At ECOC 2005, XLoom revealed - BlueFlame the first commercially available Photonic Integrated Chip. Aimed at data center applications such as Gigabit Ethernet, Infiniband and PCI Express optical links, BlueFlame is the foundation of XLoom’s optical interconnect solutions for Ultra Short Reaches (USR).

Fiber optical links have dominated network and data communications for long distances for over a decade. However, in shorter distances copper prevails as the interconnect of choice, due to low cost, reliability and ease of manufacturability.

As data rates increase, copper interconnects are reaching their physical limits and optical links now rein in distances higher than 100m. The barrier for optics as an alternative to copper is still competitive cost, chip scale size and low power to replace copper as higher data rates are required.

BlueFlame alters the landscape altogether by providing chip-scale size, low power and competitive costs to optical interconnects which are comparable with copper prices.

XFlame™ Technology

BlueFlame is manufactured using XLoom’s patented XFlame technology which features hybrid integration process incorporating “best-of-breed” optical and electrical devices placed on a common wafer substrate, to produce a highly dense optical transmitter/receiver photonic chip. Among other achievements of the XFlame technology is the much coveted low loss coupling capability between VCSELs and fibers as well as between fibers and photodiodes achieved by using standard semi-conductor processes.
Passive low-loss coupling is achieved by implementing lithographically defined structures to passively align various optical components, eliminating a costly closed loop procedure for optical component alignment. The result is a dramatic improvement of costs which directly impact to end-user products.

BlueFlame and XFlame are Trademarks of XLoom Photonics, Inc. and XLoom Communications, Ltd.