PCSEL-Based Platform Performs Free-Space Optical Comms
Targeting secure, long-distance, fast communications, Vector Photonics, with the aid of Fraunhofer UK, performed the first successful demonstration of PCSEL technology for optical communication (outside of a lab). The Scottish startup is using photonic crystal surface-emitting lasers (PCSELs) in secure communications, transmitting data across the Clyde from the Glasgow Science Centre to the Clydeside Distillery.
The open-air demonstration shows that the solution can operate successfully under varying environmental conditions over considerable distances. PCSELs combine the power of edge-emitting lasers with the speed and surface emission of vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). They're well-suited for secure, free-space optical communication systems because they emit narrow, bright beams with high quality and low divergence.
Unlike legacy laser sources, PCSELs combine the benefits of surface emission with coherent, single-mode output. This leads to efficient coupling into free-space optics without needing complex beam-shaping elements.
The solution will enable faster, secure internet connections without relying on cables or radio. Its wide wavelength flexibility (ultraviolet to far infrared) could be applied to AI data centers, LiDAR systems, and additive manufacturing (3D printing).
Designed and constructed using Vector Photonics’ PCSELs by the Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics, part of Fraunhofer UK, the free-space optical communication system operated at 50 Mb/s over 500 meters, with error rates below standard forward-error-correction thresholds.
Related links:
About the Author
Alix Paultre
Editor-at-Large, Microwaves & RF
Alix is Editor-at-Large for Microwaves & RF.
An Army veteran, Alix Paultre was a signals intelligence soldier on the East/West German border in the early ‘80s, and eventually wound up helping launch and run a publication on consumer electronics for the U.S. military stationed in Europe. Alix first began in this industry in 1998 at Electronic Products magazine, and since then has worked for a variety of publications, most recently as Editor-in-Chief of Power Systems Design.
Alix currently lives in Wiesbaden, Germany.
