Aluvia Photonics and Nokia Bell Labs Report Intermediate Results in EDWA Evaluation for Coherent Communication

Eindhoven, The Netherlands – 4 November 2025 – Six months into their joint evaluation program, Aluvia Photonics and Nokia Bell Labs have reported encouraging results in the qualification of Erbium-Doped Waveguide Amplifiers (EDWAs) for next-generation coherent communication systems.

Early testing has shown flat gain across the C-band, successful amplification of dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) comb sources, and simultaneous amplification of multiple wavelengths. Together with the earlier proof of the high-bit-rate operation, these results underline the potential of EDWAs to offer a broader amplification range compared to semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs), while also providing advantages in footprint and ease of integration.

“Coherent communication demands extremely high standards, where cost, performance, and reliability must be carefully balanced,” said Theodore Sizer, Head of Optical Systems and Device Research Lab at Nokia Bell Labs. “The results so far are promising, and we look forward to exploring how EDWAs could support the evolution of future coherent transceiver architectures.”

“As this program progresses, our priority is to translate these technical results into manufacturable solutions,” said Steve Stoffels, CEO of Aluvia Photonics. “The next step is to address reliability and cost at scale, while advancing integration of EDWAs with silicon photonics platforms to prepare the technology for deployment in real-world communication systems.”

The joint program will continue with extended testing, cost-performance analysis, and evaluation of integration pathways to ensure EDWAs can address the stringent requirements of coherent optical communication.