TO suits thermoelectrically cooled 10Gb/s laser diodes

Since the package is based on a TO footprint, it is also smaller than conventional box packages. SCHOTT is showcasing its TEC TO package at the Optical Fibre Communication Conference and Exposition (OFC) 24^th to 26^th March, Los Angeles (booth #1317).

When designing a TO package for high-frequency applications, impedance matching and space constraints pose the largest challenge to the developer. Aiming to overcome these limitations, the TEC TO's thermoelectric cooler allows for controlled heat dissipation, which leads to regulated and stable laser wave lengths. The design is based on an extended radio-frequency feedthrough, which uses shortened wire bonds to minimise signal losses to the laser diode, thereby improving overall performance.

The TEC TO is a package design based on a well-conducting steel platform that no longer relies on the box design.

The SCHOTT TEC TO is designed for use in telecomms and datacomms applications that rely on cooled devices for 10Gb/s data transfer speeds. Recently introduced to the market, the product is currently available to customers for qualification. It is suitable for various TEC sizes, options for further improved heat dissipation are also available and customised TEC TO solutions are also offered.

Why is hermetic packaging so important for high-speed telecomms and datacomms? Electronic chips are highly sensitive to the effects of humidity as well as heat fluctuation. If humidity is high, condensation can occur, especially at lower temperatures, which can corrode the semiconductor metallisation. With increasing bandwidth demands, these chips can be even more sensitive and susceptible to degradation, due to the exposure of harmful gases and the environment. Even leaks of traceable amounts of hydrogen and water vapor can compromise the functions of the opto-electronic components. Humidity can cause semiconductor elements to degrade leading to the failure of the entire unit. This is why high performance chips require high performance housing.

“Box packages have a natural mechanical limitation in size reduction. With TOs, a familiar face in the industry, the ceiling of miniaturisation is broken. Having overcome the challenges of meeting all of our customers’ requirements in one TO package, we now offer an economical alternative to the conventional box solutions,” explained Kenneth Tan, R&D Manager, SCHOTT. “With 50 years of research and applied knowledge in the TO field, SCHOTT continues to be an innovative force in the industry. The newest TEC TO offers unmatched performance in a smaller package, unleashing new capabilities for the telecommunications and data fields. For us, the TEC TO header is not just a product, it underscores our research and development capability in this domain of high frequency applications.”