Anritsu Corporation (President and CEO: Hirokazu Hamada) has started sales from July 27 of the AA3TB10EY, a 1.31 μm Semiconductor Optical Amplifier*1 (SOA) designed to address growing demand for high-saturation-output-power*2 optical transceivers used in data center interconnect (DCI) networks.
The newly developed SOA achieves both a high saturation output power of 11.5 dBm and a low noise figure*3 of 5.8 dB, providing excellent signal integrity and stable optical amplification performance. The device is mounted on a compact ceramic carrier suitable for high-density assembly, the device is also highly compatible with silicon photonics platforms, supporting the development of next-generation compact and high-performance optical transceivers*4.
Optimized for amplification of PAM4*5 signals, the AA3TB10EY features low polarization-dependent gain (PDG) in addition to its high-output and low-noise characteristics. This enables faithful amplification of optical signals while preserving waveform quality, contributing to high-quality signal transmission in advanced optical communication systems.
Drawing on its extensive expertise in optical device technologies, Anritsu continues to contribute to the advancement of optical communications through innovative products.
Development Background
Driven by the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI), data center networks continue to experience strong growth. Optical transceiver modules play a critical role in interconnecting networking equipment, and SOAs are widely used to extend transmission reach.
At the same time, increasing demand for higher transmission capacity is accelerating the adoption and standardization of PAM4-based transmission technologies. As a result, demand is growing for SOAs capable of delivering both high saturation output power and low noise performance while maintaining signal fidelity.
To address these requirements, Anritsu has developed the AA3TB10EY based on the optical device technologies and expertise it has accumulated through many years of serving the telecommunications market.
Product Outline
The AA3TB10EY is a chip-carrier-type SOA mounted on a compact aluminum nitride carrier. Designed for integration into photonic integrated circuits (PICs), the AA3TB10EY delivers 10 dB optical gain, 1.5 dB polarization-dependent gain (PDG), 11.5 dBm saturation output power, and a 5.8 dB noise figure at a center wavelength of 1310 nm. The device is ideally suited for ER and ZR optical transceivers supporting data rates of 400GbE, 800GbE, and 1.6TbE.
Target Markets and Applications
- Optical communication equipment manufacturers
- Optical module and subsystem manufacturers
Technical Terms
- ＊1 SOA (Semiconductor Optical Amplifier)
- An optical semiconductor device that amplifies externally injected optical signals by suppressing cavity resonance through anti-reflection coatings on its facets. Compared with fiber amplifiers, SOAs are compact and consume less power. While polarization dependence gain was once a key challenge for SOAs, recent technological advances have greatly improved polarization performance, leading to broader adoption in optical communication systems.
- ＊2 Saturation Output Power
- The optical output power at which the gain drops by 3 dB from its linear operating region as the input signal power increases.
- ＊3 Noise Figure
- A measure of how much the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) degrades as a signal passes through an amplifier.
- ＊4 Optical Transceiver
- A device that converts signals between optical and electrical domains. Various types are available depending on package size, transmission speed, optical fiber type, and transmission distance requirements.
- ＊5 PAM4
- PAM stands for Pulse Amplitude Modulation, a modulation technique that increases transmission capacity through amplitude modulation. PAM4 specifically uses four distinct amplitude levels (00, 01, 10, and 11) to represent digital information.
