Cielo Makes a 10-Gig VCSEL

BROOMFIELD, Colo. -- Cielo Communications, an industry leader inVertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) technology and integratedoptical subsystems, today announced an innovation in laser design with itsdirectly modulated 10 Gbps 1310 nm VCSEL. The details of this achievementwill be presented in a paper this week at the Conference on Lasers andElectro-Optics (CLEO) in Baltimore, Maryland. This breakthrough willcontribute to simplified system design and lowered optical interconnectcosts for short- and intermediate-reach applications requiring bandwidths inexcess of 10 Gbps.

“The development of a 10 Gbps 1310 nm VCSEL is a landmark achievement forboth Cielo and our industry,” said Bob Mayer, vice president of marketingfor Cielo. “This demonstrates the capability of bringing the advantages of aVCSEL, including low cost, small size, and low power dissipation, to 10 Gbpssingle mode fiber optical interconnects. This technology will provide anideal optical source for applications such as SONET OC-192 and 10 GigabitEthernet links.”

At the CLEO presentation where this announcement will be made, Ryan Naone,Ph.D., will report that the Cielo VCSEL ran error-free at 10 Gbps over 10 kmof single mode fiber. The single mode VCSEL device showed a lasing peak of1289 nm and sustained lasing up to a temperature of 125°C with a spectralwidth of 0.05 nm. At room temperature, the maximum output power of asingle-mode device is 1mW, and multi-mode devices are capable of output upto 2.5mW.Cielo leveraged its commercially mature GaAs-based molecular beam epitaxytechnology to achieve this latest accomplishment. Cielo’s 1310 nm VCSELuses an active region based on Indium Gallium Arsenide Nitride (InGaAsN) tocreate 1310 nm emission. Cielo’s technology also resolves many materialsissues that had limited other 1.3 micron VCSEL technologies such aswafer-bonding or Indium Phosphide (InP) approaches.

Cielo Communications Inc.