Plastic Optical Fiber Sends 40 Gb/s

Oct. 25, 2007

Discovery Semiconductors has provided the University of Kiel (Kiel, Germany) with a multimode coupled 40-Gb/s photodiode for the institution's research on high-speed optical communications over plastic optical fiber (POF) and multimode fiber (MMF). So far, the device has been used as part of a demonstration of error-free 40-Gb/s transmission across 50 m of POF by researcher Stefan Schoellman. The research was presented at the recent European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC) in Berlin, Germany and is part of Professor Werner Rosenkranz's research group at the University of Kiel. Professor Rosenkranz notes," This work demonstrates that 40 Gb/s transmission is possible over POF and MMF. These fiber types usually support only low bit rates. The multimode-coupled photodiode from Discovery is a key enabling technology which allows 40 Gb/s transmission over POF."

Discovery Semiconductors (www.chipsat.com)

About the Author

Jack Browne

Technical Contributor

Jack Browne, Technical Contributor, has worked in technical publishing for over 30 years. He managed the content and production of three technical journals while at the American Institute of Physics, including Medical Physics and the Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology. He has been a Publisher and Editor for Penton Media, started the firm’s Wireless Symposium & Exhibition trade show in 1993, and currently serves as Technical Contributor for that company's Microwaves & RF magazine. Browne, who holds a BS in Mathematics from City College of New York and BA degrees in English and Philosophy from Fordham University, is a member of the IEEE.