JANUARY 2025

In this edition...

SPACE EMBRACES mmWAVE

LOOKING BACK AT 2024...

...AND AHEAD TO 2025

CELEBRATING OUR TEAM

Space Embraces mmWave Technology

Senior Photonics Engineer and Programme Manager Alison Kearney presenting at EuMW 2024

Having presented at both European Microwave Week (EuMW) and the International Conference on Space Optics (ICSO) last autumn, it is clear that optical combs and comb laser assemblies are being widely considered for their benefits within the space optics community and for mmWave and THz generation. 

Whilst terrestrial communications have been utilising photonics solutions for many years, space communications have traditionally used electrical and RF technologies. ICSO's conference programme, covering all areas of space optics, featured just two photonics sessions, focused mainly on aspects of space development such as building satellites, developing methods to mitigate the effects of turbulence and the development of ground stations, but it was clear from both formal sessions and our conversations that the benefits and flexibility of photonics are gathering attention.

Pilot's Senior Photonics Engineer and Programme Manager, Alison Kearney delivered a presentation entitled 'Frequency Combs for mmWave, sub-THz and THz Generation' at EuMW and presented a co-authored poster entitled 'Integrated Optical Frequency Combs for Continuous Wave Terahertz Generation' at ICSO. Alison will also be running our booth on the Irish Pavilion at Paris Space Week on 4th/5th February 2025. 

"Microwave communications have established electronic solutions, and photonics solutions have found it difficult to compete at lower frequencies," explained Alison. "But as the demand for greater bandwidth within the microwave communications field grows, electronics technologies struggle to meet the requirements, and photonics solutions for frequencies above 80GHz are receiving more attention," she continued.

Both talks generated much interest:

"There was a lot of talk around the potential for combs in communications at both events, and a lot of engagement with what Pilot has to offer. There has been a photonics presence in space for many years, but it has mainly on the periphery. This year it felt as if the benefits of photonics, particularly at high frequencies, are now recognised, and momentum is building," said Alison, speaking after both presentations.

Further verification of Pilot's potential impact within the space communications community is the fact that we have been selected as one of just 10 laureates at Paris Space Week to pitch in their Innovation Challenge. We will be presenting to top executives within the space communications industry on 4th February.

Looking back at 2024...

2024 was a significant year for Pilot Photonics with a number of important successes. Some of our 2024 highlights included.

• The move into our new dedicated HQ building, together with further growth in our research and engineering team, has been instrumental and has enabled us to begin shipping our tunable lasers to customers.
• In April 2024 we kicked off our €2.5m European Innovation Council (EIC) Transition Project to develop comb lasers for datacentres and AI/ML networks.
• We successfully tested our tunable lasers and iCLA (integrated comb laser assemblies) with two international communications manufacturers and a leading satellite vendor.
• We took part in numerous speaking events throughout 2024, including ECOC Market Focus and Optica Advanced Photonic Conference.
• We contributed a chapter to a new book on optical combs entitled 'Optical Frequency Combs - Trends in Sources and Applications'.

...and ahead to 2025

2025 is set to be an even bigger year. Key milestones coming into view include:

• We have just taken delivery of first samples of our nano-iTLA tunable laser modules designed for 100G-ZR and other applications. Through 2025 we will be sampling these modules to customers while carrying out a qualification programme and moving to alpha production.
• We are currently bringing up our micro-iCLA (integrated comb laser assembly). This is a miniaturised version of the units we have been demonstrating and delivering to customers in 2024. Key applications are for D-band frequency generation for 6G networks and for coherent optical transceiver scaling to 1.6T using 4 x 400G-ZR with a single laser.
• Finally, we have exciting partnerships coming together around our comb-based interconnects for AI/ML datacentres. These build upon outcomes of funded European programmes and in 2025 we will be demonstrating pluggable light sources and high channel count interconnects.

Celebrating our Team

Celebrating our Team - New Engineering Team Members

Over the last few months we expanded our engineering team and welcomed:

Amol Delmade

Senior Photonics Engineer and Product Specialist

Praveen Kumar

Senior PIC Design Engineer

Jorge Uribe

Senior Hardware Engineer

Mahrokh Avazpour

Post-doctoral secondment

We have also brought on board a marketing officer, Linda McGillivary to manage communications as the company grows.

Celebrating our Team - Photonics 100

Dr Guarav Jain, Research & Development Manager at Pilot Photonics

Image: Pilot Photonics

Dr Prince Anandarajah, Co-founder of Pilot Photonics

Image: Paul Sharp/Sharppix

Upcoming Events

VISIT US ON THE PHOTONICS IRELAND PAVILION: BOOTH #4743

PHOTONICS WEST, SAN FRANCISCO

25th-30th JANUARY 2025

WE'LL BE ON THE IRISH PAVILION AT PARIS SPACE WEEK

PARIS

4th-5th FEBRUARY 2025

MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS

BARCELONA

3rd-6th MARCH 2025

COME AND SEE US AT BOOTH #5007 OFC, SAN FRANCISCO

1st-3rd APRIL 2025

WE'LL BE AT THE MUNICH LASER SHOW

24th-26th JUNE 2025

WE'LL HAVE A BOOTH AT ECOC

COPENHAGEN

29th SEPTEMBER - 1st OCTOBER 2025

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