Small Packaged Tunable Optical Transmitter

A small, packaged tunable optical transmitter comprising:

• a rectangular housing having a volume of less than 0.6 cubic centimeters, with six planar exterior walls including a bottom, a top, opposing first and second ends, and opposing sidewalls, the exterior walls forming a hermetically sealed interior space that includes a major axis that extends through the first and second ends;
• an electrical input interface positioned at the first end of the housing and aligned with the major axis, the electrical interface configured to receive an information-containing electrical signal;
• an optical output interface positioned at the second end of the housing and aligned with the major axis, the optical interface configured to transmit an optical communication beam;
• a tunable semiconductor laser positioned in the interior space and operable to emit a laser beam having a selectable wavelength;
• and
• a semiconductor-based modulator positioned in the interior space along an optical path of the laser beam and operatively coupled to the optical output interface, the semiconductor-based modulator configured to impart modulation to the laser beam corresponding to an information-containing electrical signal received through the electrical input interface.