Imec, Ghent University spin out silicon photonics technology
Attracted by the prospect of strong growth in the optical communications market, Ghent University and imec have spun out Caliopa from their joint Photonics Research Group. With €2million in funding, Caliopa will develop and market advanced silicon photonics based optical transceivers for the data and telecommunications markets.
According to the latest market forecast from LightCounting, global sales of optical transceivers will reach $2.4billion in 2010, with the market expected to grow at a 13% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2011 and 2014.
"Multiple optical components can be replaced with a single optical chip by using silicon photonics," said Martin De Prycker, Caliopa's ceo, "allowing us to develop small, highly integrated and low power optical transceivers. The ability to make these silicon photonics components at standard cmos manufacturing facilities also makes it commercially very attractive".
