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Technology Stocks : LUMM - Lumenon Innovative Lightwave Technology Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Fuza who wrote (559)	7/25/1999 7:51:00 PM
From: Don Johnstone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2484

<<With the world first photonic chip, is LUMM the front runner in this field?>> I'm not absolutely sure, quite honestly. But I've looked all over the internet looking for photonic/optic chips, and the only one I've come across which is even close to LUMM is from Bookham in the UK. And what Bookham is doing exactly I'm not really sure either, except they are involved with fiber and photons, in some manner, using a process called ASOC. As their web site states: ~~~~~~~~~~~ Bookham Technology has developed a revolutionary technology which aims to change the future of the fibre optic telecommunication and sensor industries. This unique technology is ASOC, a combination of passive component alignment techniques and standard silicon fabrication technology, which significantly reduces the complexity of designing and manufacturing opto-electronic components. By using the processing techniques derived from the mature silicon micro electronic industry, our components immediately inherit all the advantages associated with silicon volume manufacture. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Therefore ASOC, a patented silicon-on-insulator technology, enables low-cost opto-electronic components, such as transceivers and transmitters, to be manufactured in high volumes for a wide variety of applications. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bookham Technology's unique ASOC technology uses well-established CMOS process technology to build low-cost standard and custom optical circuits on a silicon chip. Each circuit consists of a number of basic optical components such as transmitters, receivers, switches and routers, which are interconnected on the chip. This allows optical engineers to cut costs by replacing several discrete components in an optical network with a single ASOC device. Bookham also has a range of sensor products aimed at the automotive, biomedical and environmental sensing markets. ASOC devices are all designed to be manufactured in volume in Bookham's own wafer processing and packaging facility in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. ~~~~~~~~~~~ Bookham has developed a technology called ASOC, which uses the lowest cost optical material - silicon - to build high-quality optical devices. The ASOC design and manufacturing process can be used to form complex optical circuits on a silicon chip. This process is analogous to the design of electronic ASIC devices widely used in computers and communications devices. By simplifying the manufacturing process, thousands of ASOC devices can be made at low cost on a largely automated production line. Bookham's President and CEO, Dr Andrew Rickman, said: "This investment from Intel reinforces our belief that ASOC is the future of optical networking. At a time when the semiconductor industry is experiencing significant set-backs, it is reassuring to see that major players like Intel and Cisco see a bright future for Bookham Technology." He added: "With the Internet playing an increasingly important part in people's working and recreational lives, this is a logical move for Intel. Bookham's ASOC products can dramatically increase the amount of bandwidth that operators can provide to their customers - at an affordable price. These recent investments will allow us to bring forward our product developments for fibre-optic communication applications, so ASOC products will reach the marketplace within a much shorter space of time." ~~~~~~~~~~~ That surely sounds similar to LUMM but without the sol-gel!! Both Intel and Cisco have invested in Bookham! These are 4 US patents assigned to Bookham: 1. 5,908,305 Electro-optic device 2. 5,881,190 Assembly of an optical component and an optical waveguide 3. 5,787,214 Connection between an integrated optical waveguide and an optical fibre 4. 5,757,986 Integrated silicon pin diode electro-optic waveguide This is the abstract of US5908305: The device comprises a layer of silicon separated from a substrate by a layer of insulating material. A rib having an upper surface and two side surfaces is formed in the layer of silicon to provide a waveguide for the transmission of optical signals. A lateral doped junction is formed between the side surfaces of the rib such that an electrical signal can be applied across the junction to control the density of charge carriers across a substantial part of the cross-sectional area of the rib thereby actively altering the effective refractive index of the waveguide. No 'sol-gel' mentioned!! Perhaps LUMM and Bookham will join up one day. Like when Cisco buys both of them, perhaps. Cheers, Don