Satellite Optical Communications Module

Here we propose a compact tunable transmitter based on Azna’s established directly modulated chirp managed laser (CML™) technology that exceeds LaserComm requirements. The transmitter comprises a tunable directly modulated semiconductor laser and a passive optical spectrum reshaping filter. The tunable semiconductor laser is integrated with a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) to generate > 10 dBm output power over 30 nm. This CML transmitter will be capable of generating a variety of modulation formats including standard NRZ, RZ, and RZ-DPSK. The tunable CML transmitter will fit in a standard 14 pin butterfly package, and consume < 3 W power, and require < 2 Vpp driver voltage. Compared to the conventional lithium niobate transmitter, the CML transmitter will be 6 -10 times smaller, consume 3 times less power, with similar performance.