Optical wavelengths continue to be occupied for multiple carriers and applications such as communications and sensing. Testing combs of light has traditionally required large, power-hungry lasers, but now there's an alternative: the LumiCOMB optical frequency comb generator from Solinide Photonics AB.

Based on the firm’s patented silicon-nitride (SiN) micro-resonator technology, the comb generator is available for O-band (1,260 to 1,360 nm) and C-band (2,530 to 2,565 nm) optical fiber wavelengths. Packed in a 2U-high, 19-in. rack-mount enclosure weighing less than 10 kg and consuming only about 30 W, each LumiCOMB unit replaces a much larger rack of lasers as optical test sources for evaluating optical systems at phase-locked wavelengths. 

LumiCOMB comb generators are highly efficient, multiple-carrier sources for a variety of test applications, such as in communications, imaging, metrology, and sensing systems. They produce a broadband comb with evenly spaced phase-coherent lines across the wavelength.

The comb generators feature simple single-switch control to transition from standby to full operational mode, with a linear-polarized comb on a PMF slow axis fiber and available at a single FC/APC connector. The rack-mount enclosures weigh less than 10 kg and consume about 30 W power in normal use. 

Well-suited for optical frequency calibration and wavelength referencing, O-band comb generators feature a distributed-feedback (DFB) pump laser wavelength of 1,270 to 1,330 nm and 24 usable optical pump lines with greater than –5-dBm power levels for a comb FSR of 200 GHz (see image above). The typical optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) is 40 dB. 

The team that founded Solinide Photonics started life prototyping SiN-based photonic integrated circuits (PICs) in the research laboratories of Chalmers University. The company’s CEO, Marcello Girardi, revealed that Solinide’s SiN foundry service, driven by precise photolithography, contributed a great deal to the development of the LumiCOMB comb generators: “LumiCOMB is supported by Solinide's foundry service, which provides unique delivery and technical advantages compared to similar market counterparts.”

He noted that the Swedish-based engineering team is close to the instrument, “Solinide offers direct support from the technical team who developed and built the platform, featuring production in Sweden.” O-band units are expected to be available shortly, with C-band comb generators in production soon thereafter.