Multiwavelength VCSEL transmitter for WDM parallel optical fiber interconnects

We employ a combination of direct fiber coupling and broad-band add/drop filtering to demonstrate a 4-wavelength by 10-fiber VCSEL-based transmitter in a PGA package with MT-connectorized optical output. This is the first demonstration to our knowledge of a multiwavelength VCSEL-based parallel optical fiber transmitter. Such a device is useful for future high-bandwidth low-cost data communications applications. The use of a hybrid packaging scheme employing a fiber-ribbon-guided add/drop filter enables ten fibers by four wavelengths with a wide (>10 nm) channel spacing; more wavelengths should be achievable either by using additional filters and/or by combining this approach with monolithic techniques of achieving multiple wavelengths per VCSEL die.