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Technology Stocks : SDL, Inc. [Nasdaq: SDLI] -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: gdichaz who wrote (215)	4/30/1999 12:50:00 AM
From: pat mudge	Respond to of 3951

Chaz --- I think I finally understand how SDL and Uniphase compete. As you know, light waves need to be amplified as they travel and the amplifiers are powered by pump lasers. The more channels, the more powerful they have to be. Right now the 980 nm pump laser is in great demand for the 32-channel and above systems. When you amplify at higher speeds, the key issue is stabliziation and no other system matches SDL's patented fiber Bragg grating. It's one of the reasons Corning chose SDL for a multi-year contract. Uniphase, on the other hand, makes the chips and sells them to LaserTron. They're beginning the qualification process for their 980 nm pump lasers and by the time they're qualified on the 310 mw (which SDLI's had for a year), SDLI will be qualified on the 1/2 watt. They're also developing 1 watt. Again, more channels of light need pump lasers that deliver higher power and maintain higher levels of stabilization. The 980 nm laser pumps and fiber Bragg gratings are used in terrestrial and undersea systems. In the submarine space, SDL has a remotely-modulated 1480 nm pump that allows transmission up to several hundred kms offshore, and is 10X more powerful than anything on the market today. From an earlier press release: <<< San Jose, California, February 24, 1999-- SDL, Inc. (Nasdaq: SDLI) announced today at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference in San Diego, California, a new pump laser module for use in optically amplified systems that features a ten-fold increase in optical power over conventional pump modules. Pump lasers are the key components that deliver optical power to fiber optic amplifiers used in dense wavelength division multiplexed (DWDM) and undersea fiber optic networks. The SDL-RL30 Series pump laser delivers 1.5 Watts or about ten times the power available from traditional pump lasers. This remarkable performance enables remote pumping of optical amplifiers for short haul undersea networks such as those connecting islands or cities along a common coastline. SDL is now shipping sample quantities to customers for evaluation and qualification. "This revolutionary product allows our customers to achieve undersea spans of approximately 200 kilometers without requiring the pump lasers to be deployed undersea," said Donald R. Scifres, SDL's chairman and chief executive officer. "The RL30 is another example of our strategy to develop industry leading solutions to increase the capacity of fiber optical networks in a cost effective manner." The SDL-RL30 Series pump laser uses new fiber laser technology by combining multiple semiconductor lasers with double-clad fiber to produce very high optical power in a single-mode fiber. Low cost, high power multi-mode lasers emitting light near 900 nm are coupled to successive stages of special fiber which upshift the wavelength to the 1455 nm to 1480 nm range. This wavelength can be transmitted over relatively long spans of fiber optic cable with much less power loss than shorter pump laser wavelengths. The availability of very high power in the 1480 nm wavelength range enables undersea fiber optic links of a few hundred kilometers to be constructed with the pump laser at the network terminals on shore even though the optical amplifiers may be submerged undersea. This significantly reduces the electrical power consumption of the underwater amplifiers and dramatically improves the reliability of the submerged equipment. >>>>> This and other press releases can be found at: sdli.com Well worth your time to read the product announcements. Someone asked about the transmission side, and was told it's very difficult to beat someone if they have a head-start. By the time you catch up, they've moved to the next level. Therefore the only way to break into a new area is to find a way to differentiate yourself. With IOC and their 10 gig/sec modulator, they'll be able to do it. Incidentally, Greg Dougherty, SDL's COO, was LU's number two man in their microelectronics division before joining the company. Donald Scifres also pointed out that Dave Welch is now heading acquisitions. Today's presentation drew a full crowd and considering it was nearing the last session of the last day, that's pretty impressive. Q&A was SRO. You're not supposed to fall in love with a company, but these guys are doing such a good job, it's hard not to. Pat