CASE STUDIES — Optical Transceiver Printed Circuit Board

Our client is one of the fastest growing start-up companies that was spun-off from a major telecom OEM. They operate on the leading edge of the technology envelope on extremely aggressive projects and schedules. Their core competency in fiber optic technology and packaging techniques is unsurpassed. However, their expertise in developing a multi-layer printed circuit board for their new optical transceiver device was challenged.

IST was able to fill that void. We were contracted to developed a 144 position I/O Fiber Optic Transceiver printed circuit board which had to accommodate a 4 x 36 channel vertical cavity surface emitting laser, VCSEL, array. A VCSEL array of this size, mounted to a multi-layer PCB, approximately the size of a postage stamp, was unprecedented in the industry at this time. One of the major hurdles we had to devote considerable time to solving surrounded the thermal management issues related to the heat dissipation of the VCSEL array. Care had to be given to  the PCB and package design so as not to induce warping and routing deformation at elevated temperatures which would adversely affect the optical light path between the PCB and the transceiver. Because of our knowledge and expertise of fiber optic technology and within the printed circuit board industry, we were able to develop a PCB which provided the mechanical and thermal stability required to meet our customers performance criteria.

Technical Skills

  • Intimate knowledge of PCB industry, equipment, and application engineering
  • VCSEL technology working knowledge
  • Optical Transmission Line Signal Fidelity Theory
  • Copper Etch Transmission Line Signal Fidelity Theory
  • Thermo-dynamics and materials of engineering effects
  • Electronic Contact Physics
  • Electro-mechanical engineering principles
  • PCB design and development

ist gets it done!