ports. Combined with Ayar Labs’ TeraPHY optical I/O chiplet, this complete solution delivers up to 4 terabit per second bi-directional data throughput, with nanosecond latency, whilst consuming a fraction of the power required for traditional electrical I/O.
Revenue generated by the CPO market is expected to rise at a compound annual growth rate of 65% from about $6m in 2020 to $2.2bn in 2032, according to the ‘Co-Packaged Optics for Data Centers 2022 Report’ from market research firm Yole Development. This growth will be driven by CPO’s substantial energy savings (>30%) and capital expenditure savings, measured in dollars/Gbps, over pluggable optics.
“Our DFB arrays contribute to Ayar Labs’ industry-first milestone using the GlobalFoundries SiPh platform, which will help unleash the power of next-generation computing,” says Sivers Semiconductors’ group CEO Anders Storm.
“As communication traffic grows rapidly, we are pleased to enable Ayar Labs to deliver the optical interconnects needed for these data-intensive applications,” says Sivers Photonics’ managing director William McLaughlin.
“Their InP100 laser arrays are a vital part of the technology helping to drive adoption of in-package optical I/O,” comments Matt Sysak, VP of laser engineering at Ayar Labs.
