High-speed optical links for data transfer out of 3.4K to room temperature

Abstract

Significant progress has been made in cryoelectronic over the past three decades. However, an ever-increasing need for bandwidth and lower power consumption of data links between the cryogenic environment and the room temperature is becoming a vital bottleneck for scaling up the cryogenic technology. Optical links provide substantial performance advantages in many data transmission fields, but until now, the benefits of optical links between cryogenic and room temperature have remained unexplored widely. This study focuses on data transfer performance out of the cryogenic environment with commercial LiNbO3 modulators. The Vπ of the LN modulator at a temperature as cold as 3.4K is measured, and a 17.6% increase over room temperature values is seen, but the extinction is reduced from 28dB to 22dB. The transmission coefficient S21 of the optoelectronics system, including modulators, photodiodes, amplifiers, fibers, and cables, is measured by a vector network analyzer. Moreover, the operation of a high-speed optical link at rates up to 32Gbps from 3.4K to room temperature was demonstrated.