Optical transceivers: UGent and imec launch silicon-photonics spin-off Caliopa
Ghent, Belgium--Ghent University (UGhent) and Imec today announced the creation of Caliopa, a spin-off from their Photonics Research Group. An initial 2 million Euro in funding was raised. Caliopa will develop and market advanced silicon-photonics-based optical transceivers for the data and telecommunications markets.
"Multiple optical components can be replaced with a single optical chip by using silicon photonics, allowing us to develop small, highly integrated and low-power optical transceivers," said Martin De Prycker, CEO of Caliopa. "The ability to make these silicon-photonics components at standard CMOS manufacturing facilities also makes it commercially very attractive. Key potential customers have expressed great interest in Caliopa's solutions, stating that port density and power consumption are the major concerns in driving the growth of optical networks."
Caliopa will build on the know-how, intellectual property, and experience arising from research by the Photonics Research Group at UGhent and Imec, and led by professor Roel Baets. In addition, Caliopa will rely on Imec's expertise in silicon processing.
Caliopa currently has seven team members, composed of technical experts from Imec/UGhent and industry veterans with over 75 years cumulative management experience in the high-tech industry. The company is planning to double this team in the next 12 months. The initial funding was raised from investors Baekeland, Fidimec, PMV-Vinnof, a private investor, and Caliopa's founders.
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John Wallace | Senior Technical Editor (1998-2022)
John Wallace was with Laser Focus World for nearly 25 years, retiring in late June 2022. He obtained a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and physics at Rutgers University and a master's in optical engineering at the University of Rochester. Before becoming an editor, John worked as an engineer at RCA, Exxon, Eastman Kodak, and GCA Corporation.