Ghent University and Imec launch photonics spin-off

Sales of optical transceivers are expected to reach $2.4bn in 2010, with the market posting a 13 per cent  compound annual growth rate between 2011 and 2014, as the industry catches up with the growing demand for bandwidth.

‘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.

He added: ‘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 currently counts seven staff and is planning to double the team in the next 12 months.