New 3-in-1 Optical Component Analysis delivers OFDR, WDL and Proximity Sensing

02 Mar 2023

SANTEC CORPORATION, a leading manufacturer of advanced optical components, tunable lasers, optical test equipment, and OCT systems, announces the product launch of the Swept Photonics Analyzer (SPA-100).  The SPA-100, in conjunction with Santec’s market leading tunable laser, uses optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) technology to analyze compact fiber optic and photonic devices for insertion loss and return loss with a spatial resolution of better than 5um. The wide sweeping range of the Santec TSL along with the SPA-100 allows for the highest resolution reflectometer and analyzer on the market. This makes the system uniquely suitable for analyzing small devices like silicon photonic circuits, fiber optic components, and compact fiber optic assemblies. The included software displays a trace showing reflectance and loss events along the waveguide and gives the capability to locate faults, measure parameters such as waveguide length, and refractive index.

Beyond yielding a reflectance trace, the SPA-100 system uses coherent detection technology to perform transmissive wavelength dependent loss measurement with a wide dynamic range of better than 70dB in a single scan, saving measurement time with no need to change optical power meter ranges.

A patented proximity sensing function allows for the fiber probe itself to sense the distance between the probe and the silicon wafer to facilitate the alignment process during the wafer level characterization process in a silicon photonic chip production line.

High Spatial Resolution: <5um spatial resolution in silicon

Ultra-wide WDL measurement: up to 160nm scanning range

Wide Dynamic Range for WDL: better than 70dB dynamic range for WDL measurements

Configurable: Choose a system based on the selected TSL

Proximity sensing: Use OFDR technology to sense distance between fiber probe and wafer

Easy Analysis: Intuitive software to analyze areas of interest, apply different refractive indexes to portions of the scan, measure IL and RL, store/load previous data for further analysis.

The SPA-100 will be displayed at OFC 2023 from March 7^th to 9th as well as IEEE SiPhotonics conference from April 4^th to 7^th.