A tunable SFP optical module based on DFB laser array integrated with an SOA

Abstract

A wavelength-tunable small form-factor pluggable (SFP) optical module is proposed and implemented, which is based on a self-designed 4-channel DFB laser array. The module adopts the widely used SFP packaging standard so that it is convenient to connect with other devices. It has an I2C interface for receiving wavelength tuning commands and downloading digital diagnostics monitoring information to the host processor. Three parts are included: the receiver, the transmitter and the microcontroller unit, to complete the conversion of optical-electro, electro-optical. A large range and high precision wavelength tuning is realized through innovative tuning methods. Two wavelength tuning methods are utilized: channel switching of 4-channel for coarse tuning and temperature tuning combined with current tuning for fine tuning to actualize the tunable output of the DFB laser array. This wavelength-tunable SFP optical module can replace several fixed wavelength optical modules in a traditional WDM system, thus greatly reducing costs and improving the utilization ratio of resources. Experimental results show the SFP optical module can achieve the continuity of wavelength tuning covering 1539.0 nm to 1551.0 nm. It can switch over 16 channels in a 100G-DWDM system or 31 channels in a 50G-DWDM system. The side mode suppression ratios (SMSRs) of most channels are above 40dB over the wavelength tuning range of 12 nm. The optical signal transmission rate is up to 1.25Gbps.