Monolithically Integrated 8 × 8 Transmitter-Router Based on Tunable V-Cavity Laser Array and Cyclic Arrayed Waveguide Grating Router

• Published in: IEEE photonics journal Vol. 14; no. 4; pp. 1 - 8
• Main Authors: Fan, Zhuping, Guo, Jia, Zhang, Shuojian, Zhu, Junqiang, Meng, Jianjun, Li, Qiaoli, Li, Yayun, Zhao, Jiasheng, He, Jian-Jun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Piscataway IEEE 01.08.2022; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Arrayed waveguide grating; Arrayed waveguide gratings; Cost effectiveness; Data centers; Epitaxial growth; Integrated optics; Laser arrays; Multi Quantum Wells; Optical communication; Optical device fabrication; Optical fiber networks; Optical transmitters; Optical waveguides; photonic integrated circuit; Response spectra; Semiconductors; Signal to noise ratio; Transmitters; Tunable lasers; Tuning; Waveguide lasers; Waveguide routers; Wavelength routeing; wavelength router
• ISSN: 1943-0655; 1943-0655; 1943-0647
• DOI: 10.1109/JPHOT.2022.3191946

A monolithic 8 × 8 transmitter-router chip fabricated on InGaAlAs-InP multi-quantum well wafer for distributed wavelength routing network in the O-band with a channel spacing of 400 GHz is experimentally demonstrated. A tunable V-cavity laser (VCL) array, a cyclic-arrayed waveguide grating router (AWGR) and a semiconductor amplifier (SOA) array are integrated using the quantum-well intermixing (QWI) technique for its fabrication simplicity and cost effectiveness. A 200 GHz-spaced compact-size VCL is demonstrated with a 27 nm tuning range and a side-mode suppression ratio (SMSR) around 40 dB using a single-electrode controlled tuning. The chip output power is 24.6 mW. Measurement results of the transmitter-router chip show that all 64 input-output combinations have cyclic response spectra. After passing through the SOA with 80 mA bias current, an output power of about 9.6 mW and optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) up to 39 dB have been measured. The demonstrated transmitter-router chip is fabricated on the same quantum well structure without requiring multiple epitaxial growth and complex grating fabrication. The characteristics of multi-wavelength and multi-port transmissions enable the distributed optical routing networks with flexible bandwidth allocation, which can find wide application in datacenters and high-performance computers.