First-to-Market Laser Transmitters for Next-Generation Data Center Applications Receive Another Industry Win

SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Lumentum Holdings Inc. ("Lumentum"), a market-leading designer and manufacturer of innovative optical and photonic products, announced today that its 200G PAM4 externally-modulated lasers (EMLs) were recognized by the 2023 Lightwave Innovation Reviews. An esteemed and experienced panel of judges from the optical communications community recognized Lumentum as a high-scoring honoree. In the optical components category, Lumentum's 200G PAM4 EMLs scored 4.5 out of 5.

"We are honored to receive such recognition from Lightwave," said Nicolas Herriau, Lumentum Vice President and General Manager, Datacom. "I am especially proud of our incredible team at Lumentum. Backed by their unrivaled experience in delivering industry-leading performance and quality, the team delivered the industry's first 200G PAM4 EMLs to the market. Their work supports hyperscale data center operators as they scale up 800G and 1.6T data rates to meet the needed bandwidth capacity of next-generation data center architectures."

The award from Lightwave marks the second industry win for Lumentum's 200G PAM4 EMLs, following last year's award from the European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC) for Data Center Innovation/Best Product of 2022. Lightwave's recognition reinforces how Lumentum continues to be a leading provider of innovative, cost-effective, and lower-power consumption solutions for the industry.

"On behalf of the Lightwave Innovation Reviews, I would like to congratulate Lumentum on their high-scoring honoree status," said Lightwave Editorial Director Stephen Hardy. "This competitive program allows Lightwave to celebrate and recognize the most innovative products impacting the optical communications community this year."

Lumentum's cutting-edge EMLs are photonic integrated circuits that consist of a distributed feedback laser monolithically integrated with an electro-absorption modulator. The company manufactures its EMLs in an internal, high-volume indium phosphide wafer fab.

Within these single-chip high-performance laser transmitters, Lumentum's 200G PAM4 EMLs minimize input voltage swings to reduce the power consumption of related driver ICs. They provide superior waveform quality for PAM4 and the potential for PAM6 or PAM8 operation, resulting in an even higher transmission capacity than 200G per wavelength.