aXenic Presents

In September 2019 aXenic presented at a Showcase event during the UK Space Conference held at the International Convention Centre in Newport, Wales. Rollo Hutson described an 8 week intern project he carried out at aXenic this summer investigating methods of extending the temperature range of aXenic’s Gallium Arsenide optical modulators. aXenic’s modulators already operate over a wide temperature range but some space applications require further extending the operating temperature to temperatures as low as -45C. 

Rollo’s work investigating methods to deliberately apply controlled stress to the chip to compensate the thermal stress added at low temperatures showed up very promising routes for further investigation.

Rollo joined 48 other interns at the showcase event who were funded by the UK Space agencies SPIN intern scheme, to share their experiences of working in the space sector.