Innolume has launched its semiconductor laser, the InnoComb, which emits tens to hundreds of pure, low-noise colours (comb spectrum) from a single laser cavity.
This laser can produce a wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) revolution in short-reach, high bandwidth optical interconnects. WDM was previously restricted to telecoms due to the costly laser arrays required. Today, powered by a single InnoComb, WDM can be harnessed for low-cost, short-reach computer interconnects.
Following last year’s demonstration of the first broad-spectrum Fabry-Perot (FP) laser, Innolume has reduced the relative intensity noise (RIN) of each spectral line, culminating in the diode comb laser as a practical computer communications source.
InnoComb is a single FP laser emitting many lines/wavelengths/channels (longitudinal cavity modes) with nearly the same power on each. Innolume has demonstrated 10mW of power per channel over 16 channels, and >1mW/channel over 100 channels. Channel spacing is currently available from <50GHz to 140GHz (<0.28nm to 0.8nm) centred at any wavelength between 1,250nm and 1,320nm.
For datacom, the comb laser's channels are separated (demultiplexed), modulated externally at ≥10Gb/s, and multiplexed for single-fibre transmission. External modulation on 16 comb channels was demonstrated by HHI, Berlin, with error-free transmission (BER<10-13) due to exceptionally low RIN (around 0.1 per cent) on each lasing line.