OFC 2026
Technical Conference: March 15 – 19, 2026
Exhibition: March 17 – 19, 2026
Location: Los Angeles Convention Center | Los Angeles, California, United States
Booth: 4817
Career Fair Booth: To be announced
Title: 9dB link margin gain using a Quantum Dot SOA in an 8-wavelength DWDM 50Gbps NRZ CPO link
Presenter: Alexander Sludds, Staff Photonics Architect
Abstract: Co-packaged optics (CPO) using O-band IMDD silicon photonics (SiPh) is becoming critical for datacenters and high-performance computing. DWDM optical engines with microring modulators (MRMs) transmit moderate-baud NRZ signals with compact footprints and high energy efficiency. As transmitted optical power increases due to increased data-rates and wavelength count effects such as nonlinear absorption and modulator photocurrent can worsen. In this work, optical amplification with semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) are analyzed as a way to mitigate these penalties, improve link margin, and enhance overall link energy efficiency. A quantum dot SOA is placed into a 8λ × 50Gbit/s x 400 GHz spaced DWDM CPO link and a 9dB reduction in transmitter power to hit the same BER is observed. The overall link power penalty of the SOA is quantified to be 2dB. This work shows a path to obtain more than an order of magnitude improvement in link margin for DWDM CPO links.
Date: Monday, March 16, 2026
Time: 8:00 AM
About OFC:
OFC’s technical conference has something for everyone. From interactive workshops to symposia, from special sessions to tutorials. OFC offers an array of industry discussions around hot topics like generative AI and ML for optical networking, subsea networks, data center architectures, space optics, quantum communications and more.
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Passage L200 3D CPO (co-packaged optics) Passage M1000 Superchip (active photonic interposer)