Photonic Systems Group at McGill University Overcomes Test Limitations in Optoelectronic Research

Organization

• Photonic Systems Group at McGill University’s Faculty of Engineering

Challenges

• increase capacity of optoelectronic devices

• design more bandwidthefficient modulation schemes

Solutions

• 110 GHz UXR1104A oscilloscope

• M8199A AWG

Results

• previously unreachable levels of eye diagram analysis

• error minimization for optical fiber transmission systems

• more accurate data

Introduction

The academics who train future engineers are often the same minds behind scientific advancements catalyzing industry innovation. As professors, they prefer teaching students using current technology to provide the optimal environment for workforce development. As researchers, they need the most advanced technology to establish industry partnerships and apply for federal grant funding in a fiercely competitive landscape.

Dr. David V. Plant is Canada Research Chair and head of the Photonic Systems Group at McGill University. When he set out to advance optical fiber communications systems research for his industry collaborations, he knew he needed to eliminate test limitations and enable faster, more reliable results. Plant and his team identified the preferred technologies and tools that could handle their rigorous test requirements. They worked with Keysight to establish an innovative solution that would enable their intended results

Challenges: “It’s All About the Bandwidth

Optoelectronics is the study and application of light-emitting or light-detecting devices. It is closely related to photonics, the physical study of light. Optoelectronic devices have a broad range of applications, including display technology, autonomous vehicles, and aerospace and defense. Researchers in this field develop breakthroughs that lead to improved product performance, reduced signal interference, and more efficient energy utilization

In this specialized industry, researchers rely heavily on traditional electronic test equipment like oscilloscopes and arbitrary waveform generators (AWGs). For example, when developing long-haul optical fiber transmission systems and short-haul data center interconnects, they use test tools with high bandwidth and sampling rates and low noise floors to achieve maximum performance

Dr. Plant wanted to improve the acquisition and analysis capability in his lab. “Instead of building up capacity through more parallel wavelengths and fiber counts, perhaps we can increase our capacities by introducing very capable digital-to-analog (D-to-A) and analog-to-digital (A-to-D) hardware alongside signal processing techniques,” he theorized. “Every time I talk to students in the lab about what their limitations are, it’s all about the bandwidth. The right test and measurement equipment is what we look to secure, and the signal processing schemes and the enabling silicon photonic device technologies are what we develop

Solution: 110 GHz UXR1104A Oscilloscope + M8199A AWG

Photonic Systems Group researchers already had oscilloscopes, including midrange digital storage oscilloscopes, in their labs. For optical fiber communications systems projects, Dr. Plant’s team narrowed in on three key specifications for a new equipment purchase: high bandwidth, better sensitivity, and a low noise floor. Their goal was to reach greater than 100 Gbaud for all the electronic componentry in the system to achieve maximum communication throughput

Ultimately, Dr. Plant selected the Keysight 110 GHz UXR1104A oscilloscope paired with a Keysight M8199A AWG. These instruments are the top-performing models available in the industry. The UXR provides 110 GHz bandwidth on all four channels with less than 1 mVrms of vertical noise. The M8199A delivers 256 GS/s sample rates and up to 70 GHz bandwidth