2.5-Gb/s free-space optics link over 1.1 km with direct fiber coupling to commercial devices

A 2.5 Gb/s optical link at 1550 nm over a distance of 1.1 km has been demonstrated between two identical terminals by using standard commercial optoelectronic devices without any optical amplification and with direct optical coupling into the receiver fiber optics pigtail. Each terminal consists of one 200 mm diameter light-weight Ritchey-Chrétien telescope, obtained through electroformed nickel replication technology and used for both reception and transmission. The terminal is a first phase demonstrator towards lean and cost effective design for low and medium distance inter-satellite links at high data rate. Although a tracking system has not yet been implemented, the system can work continuously up to several hours with a cumulative bit error rate lower than 10-9, even in heavy rain conditions.

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