High-speed optical transmitter with a silicon substrate

• US 10,509,163 B2
• Filed: 02/07/2017
• Issued: 12/17/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/08/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Skorpios Technologies Inc.
• Original Assignee: Skorpios Technologies Inc.
• Inventors: Li, Guoliang, Krasulick, Stephen B., Desai, Samir
• Primary Examiner(s): Cors, Nathan M
• Application Number:
  US15/426,823
• Publication Number:
  US 20170230117A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,043 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2006/12061 Silicon
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2006/12104 Mirror; Reflectors or the like
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2006/12121 Laser
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2006/12142 Modulator
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2006/12147 Coupler
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/12002 Three-dimensional structures
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/12004 Combinations of two or more optical elements
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/12007 forming wavelength selective elements, e.g. multiplexer, demultiplexer
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/122 Basic optical elements, e.g. light-guiding paths
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/136 by etching
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/0202 Cleaving
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/021 Silicon based substrates
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/02326 Arrangements for relative positioning of laser diodes and optical components, e.g. grooves in the mount to fix optical fibres or lenses
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/026 Monolithically integrated components, e.g. waveguides, monitoring photo-detectors, drivers stabilisation of output H01S5/06
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/028 Coatings ; Treatment of the laser facets, e.g. etching, passivation layers or reflecting layers
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/22 having a ridge or stripe structure
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/3013 AIIIBV compounds
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/343 in AIIIBV compounds, e.g. AlGaAs-laser , InP-based laser
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/4025 Array arrangements, e.g. constituted by discrete laser diodes or laser bar H01S5/42 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/4087 emitting more than one wavelength
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/505 : using external modulation
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/02 : Wavelength-division multiplex systems

Abstract

A 400 Gb/s transmitter is integrated on a silicon substrate. The transmitter uses four gain chips, sixteen lasers, four modulators to modulate the sixteen lasers at 25 Gb/s, and four multiplexers to produce four optical outputs. Each optical output can transmit at 100 Gb/s to produce a 400 Gb/s transmitter. Other variations are also described.

Claims

1. An optical transmitter using semiconductor lasers and wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM), the optical transmitter comprising:

a substrate, wherein the substrate is silicon;

four gain chips integrated on the substrate;

a plurality of reflectors integrated on the substrate, wherein;

the four gain chips and the plurality of reflectors form a plurality of lasers integrated on the substrate;

there are four lasers per gain chip;

the plurality of lasers are configured to transmit on predetermined optical channels of a WDM protocol; and

each laser per gain chip operates on the same predetermined optical channel of the WDM protocol;

four modulator chips integrated on the substrate, wherein the four modulator chips modulate light generated by the plurality of lasers;

sixteen waveguides integrated on the substrate configured to guide light from the four modulator chips to four multiplexers, wherein each of the four modulator chips is optically coupled with four waveguides of the sixteen waveguides;

the four multiplexers, wherein;

the four multiplexers are integrated on the substrate; and

each of the four multiplexers is configured to receive light from four waveguides of the sixteen waveguides and combine the light from the four waveguides into an optical output; and

four optical outputs, wherein;

the four optical outputs are integrated on the substrate;

there is one optical output for each of the four multiplexers; and

each of the four optical outputs is configured to transmit light of four different frequencies to an optical fiber.

2. The optical transmitter of claim 1, wherein each gain chip, of the four gain chips, has a different bandgap.

3. The optical transmitter of claim 1, wherein the four gain chips comprise III-V material.

4. The optical transmitter of claim 1, wherein:

the substrate is part of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer;

the SOI wafer comprises a device layer of crystalline silicon; and

the sixteen waveguides are formed in the device layer.

5. The optical transmitter of claim 1, wherein the modulator chips modulate each of the plurality of lasers to produce a plurality of optical beams each optical beam of the plurality of optical beams modulated at 25 Gb/s plus or minus 20%.

6. An optical transmitter using semiconductor lasers and wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM), the optical transmitter comprising:

a substrate, wherein the substrate is silicon;

four gain chips integrated on the substrate, wherein there is one laser per gain chip;

a plurality of reflectors integrated on the substrate, wherein;

the four gain chips and the plurality of reflectors form a plurality of lasers integrated on the substrate; and

the plurality of lasers are configured to transmit on predetermined optical channels of a WDM protocol;

four modulator chips integrated on the substrate, wherein the four modulator chips modulate light generated by the plurality of lasers and each modulator chip has four ridges to produce four modulated signals;

sixteen waveguides integrated on the substrate configured to guide light from the four modulator chips to four multiplexers;

the four multiplexers, wherein;

the four multiplexers are integrated on the substrate; and

each of the four multiplexers is configured to receive light from four waveguides of the sixteen waveguides and combine the light from the four waveguides into an optical output; and

four optical outputs, wherein;

the four optical outputs are integrated on the substrate;

there is one optical output for each of the four multiplexers; and

each of the four optical outputs is configured to transmit light of four different frequencies to an optical fiber.