"The ECOC Exhibition 2014 is a good opportunity for us to meet, network and exchange knowledge with colleagues from across the optical communication community" says Dr. Michael Scholles, Head of Business Development & Strategy at the Fraunhofer IPMS, and continues: "Also, it is a great platform for us to showcase our latest developments, services and solutions in the fields of smart micro-optics and optical wireless communication to a broad audience of expert suppliers and industry leaders."

Tunable micro-optical components

The Fraunhofer IPMS successfully develops innovative components for specific applications by making use of electro-active organic materials in combination with the available silicon technology. Low loss, broad band (400-1600 nm), fast electro-optic switching and variable optical attenuation are realized with a unique concept of electro-optical waveguides with isotropic liquid crystals. At the ECOC 2014, researchers will present polarization sensitive and insensitive devices based on such waveguides.This technology is open to the most versatile applications both in optical telecommunication and in fiber optic sensor technology.

Other components involving electro-active organic materials and developed at the Fraunhofer IPMS are micro-lenses with variable focus, the working principle of which is based on a displacement of liquids in silicon microfluidic chambers by means of a polymer actuator. Such micro-lenses can find practical usage in compact optical zoom objectives for micro-cameras in mobile phones, in medical imaging cameras or for laser beam manipulation. At this year´s ECOC, Fraunhofer IPMS will present a demonstration for this micro-lens.

Optical wireless USB3.0 cable replacement

The ability to use light in the visible or infrared range as a wireless transmission medium forms an alternative to established cable-bound solutions such as USB, Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI or Thunderbolt. In order to transfer large amounts of data from one terminal device to another without an interfering cable and in a minimum of time, researchers at the Fraunhofer IPMS present a transceiver for optical wireless communication at ECOC Exhibition 2014 that is no bigger than a sugar cube and can transfer data via infrared at up to 10 gigabits per second (Gbit/s). Compared to traditional radio technologies such as Bluetooth or WLAN, this Li-Fi module has a much higher data throughput, an extremely low bit error rate and saves energy.

The Fraunhofer IPMS can be found in booth 332 at the ECOC Exhibition 2014 which will be located at the Palais des Festivals, Cannes between 22 – 24 September.