VCSEL-Based Transceivers for Data Communications

Abstract

The data communications (datacom) transceiver market has experienced tremendous growth over the last fifteen years due in large part to the use of verticalcavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) and multimode optical fibers. This chapter reviews the evolution of 850 nm laser-based datacom transceivers beginning with the early use of AlGaAs edge-emitters to the adoption of VCSELs where their unique attributes have enabled significant performance enhancements and cost reductions in transceiver designs. IntroductionIn 2009 over 18 million 850 nm wavelength VCSEL-based datacom transceivers were sold resulting in revenue of almost US$ 500 million. The size and scope of this market has grown tremendously over the last fifteen years, driven primarily by the use of VCSELs. VCSEL technology, along with the use of multimode optical fibers, have been key enablers for low-cost optical interconnects. These low cost optical interconnects are attractive solutions for a wide range of data communications applications including storage and local area networks (SANs and LANs) as well as system interconnects for high performance computing (HPC).VCSELs for datacom transceivers have evolved from the early days when they were used as replacements for short wavelength edge-emitting lasers to today,

Exciton–Photon Interactions in Two-Dimensional Semiconductor Microcavities

“…As known, conventional III−V based VCSELs, with the help of multimode optical fiber systems, were extensively used as transceivers in optical data communications, which enabled the rapid development of high-performance computing, storage area networks (SANs), and local area networks (LANs). 110 Overcoming the limited transmission windows of III−V semiconductor lasers, there are wealthy material selections of 2D semiconductors and their van der Waals heterostructures across the spectral range from UV (e.g., BN), visible (e.g., WS 2 , MoS 2 , GaSe), near-infrared (MoSe 2 , MoTe 2 ), to mid-IR (e.g., BP), which not only covers the regions of traditional fiber-optic communication, but also allows the rising visible, 111,112 UV, 113 and white 114 light communications. In fact, in transparent wavelengths of silicon photonics, utilizing monolayer MoTe 2 as the gain media in a nanobeam cavity has been verified to be feasible at room temperature, 115 and thus, infrared coherent light applications can be expected by use of monolayer MoTe 2 microcavities.…”

“…Particularly, these two types of 2D semiconductor lasers could be attractive candidates for the next-generation optical transmitters, which are the key element in short-distance optical interconnects, i.e., connecting electronic or photonic units with light. As known, conventional III–V based VCSELs, with the help of multimode optical fiber systems, were extensively used as transceivers in optical data communications, which enabled the rapid development of high-performance computing, storage area networks (SANs), and local area networks (LANs) . Overcoming the limited transmission windows of III–V semiconductor lasers, there are wealthy material selections of 2D semiconductors and their van der Waals heterostructures across the spectral range from UV (e.g., BN), visible (e.g., WS 2 , MoS 2 , GaSe), near-infrared (MoSe 2 , MoTe 2 ), to mid-IR (e.g., BP), which not only covers the regions of traditional fiber-optic communication, but also allows the rising visible, , UV, and white light communications.…”

Vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser technology applications with focus on sensors and three-dimensional imaging

“…18) Exemplary applications are multi-10 Tbit=s optical backplanes in supercomputers and routers, 19) 120 Gbps active optical cables, 6) or high-speed small form-factor optical links. 5) Markets divide into active optical cables and various parallel and serial links with single-line data rates up to 25 Gbps. Smart sensors have been another important early mass market for VCSELs with several tens of millions shipped pieces per year.…”

“…Circular beam characteristics are nicely compatible with micro-optics and optical fiber technologies. VCSELs with emission wavelengths ranging from UV to blue, green, red, near-, and mid-infrared have been developed 3) for a variety of applications 4) in optical datacom, 5,6) sensing, 7) and imaging. From a commercial point of view, high-performance oxide-confined InAlGaAs VCSELs with emission wavelengths between 750 and 1200 nm certainly dominate the market.…”

Oxide-aperture-dependent output characteristics of circularly symmetric VCSEL structure

“…[1][2][3] These advantages enabled it to be extensively applied to high-power laser source, short-distance optical interconnection, chip-scale atomic clocks, and photonic neuromorphic computing. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] In addition, the full width half maximum (FWHM) of VCSEL's emission spectrum is usually less than 1 nm and its temperature dependence is shifted at a rate of 0.065 nm/ • C, which is smaller than edge emitter's or LED's (about 0.3 nm/ • C). This allows the narrow band filter to be used to remove the unwanted background and improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), which is very attractive for many applications.…”