STEP IN THE FUTURE WITH LIGHTWAVE LOGICPublished on March 2, 2016
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herman sleegers
Technical analyst
As you can see on the picture Lightwave Logic is very present on the important PIC conference in Brussels, DR Michael Lebby member of the Lightwave Logic Board has the chair. Lightwave Logic is working on a solution for the growing internet traffic problem and the urgent need of more capacity, higher speeds and less power and costs. Take a minute of your precious time to read a summary of a very interesting presentation by Tom Zelibor and Dr Michael Lebby.
PRESENTATION OF LIGHTWAVE LOGIC ANTWERP 02/29/2016
SPEAKERS
TOM ZELIBOR, CEO LIGHTWAVE LOGIC former Rear Admiral of the US Navy
Dr. MICHAEL LEBBY, MEMBER OF THE LIGHTWAVE LOGIC BOARD since 01/09/2015; Professor Optoelectronics at the Glyndwr University
TOM ZELIBOR
Main strategy decisions
- The company changed from a mere material producer to a device developer, to add more value
- The company previously depended on independent of uncontrollable external research through universities and then developed complete in-house research and prototype development capabilities
- Changed from very broad based research to focus on the realization of only two projects a Ridge Wave Modulator and a Slot Wave Modulator in order to accelerate the prototypes that can be presented to any potential partners
- Technical infrastructure improvements such as a highly efficient Class 100 clean room and a collaboration with JILA are very important achievements to fuel the in-house research
- The development and the fine-tuning of a very effective engineering team
Significant recent milestones
- Demonstration of thermal stability of the chromophores up to 240 °C
- Detection of thermal stability of chromophores in solution of more than 110 °C, well above the standard of 85 °C
- Maintained good electro optic activity after thermal aging for 2000 hours
- Demonstrated photochemical stability over 4000 hours with little to no degradation of the optical density of the material
- Demonstration of a successful transmission of laser light through 16 polymer waveguides to form almost perfect passive single mode guided light
Main short-term challenges
- Determining loss measurements within the waveguide, this is being done at present, and is the current top priority
- Active testing of the ridge waveguide modulator. Determine if the material can modulate light
- Construction of the first prototype namely the Ridge Waveguide modulator that can be used for demonstration to potential partners
- The Ridge Wave Modulator is a "show me" product no commercial opportunity with low speed parameters. Can be developed into higher speed, commercially applicable devices later
- To find a partner for the construction of a silicon photonic Slot Wave Modulator
Comments
- The intention is to finalize these challenges before the end of 2016
- Tom Zelibor only wants to negotiate with potential partners with sufficient data on hand
- My personal interpretation, a rather negative point was that Tom Zelibor rather downplayed his timelines and although this does not mean that they will not be met, it still will be a challenge
MICHAEL LEBBY
IMPORTANT is that Fred Leonberger linked Michael Lebby to Lightwave Logic through an introduction. Lightwave Logic where great minds come together?
Through his years of experience in photonics Lebby was immediately drawn to Lightwave because of the thermal stability of the product and he now saw a solution that previously proved insolvable.
Main industry solutions
- Based on indium phosphide very expensive and difficult suitability for data centers
- Based on silicon photonics, that solution requires massive volume to be profitable for data centers
- Based on Polymer-photonics, cheap and effective solution to many problems currently facing the industry
What are the main challenges for the industry
- The extremely strong growth in data traffic through social networks, video and film calls for new solutions
- The increasing demand for more energy-efficient solutions
- Due to the larger data centers, transmission over greater distances becomes important
- Cost efficiency is the main argument for data centers to invest in new solutions
What are the advantages of polymer photonics
- Greater capacity possible through devices that can handle 400 Gbps or even more
- Faster transmission also over long distance
- Density, the devices are more compact and cheaper to manufacture
- The energy efficiency with the possibility to bring back the voltage below 2 volts is an important advantage with polymer photonics
- Almost the only potential system that can deliver the proposed industry standard namely 1USD / Gbps , now the cost is about 20USD / Gbps
Comments:
- Dr. Lebby has contributed to building up the engineering team. They want to add two more experts
- Dr. Lebby is also very active in advising the company to adjust the strategy
- Dr. Lebby can easily and quickly achieve "external verification" of any test data through his extensive network
- Dr. Lebby will in the case of positive tests fully employ his extensive network to find the best partners
Q&A
- Tom Zelibor explains in detail the importance of the current "loss measurement" test and suggest solutions if this test shows some problems
- Tom Zelibor will focus on several business models. In the first instance, potential licenses, exclusivity for a period of time for joint development, partnerships and possibly at a later stage an acquisition in order to fully optimize the value creation. A stand-alone realization of the overall project is possible, but could be difficult to build out the infrastructure required
- The company currently has some competition, but has the benefit of over 10 years of experience in polymer photonics.
- The company has through capital raises and a financial agreement with Lincoln Park Capital enough cash for a few years
- The biggest potential problems are unexpected developments, Tom Zelibor always has a plan B and even C in mind and this is possible by the development of even better materials. Funding is always a problem and there is nothing worse than falling without fuel just before reaching the finish
- A patent protects the IP of LWLG, but an important part of the production process is protected internally without patents to prevent "reversed engineering."
CONCLUSION
Industry and especially the data centers themselves are asking for creative and innovative solutions. Their decision on who they go into business with will mainly depend on cost and performance, but all options are given a chance. In any case, the time is ripe for Lightwave Logic to show the world what they have.
Thanks to Tom Zelibor and Dr. Michael Lebby for an interesting but intellectually stimulating presentation. |
