Bookham Launches InP MZ ModulatorBookham Launches InP MZ Modulator

ABINGDON, U.K. -- Bookham Technology plc (LSE: BHM; NASDAQ: BKHM) will launch at this month’s Optical Fiber Communication (OFC) 2004 Exposition in Los Angeles an integrated 10Gbit/s InP MZ (Mach-Zehnder) modulator packaged with a high power CW laser.

Officially called the LMC10NEH, the Indium-Phosphide-based device allows 10G transmissions to be sent over 100km without dispersion compensation. Although this functionality has been available in a larger device for several years, Bookham has now shrunk the unit size by 60%. It now measures just 30x12.7x8.1mm.

The LMC10NEH has just completed full Telcordia Qualification and has been shipping in volume from its production line, which has a record of large-scale MZ manufacture. The laser modulator is part of a large family of products called Compact MZ. Bookham will be displaying the new device as part of its Virtual Live Demo on the company’s stand at OFC.

Adam Price, Bookham’s Product Line Manager for the InP MZ portfolio, commented, “The development is taking what we already offer but making it much smaller. In this industry, people care about the size of the components. Density really does add value.”

“The nearest competition to the Compact MZ in terms of size would be an EA (electro absorption) modulator but that offers significantly lower performance in terms of reach, optical power and extinction ratio. And the competition in terms of performance would be a LiNbO3 modulator, which can transmit distance but those solutions are typically much larger especially when coupled to a CW laser.”

“With the trends we are seeing in the market regarding shifts towards pluggable smaller footprint optics such as XFP, the company believes that InP MZ development could be a key enabling technology in the future to smaller high performance optics,” says Price.

Bookham Technology plc