Press Release: Novalux
"Breakthrough in Laser Technology Leads to Faster, Cheaper Bandwidth; Technology Pioneers Make Laser Light That Matters"
[fac: ?? -- read with caution]
May 12, 2000
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 11,
2000 via NewsEdge Corporation -
Novalux today unveiled a breakthrough in laser
technology that promises to replace the
underlying way that voice, data, video and
Internet traffic are carried across the world. The
technology, called NECSEL (Novalux Extended
Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers), makes it
possible to greatly expand the information
transmission capacity of a fiber network (beyond
current optical pump technology) at a
significantly lower cost. The new laser
technology platform sets previously unheard of
price/performance expectations and will have a
major impact not only on communications, but
also displays, lighting and medical markets.
Novalux CEO Malcolm Thompson sees the
implications of NECSEL's advancement as far
reaching. "There is an exploding demand for
greater online communications capacity. Optical
fiber transmission lines are already being installed
worldwide to meet this demand," said Thompson.
"The quantum leap in price/performance that
NECSEL brings promises to enable a paradigm
change in the telecommunications marketplace."
Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM)
is the first important example. DWDM multiplies
the information-carrying capacity of an optical
fiber by sending multiple information data
channels down the fiber using multiple carrier
transmitters with differing wavelengths. The
larger the number of channels used, the greater
is the demand for pump power. Today DWDM is
powered by edge-emitting diode laser-based
pump technology which is unable to reliably
provide more than 250mW in single mode fiber.
NECSELs, on the other hand, produce a much
higher power in a perfectly circular beam emitted
from the surface of the chip. This also has the
advantage of making it possible to "mass test"
chips prior to costly packaging.
In the role of a lower power transmitter layer,
NECSELs further reduce DWDM network cost by
replacing the backup transmitter for each
wavelength channel by a single digitally tuned
transmitter.
For Novalux founder Aram Mooradian, the debut
of this technology marks the coming of age for
semiconductor laser technology. "When the laser
was invented, it was a solution in search of a
problem. Internet bandwidth has proven it was
the problem waiting to be solved," Mooradian
said.
About Novalux
Novalux (http://www.novalux.com) was founded
in 1998 and is located in Sunnyvale, Silicon
Valley. The company has pioneered a
breakthrough in ultra-high power for photonic
systems. Called NECSEL (Novlaux Extended
Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers), this new
technology enables elegant scalable active laser
platforms and solutions for achieving greater
information bandwidth across long haul access
and metro communications systems.
CONTACT: Novalux, Sunnyvale, Calif. | Malcolm
Thompson, 408/736-0707 | or | The Hoffman
Agency, for Novalux | Stacey Fields,
408/286-2611 |
