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Agilent Technologies Introduces Industryıs Smallest Hermetically Sealed Surface Mount Optical Driver Amplifier

Miniature Surface Mount Amplifier to Provide RF Shielding in Hermetically Sealed, Compact Package
for 10 Gb/s Fiber Optic Communication Systems

The manufacturer says . . .

ChipCenter's Paul O'Shea says . . .

Agilent Technologies introduced the industryıs smallest hermetically sealed surface mount optical driver amplifier specifically designed for use in OC-192/STM-64 10 Gb/s SONET/SDH fiber optic communication systems. The Agilent MDA-1220-08S is also the industryıs first surface mount modulator driver amplifier to provide radio frequency (RF) shielding in a hermetically sealed small form factor package, and offers network equipment manufacturers (NEMs) ease of integration and reduced costs. ıAgilentıs hermetically sealed, RF shielded package ensures that the SONET/SDH system will be reliable and will meet mandated electromagnetic interference specifications,ı said Bryan Ingram, vice president and general manager of Agilentıs Wireless Semiconductor Division. ıOur significant size advantage, increased reliability and excellent EMI performance enable our customers to reduce the cost of manufacturing new fiber optic systems.ı Optical modulator driver amplifiers convert low-level electrical data into sufficient power levels to drive optical modulators without adding signal distortion. Traditionally, hermetic modulator drivers have been supplied in a metal housing with SMA connectors on both ends and a connector for mounting the driver to the board. The Agilent MDA-1220-08S is supplied in a 17.247 mm by 11.354 mm by 4.318 mm (0.679 inches by 0.447 inches by 0.170 inches) hermetic surface mount package, which is up to 80 percent smaller than the traditional hermetic metal housing. The Agilent MDA-1220-08S can be used in OC-192/STM-64 communication system applications with or without forward-error correction (FEC) protocols. The amplifier offers wide bandwidth operation of 30 kHz to 15 GHz. Using advanced GaAs technology, it will drive both electro-absorption (EA) and lithium niobate (LiNbO3) Mach Zehnder electro-optic modulators. This amplifier is designed for use between multiplexer (MUX) chips and the modulator to amplify non-return to zero (NRZ) or return-to-zero (RZ) signals from 9.953 Gb/s to 12.5 Gb/s Its standard performance characteristics include 20 dB typical gain, an output voltage of up to 7.5V peak-to-peak into a 50 ohm optical modulator load, 15 ps rise time, and +/- 1.5 dB gain ripple. The amplifier provides both crossover point and output power control for maximum design flexibility. Agilent Semiconductor Products Group Tel: 800 235 0312, e-mail: semiconductorsupport@agilent.com . Agilent Web Site

The MDA-1220-08S is a driver amplifier for 10 Gb/s fiber optic networking applications. The driver is capable of 20 dB of gain and up to 7.5 Vp-p of output power. It can be used to drive the lithium niobate or the electro-absorption modulators. This new driver amplifier is a surface mount package that is 70% smaller than the coaxial connected packages. There are several features about this driver amplifier that draws attention. First, itıs a surface mount device, which means you can save board space. The surface mount amplifier also has RF shielding and is hermetically sealed. The RF shield enables the designer to meet the stringent EMI specifications. The sealing provides the reliability required by the optical communications applications. Previous generation amplifiers used the metal coaxial connectors, so they had an RF shield. However, this is a first for surface mount amplifiers. Companies that used a ceramic package or the amplifier chip by itself had to design an RF shield. The MDA-1220-08S driver amp is appropriate for electro-absorption (EA) or Lithium Niobate (LiNbO3) modulators and meets their voltage requirements. The EA modulators typically need 3-3.5 Vp-p output power and the LiNbO3 typically need between 6.5-7 Vp-p output power. This Agilent driver is capable of 7.5 Vp-p. The important points to remember about this driver amp are that it is hermetically sealed, is much smaller than coaxial connected devices, uses bondable surface mount technology, and has RF shielding. For a part this small is has a significant gain of 20 dB, and the only external part you need is a 150 uH choke. Agilent priced the part very aggressively at $500 each in high volume. By way of comparison, the metal packages can range from $800 to $1,000 each in high volume. Finally, because many optical communications systems are proprietary, some OEMs may have different requirements and Agilent understands that. For this reason the company can change some of the specs, such as different power outputs to meet these special needs. The Agilent MDA-1220-08S driver amplifier is currently sampling for select network equipment manufacturers. General availability is planned for second quarter 2003, with device pricing expected to be under $500 each in high volume. MDA-1220-08S Data Sheet

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