Duration: 18 months
Optical communications links in Space typically deliver 1-10 Gbit/s connectivity per wavelength and are expected to increase the capacity to 224 Gbit/s/wavelength. For that, both the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) sides must operate in the high-frequency regime (>70 GHz). Versics AG is already commercializing the Versics Amplitude Modulator (VAM) with an electro-optic bandwidth of 110 GHz. To accelerate high-speed communications in Space, the requirements on the Rx side must now match those on the Tx side. Versics AG proposes in this activity to assemble the Versics PhotoDetector (VPD), an assembled optoelectronic device with 110 GHz bandwidth, and a preliminary reliability campaign following Space requirements. Versics AG uses a III-V-based Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) detector with a bandwidth of 110 GHz that follows in-house Process Design Kit (PDK) library. To package such a high-bandwidth photodetector, Versics AG must now finalize its Assembly Design Kit (ADK) library, which includes the packaging capabilities, processes, and guidelines. Versics AG also uses its own state-of-the-art high-speed testbeds and reliability testing facilities since the company is a vertical integrator of high-speed optoelectronic devices. The in-house high-speed testbeds enable characterization of 110 GHz-bandwidths and eye diagrams of 112 Gbit/s or more on an On-Off Keying (OOK) modulation scheme, for instance. With the initial reliability testing and the Space-oriented mindset of Versics AG, the VPD is a significant step towards a Space-graded, 110 GHz high-speed photodetector.
