Casela Technologies is showcasing its new ELSA-16 platform at OFC 2025 in San Francisco this week. The pluggable 16-channel External Laser Source (ELS) system is designed to meet the growing performance and scalability demands of AI infrastructure, particularly for co-packaged optics (CPO) and silicon photonics-based architectures. ELSA-16 integrates 16 high-power Distributed Feedback (DFB) lasers with advanced control electronics in a compact, thermally optimized module, supporting both 1310nm and CWDM-4 wavelength configurations.
The ELSA-16 platform delivers up to 200 mW per channel with polarization-maintaining fiber outputs and offers optional thermoelectric cooling (TEC) for enhanced wavelength stability. The system includes a CMIS-based firmware interface and an OSFP electrical connection, enabling seamless integration with chiplet I/O and optical transceiver systems. At OFC 2025, Casela is demonstrating a 16-wavelength configuration driving dense comb sources, highlighting the platform’s ability to scale beyond 128 optical channels on a 200 GHz DWDM grid.
Casela positions ELSA-16 as a key enabler for next-generation optical interconnects in high-performance AI and HPC environments. With support for customizable power profiles, broad wavelength coverage, and future-ready DWDM capabilities, the platform addresses critical challenges in I/O efficiency, density, and thermal management. Visitors can preview the full product line in meeting room 6549 at OFC 2025.
• Casela is showcasing its 16-channel ELSA-16 external laser source platform at OFC 2025.
• The system integrates high-power DFB lasers, control electronics, and optional TEC in a compact pluggable module.
• Supports polarization-maintaining fiber output, OSFP electrical interface, and CMIS firmware.
• Enables up to 128+ DWDM channels using 16 comb sources with >12 mW per wavelength.
• Designed for AI/HPC optical I/O scalability and power efficiency in silicon photonics systems.
“The ELSA-16 represents a quantum leap in flexible and scalable external laser sources,” said Milind Gokhale, Co-Founder and CTO of Casela. “From powering high-bandwidth chiplet I/O to enabling dense wavelength division multiplexing, ELSA-16 is the ideal solution for next-generation optical networks.”
- An External Laser Source (ELS) is a centralized optical transmitter that generates high-quality laser light outside of the main optical transceiver or silicon photonics chip, then delivers it via optical fibers to multiple destinations. Unlike traditional integrated lasers, ELS systems enable better thermal management, higher power efficiency, and improved signal integrity by decoupling the laser from sensitive electronic components. This architecture is especially well-suited for Co-Packaged Optics (CPO), chiplet-based I/O, and silicon photonics platforms used in AI/ML, high-performance computing (HPC), and data center interconnects, where bandwidth density, power consumption, and scalability are critical.
- Casela Technologies, founded in 2019, is a global semiconductor laser company specializing in high-performance laser technologies for data communications infrastructure. The company operates from locations in Nanjing, Taipei, and Silicon Valley, with its headquarters in Palo Alto, California. Key executives include Dr. Bo Lu, CEO and Board Chairman; Dr. Milind Gokhale, Chief Technology Officer; and Ben Li, President. Casela has achieved notable milestones, such as introducing high-power, continuous-wave distributed feedback (DFB) lasers for silicon photonics-based transceivers at OFC 2023.