Periodic Reporting for period 3 - ORIONAS (Lasercom-on-chip for next generation, high-speed satellite constelation interconnectivity)
Reporting period: 2021-05-01 to 2022-04-30
The H2020-SPACE-ORIONAS project has evolved with the aim to provide the above cited photonic technologies and demonstrate transceiver and amplifier circuits and modules that can disrupt both the shape of laser-com modems as well as the way they are built and tested. Leveraging these technologies, ORIONAS has demonstrated a number of compact transceivers and amplifiers applicable to high data rate direct or coherent detection OISLs. More specifically the project has demonstrated the following:
o Miniaturized electronic photonic (ePIC) modulator and receiver circuits for DPSK and coherent QPSK modulation formats.
o Assembly, integration and test (AIT) of the modulator and receiver circuits in bread-board modules.
o Compact erbium doped optical fiber amplifier featuring credit card footprint and low mass.
o Compact SOA booster amplifier featuring >20 dBm optical output power.
o Functional evaluation of the devices in the end-user system testbed.
In terms of technology readiness, ORIONAS has delivered critical designs, manufacturing of critical parts, assembly/integration of bread-board models and finally testing at part and BBM level to reach a TRL level of 3-4. Through its achievements and industrialization plan, ORIONAS is opening the opportunity for building a new generation of high-performance and low SWaP laser terminals within Europe and using high-end photonic technologies in which Europe has and continues to invest. ORIONAS has made targeted contributions to the evolution of European research and technology ecosystem as well as establishing a strong European supply chain for critical space photonic systems.
Highlights of the ePIC chip-level testing performed within ORIONAS are: a) Demonstration of SSC structures with losses as low as 1.7 dB when coupled to SMF lensed fiber, b) Ge photodiodes with low dark current (~45 nA) and high responsivity (>0.6 A/W), c) Verification of on-chip VOA and thermal tuning functions
2. AIT of the modulator and receiver ePICs into prototype bread-board model (BBM) sub-assemblies including the following: a) DPSK optical transmitter, b) DPSK optical receiver, c) IQ modulator and d) Coherent receiver.
Highlights of the modulator and receiver BBM testing performed within ORIONAS are: a) Demonstration edge coupled ePIC to standard SMF with coupling losses < 4 dB, b) 28 Gb/s DPSK demodulation and detection using the DPSK receiver BBM, c) 20 Gb/s modulation using the IQ modulator BBM, d) 100 Gb/s QPSK coherent detection using the coherent receiver BBM
3. Design and MAIT of compact radiation resistant high gain optical fiber pre-amplifier built with hi-rel SFF optics, radiation resistant RC-EDF, hi-rel opto-electronics and COTS electronics. The Engineering Model (EM)-level LNOA features credit card footprint and 100gram mass. In terms of optical performance, the LNOA delivers a typical (1550 nm) small signal gain >45 dB. The radiation induced gain drop at 40 krad is >3 dB which was verified through TID testing on the active fibers.
4. Design and MAIT of booster (>20 dBm) Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (SOA) chips using the Semi Insulating Buried Heterostructure (SiBH) process and assembly of the SOAs into compact butterfly packages. The SOA package includes the amplifier chip, TEC elements, the fiber assemblies as well as micro-optics for beam expansion, isolation and collimation within the gold-box module. Two SOAs were assembled into a BBM device for system-level testing. In terms of optical performance, the SOA was measured to deliver >100 mW saturated output power at 2A of driving current and at a typical wavelength of 1550 nm.
a) development of the first edge-coupled optical transceiver integrated circuits that feature full flesh monolithic integration of silicon photonic and BiCMOS electronic integrated circuits. Such approach can facilitate integrated optical devices for high-bandwidth applications that require a higher degree of miniaturization.
b) development of module assembly method for co-packaging of modulator PICs with laser diodes toward integrated PIC-based transceiver modules
c) development of semiconductor booster amplifiers that reduce drastically the amount of components to be qualified and assembled compared to conventional booster fiber amplifier technology.
d) development of the first radiation resistant miniaturized optical pre-amplifier that demonstrates >80% savings in mass and unit area.