High-Speed Electro-Optical Components for Integrated Transmitter and Receiver in Optical Communication

  U²T Photonics AG: (Berlin, Germany) was founded in January 1998 as a spin-off company of the Heinrich-Hertz- Institut für Nachrichtentechnik Berlin GmbH (HHI). In autumn 2001 U²T announced the acquisition of LKF Advanced Optics GmbH. Our core competence is the development of ultrafast optoelectronic components for fiber-optic applications such as communication superhighways and microwave photonic systems, which require operation frequencies of 40 GHz and beyond. U²T has expert knowledge starting from device design and chip manufacturing to systems configurations and testing.

U²T has a proven track record of conducting development projects and transferring the results into high-performance products. Since 1998 U2T participated in about 8 projects partially funded by the German Ministry of Research and Education (BMBF) and of the Berlin local government. Since these projects were in many cases executed in close cooperation with research groups at the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications / Heinrich-Hertz-Institut U²T has expertise of conducting cooperative research.

Based on the results of these projects, leading edge optoelectronic components have been developed and introduced to the market. Examples are the high-speed waveguide integrated photodetectors with 50GHz bandwidth for test and measurement applications, photoreceivers for applications in 40Gbit/s communication systems, a monolithically integrated balanced photodetector for optical DPSK (differential phase shift keying) modulation, and a mode locked laser source delivering 1.5ps short pulses for optical time domain multiplexing (OTDM) experiments at bitrates up to 160Gbit/s. The successful commercialization of these achievements is proven by the design-in of the U²T photodetectors in optical test equipment by the top three T&M companies. In the last two years, several design wins in 40Gbit/s long-haul optical communication systems were achieved, further strengthening the position of U²Tt in this resurrected market.

As an SME partner in the project, U²T will use the accumulated excellence in the field of high-speed device design to package the ultrafast transmitter and receiver components to be developed in the project. We will closely interact with the system partners in the project to ensure that the solutions are matched with the requirements of future products. In cooperation with the other technology partners will reinforce our manufacturing base. The strong market position of U²T in the 40Gbit/s system market will contribute to an efficient exploitation of the project results.