Davide Domenico Fortusini

Performance of a Multi-Gb/s 60 GHz Radio Over Fiber System Employing a Directly Modulated Optically Injection-Locked VCSEL

A multi-Gb/s 60 GHz radio over fiber (RoF) system employing direct modulation of an optically injection locked vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser is successfully demonstrated. Experimental results show that the RoF system is tolerant to fiber chromatic dispersion due to inherent single-sideband modulation produced by injection locking. A simple carrier-to-sideband equalization method is used to substantially improve the sensitivity of the RoF system by 18 dB, enabling both successful wireless signal transmission and multilevel signal modulation formats such as quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK). At least 3 Gb/s ASK-modulated data and 2 Gb/s QPSK-modulated data is transported over up to 20 km standard single-mode fiber and 3 m wireless distance with no penalty.

High performance ion-exchanged integrated waveguides in thin glass for board-level multimode optical interconnects

We fabricated ion-exchanged graded-index optical waveguides in alkali-aluminosilicate glass showing excellent potential for optical backplane and electrical-optical circuit board applications. Motivation and process details are given and experimental results are discussed.

Gain-flattened, extended L-band (1570-1620 nm), high power, low noise erbium-doped fiber amplifiers

In conclusion, we have presented the first demonstration of high-power, low-noise, gain-flattened, 60-channel, extended L-band EDFAs with full functionality over a large dynamic range, and showed that they can be strong candidates for future high-bit-rate, wide-band, ultra-long-haul systems.

Pluggable multimode edge connector for glass-based electro-optical circuit boards (EOCB)

Glass waveguides fabricated by ion-exchange are a promising technology for short reach on-board optical interconnects. We developed an optical connector concept for the interconnection of multimode glass waveguides to fiber ribbon cables. Our concept is based on the MXC expanded beam connector, and it uses a modified version of the US Conec PRIZM MT ferrule that is installed on the edge of the glass waveguide panel by adhesive bonding. The paper will discuss the connector concept, the assembly process, the demonstrator platform and the characterization results.

Design, Fabrication and Connectorization of High-Performance Multimode Glass Waveguides for Board-Level Optical Interconnects

Fiber fly-overs are deployed for on-board optical interconnects in combination with on-board optical engines in different products such as high-performance switches for data centers. Polymer waveguides are a promising next step technology solution for integrated board-level optical connectivity to increase the interconnection density, their drawback is the high optical loss at key optical wavelengths around 1310 nm and 1550 nm where promising low-cost silicon photonic transceivers will operate. Glass waveguides fabricated by silver ion-exchange in glass panels have attracted significant interest as a cost-effective candidate due to their very low optical loss at key wavelengths and efficient coupling to optical fiber. The glass waveguide technology and board integration of glass waveguides have been demonstrated for multimode waveguides. Still, the performance of glass waveguides can be optimized by adjusting the refractive index profile for the specific requirements of complex circuits with small pitch, high-number of crossings and tight bends. Low insertion and cross-talk losses are important requirements. For off board communication a reliable connector solution is required for multi-fiber interconnection.

Optical design optimization for high-speed active optical cables

We introduce a Monte Carlo-based optimization to quantify the trade-off between optical loss and misalignment tolerances in active optical cables. Fibers with large core diameters are shown to outperform standard MMF at 20 Gb/s.