06th December 2006
OPTEK Fiber Optic LED Transmitters For Datacoms Equipment
OPTEK Technology has developed a series of fibre optic LED transmitters for integration into data communications equipment. Designated the OPF670 Series, the LED transmitter family consists of the OPF670 in a TO-46 package, the OPF672 in a standard profile metal housing, and the OPF673 in a low profile metal housing.......... more

06th December 2006
EMCORE Strategic Investment in Terrestrial Solar Company WorldWater & Power Corp.
EMCORE and WorldWater & Power Corp., developer and marketer of photovoltaic systems for terrestrial power generation including proprietary electrical motor drive technology for water pumping, jointly announced that EMCORE has agreed to invest $18 million in WorldWater in return for an amount of convertible preferred stock and warrants of WorldWater, equivalent to an approximately 31% equity ownership in WorldWater, or approximately 26.5% on a fully diluted basis......... more

06th December 2006
NOCTREL First With Truly Transparent Solid-State Lighting Element
After the Luxembourg State visit to China, NOCTRON started negotiations with a major Chinese Solid-State Lighting (SSL) manufacturer and both parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding in China........ more

06th December 2006
PATENT NEWS: MOCVD Susceptor for Nitrides from Nakamura & DenBaars of Cree
In recent US Patent #7,122,844, Shuji Nakamura, Steven DenBaars, Max Batres and Michael Coulter; (Santa Barbara, CA) of Cree, Inc. (Goleta, CA) describe an improved susceptor for MOCVD growth of nitride and other epilayers....... more

30th November 2006
Nortel Networks Wins Major Fibre Optics Contract in Iraq
Iraq Telecommunications & Post Corporation (ITPC), Iraq's sole fixed-line operator, has awarded Nortel a US$20 m contract to build a nationwide optical backbone to deliver high-quality high-bandwidth data, video and multimedia services for personal and business communications. Nortel was selected by ITPC as the prime contractor for the Iraq national optical backbone following a public tender process....... more

30th November 2006
Fraunhofer Scores Big Award for Laser Diodes, Alternative Energy Sources and Carbon Based Coatings
American subsidiary of Germany's largest R&D organization, Fraunhofer USA, recently won four major awards amounting to $2.9 m from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation for laser diodes, alternative energy sources and carbon-based coatings..more

30th November 2006
Osram Opto Launches LED Headlamp Products
OSRAM Opto Semiconductors launched its new OSTAR Headlamp. With the launch of the OSTAR Headlamp, and the upcoming launch of OSTAR Headlamp Hot Spot, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors will target vehicle forward lighting applications based on both reflector and projector systems. Systems designed with OSTAR Headlamps produce bright, white light and are ideal for applications such as high and low beam headlights, fog lights, daytime running lights and Adaptive Front lighting Systems (AFS)...... more

30th November 2006
UTEK Corporation Completes Technology Transfer with Cyberlux
Cyberlux Corporation announced that Cyberlux has acquired SPE Technologies, Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of UTEK Corporation in a restricted stock transaction. Cyberlux also showcased its Covert/Visible solid-state semiconductor security lighting systems and made 21 claims awarded by the US Patent Office for Emergency Safety Lighting to accelerate pursuit of providing long-term solutions for interim and emergency lighting in hotels.... more

30th November 2006
First LED for Resistor Drive Applications
Philips Lumileds announced its new SnapLED 150 LEDs which are specifically designed, qualified, tested and binned for use in automotive dual drive-current applications such as rear combination lamps that provide both stop light and tail light functionality. The company says that SnapLED 150 parts simplify the engineering process and remove the need for more costly pulse-width modulation (PWM) circuits and eliminate the “flicker” that can be seen in some lamps when this type of circuit is employed...... more

21st November 2006
Cree & Arrow Electronics LED Distribution Agreement
Cree, Inc., announced a global distribution agreement with Arrow Electronics, Inc., to sell and support Cree XLamp products worldwide. The agreement gives Arrow’s over 130,000 customers ready access to Cree’s latest commercially available technology and a growing family of XLamp products. It also gives Cree’s customers access to one of the world’s largest and most efficient distributor supply chains....... more

21st November 2006
Ground-Breaking 100 Gigabit Ethernet Demonstration Across 4,000-km Live Network
A first-ever demonstration of 100 Gigabit Ethernet (100GbE) technology by a team of industry leaders, including Finisar, Infinera, Internet2, Level 3 Communications, and University of California at Santa Cruz, shows that 100GbE technology is viable and capable of implementation in existing optical networks with 10 Gbit/s wavelengths.
This breakthrough trial also highlights how next-generation technology can address the emerging bandwidth needs of network providers and their users as advanced Internet-based applications continue to proliferate....... more

21st November 2006
Auto Industry First: LED for Resistor Drive Applications
Philips Lumileds announced its new SnapLED 150 LEDs which are specifically designed, qualified, tested and binned for use in automotive dual drive-current applications such as rear combination lamps that provide both stop light and tail light functionality. The company says that SnapLED 150 parts simplify the engineering process and remove the need for more costly pulse-width modulation (PWM) circuits and eliminate the “flicker” that can be seen in some lamps when this type of circuit is employed...... more

21st November 2006
Avago Launches New Components at Electronica – including half-watt LED for vehicles
At the Electronica show in Munich, Avago Technologies was amongst the many chip companies launching major new additions to their opto lines. In particular, introduced the industry’s first half-watt (0.5-W) high-brightness red-orange and amber LEDs in an automotive-industry-standard PLCC-4 surface-mount package...... more

13 th November 2006
Broadband White LED Light Engine
Opto Technology recently introduced its new OTLA-0130 broadband white LED light engine for applications requiring the full, UV to red spectrum.Potential instrumentation applications for the OTLA-0130 broadband white LED include: fluorescence, absorbance, transmittance, reflectance and colour metric measurements.
The OTLA-0130 integrates a white LED with additional monochromatic LED die to expand the unit's spectral output....... more

13 th November 2006
MEAD - MEMs Applications for Defence
QinetiQ, acting as the prime and in partnership with 21 other organisations from industry, academia and the UK defence supply chain, has formed the MEMs Applications for Defence (MEAD) consortium. Its remit is to take a new approach to developing Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology for defence purposes in an MoD backed project worth £3.2m over three years....... more

13 th November 2006
QinetiQ Optical Technology For Smaller Micro-satellites
TopSat, the micro-satellite designed and built by a QinetiQ-led consortium of British firms, was crowned as the Aviation and Space Grand Award Winner at Popular Science’s 2006 Best of What’s New Awards in New York City. TopSat received the Aviation and Space Grand Award – the top award for aerospace technology, from Popular Science, the best selling science and technology magazine in the world. The magazine’s editors sifted through thousands of entries before concluding that TopSat, which provides high resolution images of the earth at low cost, is an innovation that has the potential to change satellite and space reconnaissance technology...... more

13 th November 2006
Sofradir MBE Fab for MCT
Grenoble-based Sofradir has received permission to construct a new €9m ($11.5m) factory that will allow it to almost double its production area (from 5500 - 9000 sq m, one third cleanroom) and to mass produce 'third-generation' IR detectors made from mercury cadmium telluride (MCT) starting in late 2007.
Sofradir will upgrade from 2-inch to 4-inch MCT wafers, at the same time becoming the first European manufacturer to produce IR detectors using MBE and the only company, worldwide, to do so on an industrial scale. ..... more

- 06th November 2006
World's Smallest, Fully Integrated Flash LED Driver
At the Electronica trade show in Munich, Germany, from November 14-17,. National Semiconductor Corp., will showcase what it reckons is the world's smallest fully integrated flash LED driver. The LM2754, featuring low input noise, adjustable output power control and automatic LED shutdown, delivers up to an 800 mA load in handheld applications. ..... more

- 06th November 2006
OMRON Acquires Optical Communications Components from NHK
OMRON Corporation has finalized its agreement with NHK Spring Co., Ltd. and completed the screening process of the Japan Fair Trade Commission to acquire NHK Spring's FTTH optical coupler business on November 1, 2006. From November 1, the FTTH optical coupler business, which was based in NHK Spring's Yokohama head office, will be operated from OMRON's Kusatsu Factory. OMRON will maintain the existing supply chain for the immediate future to ensure a stable supply of products..... more

- 06th November 2006
Side-View LED Chips Enable Thinner Displays for Mobiles
BridgeLux, Inc., released its new BSV Series side-view LED chip product line. With the addition of the BSV series to its product portfolio, BridgeLux brings leading-edge performance and cost-effectiveness to the industry-standard side-view approach used in backlighting applications..... more

- 06th November 2006
OSTAR Version For Rear Projection Television
OSRAM has developed the OSTAR Projection RPTV (rear projection television) specifically for rear projection television. This efficient high-power LED light source is suitable for all projection systems, offers vibrant colours and is dimmable.
It also has a long life (20,000 to 50,000 hours depending on the operating conditions) and short switching times. OSTAR Projection RPTV is suitable for all projection systems, whether they are based on DMD, LCoS or LCD technology. It has been developed specifically for imagers of 0.85 to 0.95 inches used in systems with an aperture size of 2.0 to 2.4.... more

- 06th November 2006
Vitesse Smashes Bandwidth Barriers with Record 1.5 Terabit/s Switching in Single Device
Vitesse Semiconductor has unveiled the world’s highest capacity semiconductor device with breakthrough 1.5 Terabit per second (Tbps) switching capacity and advanced Signal Integrity technology. This, it says will lay the groundwork for new broadband services such as HDTV, Video-on-Demand and Fiber-to-the Home (FTTH)... more

- 30th October 2006
Firecomms Publishes Reliability Data on RCLED and VCSEL Products
Firecomms Ltd., of Cork, Ireland, has published significant data on the reliability of its core RCLED and VCSEL compound semiconductor devices. The new test data for the RCLED device indicates that the company’s RCLED, in various packages and integrations, has proven to operate stably within specification in excess of 400,000 hours. Firecomms RCLED devices are integrated in Ethernet, MOST, and 1394 transceivers with applications in consumer, industrial, and automotive markets... more

- 30th October 2006
PhlatLight RGB Chipset for Microdisplay TVs
Woburn, MA, USA, based Luminus Devices, Inc., announced that its PhlatLight PT120 chipset is being sampled to its microdisplay projection television customers. The red, green and blue LEDs in the PT120 chipset combine to produce more than 1,500 white lumens under normal operating conditions, enough brightness to illuminate RPTVs up to 62 inches with a single RGB chipset..... more

- 30th October 2006
Luxtera Demos Single-Chip CMOS 40-Gbit/sec WDM Technology
Carlsbad, CA, USA, based Luxtera Inc., the CMOS photonics specialist, announced its new technology that multiplexes four 10Gbps wavelengths onto a single fibre, on a production CMOS die – resulting in a single fibre 40Gbps link.
This advance reduces cost for high bandwidth interconnect over traditional parallel fibre solutions and paves the technological way for next generation 100Gbps Ethernet data centre connectivity.... more

- 30th October 2006
Spectrolab Produces Two Millionth Multi-Junction Solar Cell
Boeing announced that Spectrolab, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary, has produced its two millionth multi-junction, GaAs-based solar cell. Spectrolab, the industry-leading solar cell producer, pioneered this type of cell in 1983, perfecting the technology for production several years later. Spectrolab?s advancements gave satellite operators the option of doubling satellite power and increasing potential revenue or controlling costs by reducing spacecraft size without sacrificing capability... more

- 23rd October 2006
Firecomms Ethernet FOT for POF enables IPTV services through Netopia gateway
The Cork, Ireland, based Firecomms Ltd., announced that its RCLED-based 650 nm Fast Ethernet FOT (fibre optic transceiver) is the light source chosen by Netopia for its next-generation high-performance MiAVo residential gateway to deliver bandwidth-intensive, QoS-reliant services such as IPTV, video and VoIP over plastic optical fibre (POF)... more

- 23rd October 2006
Mintera funds to accelerate deployments of 40 Gbps optical transmission systems
The Acton, MA, USA, based Mintera Corporation has raised $10m of venture capital financing co-led by investors Polaris Venture Partners and RRE Ventures. Also participating in the round are existing investors including Court Square Ventures, Star Ventures and Portview Communications Partners. This financing brings the total amount raised by Mintera to more than $54m... more

- 23 October 2006
Cascade design deal with oil giants
CASCADE Technologies has signed a £4m deal to design and supply emissions monitoring systems for BP Marine. The latter has invested in Cascade Technologies to gain access to the Stirling company's quantum cascade laser (QCL) technology, a system for detecting drugs, explosives and hazardous compounds. The three-year deal with BP involves Cascade design QCL-based supply emissions monitoring systems for use in the marine industry.... more

- 23 October 2006
Platinum Dragon LED - more current, more light
The Platinum Dragon LED produces white light at 75 lm from an operating current of 700 mA (30 lm/W), making it the brightest single-chip high-power LED in the Dragon series from OSRAM Opto Semiconductors. In terms of its design and dimensions, the package is the same as for the Golden Dragon but can withstand twice the output and therefore a higher operating current. This means more light in the same space.... more

- 22 September 2006 -
Bookham iTLA underpins next generation tunable technology - European debut for fully qualified iTLA at ECOC 2006
Bookham, Inc. was amongst the leaders in laser components making major product launches at ECOC. It announced that its integrable tunable laser assembly (iTLA) is now fully qualified and in full volume production from the company’s manufacturing facility in Shenzhen, China. The product, which will be featured at ECOC next week, is also underpinning the next generation of tunable technology with its incorporation into two ground-breaking new products... more

- 21 September 2006 -
Alcan Showcases Prototype of Vanguard Flat LLED Aluminium Lighting System at "ALUMINIUM 2006" Essen
Alcan, one of the major exhibitors at the "ALUMINIUM 2006" industry trade fair in Essen, Germany, is presenting the prototype of a vanguard FLAT LED lighting system that combines aluminium components and LEDs in an innovative sandwich construction. Among a number of superior attributes, the system greatly reduces heat generation and reducing assembly cost, when compared with traditional LED systems... more

- 20 September 2006 -
III-Vs & Silicon Come Together: New Hybrid Silicon Laser from Intel and the University of California, Santa Barbara
Researchers from Intel and the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) have built the world's first electrically powered Hybrid Silicon Laser using standard silicon manufacturing processes. They were able to combine the light-emitting properties of InP with the light-routing capabilities of silicon into a single hybrid chip... more

- 18 September 2006 -
Big hitters get behind OLEDs for lighting in R&D project
AIXTRON will participate in an R&D project with its Organic Vapor Phase Deposition (OVPD) technology platform in a consortium together with OSRAM, Philips, BASF and Applied Materials. The final goal of this project, called OPAL 2008 (Organic Phosphorescent lights for Applications in the Lighting market 2008), is the development of an OLED production technology capable of achieving the cost target of a few Euro cent per cm2 for a high performance white OLED device... more

- 15 September 2006 -
Mitsubishi Electric Develops 10 Gbps DWDM Transceiver Module for Optical Communication
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has developed a 10 Gbps transceiver module for optical communication. This module is the first compact optical transceiver in the world to comply with the DWDM system under the 10 Gbps Form-factor Pluggable Extended Multi-Source Agreement (XFP-E MSA), the industrial standard for 10 Gbps optical transceivers. Sample shipment will begin on October 1... more

- 13 September 2006 -
Research InP selective area epitaxy
Selective area epitaxy (SAE) is an important technique for electronic and photonic device fabrication, and for the monolithic integration of these devices. In Microelectronics Journal [Vol 37, Issue 10, Pages 1056-1063] a large-scale parametric study of InP deposition on patterned substrates is detailed by Jonathan E. Greenspan, Dept of Electrical and Computer Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Canada... more

- 13 September 2006 -
Opto Mid-Week Round-up
There have several significant developments in optoelectronics in the past few days. After aperiod of quiet another patent infringement litigation has been revealed. Meanwhile, two of the datacom component majors have published demonstrations as to their commitment in areas which will likely affect all the other players in due course. Firstly, Bookham qualification labs achieved International Standard ISO/IEC 17025 and second, JDSU has received Frost & Sullivan's 2006 Growth Strategy Award for IP Video/IPTV. Finally, HelioVolt and NREL take the next step in developing nanomaterial-based solar cells... more

- 07 September 2006 -
Oki Group World's First Thin-Film-Bonding Technology in Volume
Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd., and OKI Printing Solutions (the brand name for Oki Data Corporation), have developed "Epi Film Bonding" (EFB) technology in which thin films are released and bonded on dissimilar materials. Oki Group is the world's first to succeed in high volume production of LED printheads using the EFB technology... more

- 06 September 2006 -
NeoPhotonics Acquires BeamExpress
NeoPhotonics, a supplier of fibre optic component and module solutions for long-haul, metro and FTTX networks, announced a significant expansion of its product line for high-capacity enterprise networks via the acquisition of BeamExpress, Inc. of Sunnyvale... more

- 05 September 2006 -
Research: Nanoindentation of GaN-on-sapphire for improved optoelectronics
In a recent issue of Materials Chemistry and Physics journal a ‘pop-in’ phenomenon during nanoindentation in epitaxial GaN thin films on c-plane sapphire substrates was reported... more

- 04 September 2006 -
New GaN UV Sensor is Highly Versatile
Hong Kong based, Orion Semiconductor, a leader in the design and manufacture of UV sensors and sensor modules, has unveiled the OS100 GaN UV sensor... more

- 04 September 2006 -
Cree Launches EZBright for Lighting Applications
Cree's new EZBright LED power chip are said to be twice the brightness of its current power chips. The EZBright1000 power chip is designed for general lighting applications, such as home and office lighting, auto headlamps, streetlights, and garage and warehouse low bay lighting, as well as consumer applications including flashlights, camera flash and projection displays... more

- 31 August 2006 -
GE Invests $100 Million to Grow its LED Lighting Business
The General Electric Company (GE) through its Consumer & Industrial business and the Nichia Corporation announced a strategic alliance agreement to support GELcore, LLC, based in Cleveland, Ohio. GELcore, formed in 1999, was previously a joint venture between GE and the Emcore Corporation of Somerset, NJ. GE purchased Emcore's 49% interest in the joint venture for $100 million, demonstrating its ongoing commitment to invest in LED technology and the future of lighting... more

- 31 August 2006 -
Strong sales mean SiGe Semiconductor completes $19.5m expansion round
SiGe Semiconductor has raised US $19.5m in an expansion round of financing. The investment will fund new product development from conception to launch, as well as the growth of operations in support of the company's expanding global customer base... more

- 30 August 2006 -
CDT UK DTI-Supported OLED project for flexible displays on track
Cambridge Display Technology (CDT) is underway with new collaborative work on a metal deposition project which is expected to be important in the field of flexible displays. This is one of a number of projects which CDT expects to be able to announce in the near future which together will make a major contribution to the development of flexible displays... more

- 29 August 2006 -
Cree XLamp LEDs Power New Grote Vehicle Interior Lights
Cree, Inc., announced that Grote Industries, a designer and manufacturer of vehicle safety systems, is building its new line of interior dome lights with white Cree XLamp power LEDs... more

- 22 August 2006 -
Jenoptik to develop diode laser stacks for space LIDAR
Jena-Optronik GmbH and JENOPTIK Laserdiode GmbH are to develop a pumping source for the laser which will be at the core of a new atmospheric LIDAR* (ATLID) system. The system is part of the European Space Agency's Earth observation program and will contribute toward a better understanding of the interaction between clouds, radiation, and aerosol processes... more

- 17 August 2006 -
Companies team to produce record breaking red phosphorescent OLEDs
At the International Society of Optical Engineering (SPIE) Optics and Photonics 2006 conference in San Diego, CA... more

- 16 August 2006 -
Avago Technologies smallest, most advanced 1.3Mp image sensor helps cellphone OEMs
Avago Technologies introduced the ADCC-3100, the first one-fifth inch optical format, 1.3-megapixel small form factor (SFF) CMOS image sensor with advanced image processing, including spot metering capabilities... more

- 20 July 2006 -
Tunability and single-frequency performance combined in new dfTune OEM laser
At this year’s OPTATEC exhibition in Frankfurt, TOPTICA Photonics presented its new OEM laser module dfTune... more

- 20 July 2006 -
Silicon-on-diamond device research award for sp3
Global provider of diamond-based solutions for electronics thermal management, sp3, a has been awarded a Phase II contract from the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) for the development of silicon-on-diamond (SOD) devices... more

- 20 July 2006 -
'Bulb Buster' for the KO Family of Power-LED Chips
Sunnyvale, CA, USA, based BridgeLux, Inc. (formerly eLite Optoelectronics), a supplier of energy saving, power-LED chips, introduced the KO family of LEDs, including the only 60-mil chip available in production volumes today... more

- 23 June 2006 -
Avago Technologies enters high-power LED market
The world's largest privately held semiconductor company, Avago Technologies, announced its first series of 1W, high-power LEDs in one of the thinnest packages available. This new LED offers brighter illumination, greater reliability than competing products and can be installed easily... more

- 22 June 2006 -
Comms opto component market to beat $6.6bn by 2011
A new report from Charlottesville, VA, based market research firm Communications Industry Researchers, Inc. (CIR) estimates that the market for optical components used in telecom and datacom networks will grow from $1.5bn this year to exceed $6.6bn in 2011... more

- 22 June 2006 -
Fibre to copper converter is cheap and simple
Mahwah, NJ, USA based RAD Data Communications has released a new ETX media converter which converts from fibre optic to copper media for Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet services... more

- 22 June 2006 -
Firecomms fibre optic transceiver drives new connector system
Firecomms Ltd. has announced that its RCLED-based 650nm Fast Ethernet fibre optic transceiver (FOT) is the light source used in the new Electronic Links International connector system for IEEE 802.3u Fast Ethernet communication links over plastic optical fibre (POF)... more

- 22 June 2006 -
Vishay transceivers target fast infrared
Amongst the new component offerings from Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. are new infrared transceivers with the fast infrared (FIR) 4Mbit/s data rate required by IrSimpleShot. The new Vishay TFDU6300 and TFDU6301 infrared transceivers support the IrDA high-speed IrSimpleShot protocol for beaming digital pictures directly from camera phones to TVs, printers, and other enabled camera phones... more

- 12 June 2006 -
Avago Technologies’ first colour controller with integrated RGB photosensor
Avago Technologies announced the industry’s first colour controller with an integrated color photosensor for backlighting LCDs for a variety of portable display devices... more

- 12 June 2006 -
Bookham unveils "ZoroLight" LED multiplexer module for LED-based projectors
Bookham, Inc. has launched an innovative new solution for LED multiplexing called "ZoroLight". The LED multiplexer module is designed to support next-generation rear projection television (RPTV) and pocket projectors that use LED illumination instead of conventional UHP Lamps... more

- 12 June 2006 -
Optilon advanced composite reflector improves LCDs
DuPont has launched DuPont Optilon Advanced Composite Reflector (ACR), a new product designed to significantly improve the performance of LCDs... more

- 12 June 2006 -
Philips Lumileds' LUXEON Flash beats Xenon for camera phones
Philips Lumileds Lighting Company has demonstrated LUXEON® Flash performance that exceeds any phone-based Xenon flash performance. With light output of 1.0 lux sec. at 3 m, compared to 0.67 lux sec. for a Xenon solution, LUXEON® Flash LED technology delivers the necessary light for high quality imaging... more

- 5 June 2006 -
World's first compact 10Gbps widely tunable transponder
Two companies based in Petah Tikva, Israel, ECI Telecom and Civcom, announced the world's first compact 10Gbps widely tunable transponder designed to bring significant cost and performance benefits to both metropolitan area and long haul ROADM networks... more

- 5 June 2006 -
Timothy Franey joins Quintessence Photonics
Quintessence Photonics Corporation, the subsidiary of QPC Lasers, Inc., manufacturer of high brightness, high power semiconductor lasers, announced that Timothy Franey has joined QPCI as Vice President of Manufacturing as of May 1, 2006... more

- 5 June 2006 -
Catalyst Semiconductor Delivers Simple, Small White LED Driver Optimized for High-Volume 3-LED Applications
Catalyst Semiconductor, Inc. further expanded its family of LED drivers with the CAT3603; a tiny, simple-to-use, high-efficiency fractional charge pump... more

- 25 May 2006 -
Zarlink bags Primarion Optical I/O Group
Zarlink Semiconductor is to augment its fibre optic modules capabilities with the addition of the optical I/O (in/out) business of Primarion, Inc., the Torrance, CA, USA, headquartered supplier of digital power conversion ICs... more

- 22 May 2006 -
AlN LEDs enter the deep UV zone
Workers at NTT Basic Research Laboratories have reported light emission at 210-nm wavelength from aluminum nitride (AlN) LEDs. They state that this is the shortest wavelength ever observed from any semiconductor, and confirms the long-held theoretical expectation that AlN could emit light in the deep ultraviolet (DUV) region (wavelengths from 200- to 300-nm)... more

- 17 May 2006 -
Quintessence Photonics acquired and becomes QPC Lasers
Sylmar, CA, USA, based Planning Force Inc. has changed its name to QPC Lasers, Inc. and acquired substantially all of the outstanding shares of Quintessence Photonics Corporation in a reverse merger transaction. At the closing of the transaction, the Company replaced its officers and directors with officers and directors of QPC. The Company has applied for a new OTCBB trading symbol and expects the new symbol to be issued in about 10 days... more

- 12 May 2006 -
JDSU demonstrates optically powered USB interface
JDSU announced that its Photonic Power Business Unit will be demonstrating an optically powered USB data link at the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) conference in Seattle... more

- 11 May 2006 -
Spire's Bandwidth Semiconductor to offer GaAs concentrator PV for terrestrial applications
Bedford, MA, USA, based Spire Corporation says that its wholly owned subsidiary Bandwidth Semiconductor LLC, is now offering custom GaAs concentrator solar cells for terrestrial applications... more

- 11 May 2006 -
Cree & Seoul Semiconductor forge LED supply agreements
In one of the biggest deals of its type this year, US-based GaN LED specialist Cree, Inc. proudly announced that it has signed a 5-year supply agreement with Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd., a strategic LED chip customer headquartered in South Korea... more

- 9 May 2006 -
Vitesse launches new products at Interop
At Interop in Las Vegas, Vitesse Semiconductor Corp., showcased products from its Ethernet, Networking and Storage groups, including the new E-StaX-34 switch-on-a chip product, the first 400 mW integrated Gigabit Ethernet PHY technology demonstration, the complete end-to-end NexSAS storage solution, and the latest in high-speed signal integrity and 10GbE transceiver solutions... more

- 8 May 2006 -
Cyberlux LEDs approved for defence
Cyberlux Corporation has gained approval from the US General Services Administration (GSA) for its advanced solid-state lighting systems under Federal Supply Schedule 56 for Specialty Lighting products... more

- 4 May 2006 -
True blue LEDs
Marktech Optoelectronics is now the UK distributor for the range of TSB 'true blue' LEDs from Cotco of Hong Kong... more

- 4 May 2006 -
Charge pump WLED drivers
California Micro Devices added a compelling and differentiated family of fractional charge pump WLED drivers to its PhotonIC family of white LED drivers for wireless handset applications... more

- 4 May 2006 -
World's first digital, near-UV camcorder
Oculus Photonics LLP Goleta, CA, USA, has introduced the world's first digital, near-ultraviolet (300-400nm) camcorder... more

- 4 May 2006 -
Avensys acquires ITF Optical
Montreal, Canada, based Avensys Inc., is to acquire assets of ITF Optical Technologies Inc. (ITF), Montreal, Québec based designer and manufacturer of advanced photonic solutions based on proprietary all-fibre technology... more

- 4 May 2006 -
DuPont materials promise OLED expansion
OLEDs are beginning to penetrate key applications in small displays such as cellphones and MP3 players. With a new technology, DuPont OLEDs can compete in a larger range of products... more

- 28 April 2006 -
Plastic transceiver conforms to Wake-on-LAN
Cork, Ireland based Firecomms has introduced a fully integrated RCLED-based 650nm fibre optic transceiver (FOT) and highly sensitive receiver FOT to conform fully to the IEEE 1394 and IDB-1394 Wake-on-LAN specification... more

- 26 April 2006 -
LED prototype achieves 15% of the power of standard 65 W incandescent lamp
Morrisville, NC, USA, based LED Lighting Fixtures, Inc. (LLF) proudly announced that an independent third-party's testing confirms that LLF's recessed luminaire has an efficacy of 73 lumens per watt. It describes this as "a staggering gain in efficacy of 35% over test results of its predecessor just two short months ago". This is important because it paves the way for wider acceptance of LED technology in the lighting market worth some $12 bn annually. LLF used LEDs supplied by Cree, Inc... more

- 26 April 2006 -
FTTH boom ahead?
Research and Markets's new work 'FTTX Concepts and Applications' says that companies such as Verizon, SBC, and Bell South plan to spend several billion dollars on new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) in the next few years and already have started the proposal process for that... more

- 20 April 2006 -
DARPA funds next-generation power lasers
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency - DARPA - has awarded Alfalight, Inc., the Madison, WI, USA, based manufacturer of high-power diode lasers, $4.7 m to develop the next generation diode laser . . . more

- 19 April 2006 -
Kodak licenses OLED technology to Univision Technology
Eastman Kodak Company, one of the pioneers in the area of organic LEDs (OLEDs), has formed a licensing agreement with Univision Technology of Taiwan. Univision plans to incorporate Kodak’s OLED technology in future generation flat panel passive-matrix displays. To date, more than 15 companies have licensed organic display technology from Kodak . . . more

- 18 April 2006 -
Compact InGaAs SWIR camera on show
Sensors Unlimited, Goodrich Corp., has launched a new shortwave infrared (SWIR) camera . . . more

- 13 April 2006 -
OptiLED broadens distribution via EECOL Electric of Canada
OptiLED, the global manufacturer of innovative LED lighting systems,
announced a partnership with EECOL Electric, a member of the
Independent Electrical Distributors Limited Partnership of Canada,
further expanding OptiLED's global reach into western Canada . . . more

- 11 April 2006 -
Industry-first read-only laser diode driver IC for HD-DVD/Blu-ray players
Atmel Corporation has announced its new ATR0885 laser diode driver IC
for use in combined HD-DVD/Blu-ray, DVD, CD players and PC CD-ROM
drives. HD-DVD and Blu-ray are new disc standards, which will offer
significantly more storage capacity than today's DVD standards. Since
the new ATR0885 is available in very small packages, it is
particularly suitable for small SLIM drives used in notebook
computers, as well as for half-height drives used in desktop PCs and
consumer DVD players. The ATR0885 is the industry's first available
product for such applications and enables outstanding
cost-effectiveness, an important factor for high-volume consumer
products . . . more

- 05 April 2006 -
LED news summary
OSRAM Opto Semiconductors was named a 2006 Automotive News PACE Award
winner at a gala ceremony in Detroit, MI last night. The prestigious
award recognizes automotive suppliers for superior innovation,
technological advancement and business performance. This is the first
PACE (Premier Automotive Suppliers' Contribution to Excellence) award
win for the solid-state lighting division of OSRAM Gmbh . . . more

- 04 April 2006 -
LED lighting giants share LED-related patents
Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd., and Lumileds Lighting International BV, have formed an agreement to allow the companies (including subsidiaries) to use each other's patents for specific technologies in Group III-V semiconductor LEDs, which include blue LEDs and red LEDs . . . more

- 03 April 2006 -
Unaxis Optics dichroic filters enhance LED lighting
Unaxis Optics, the manufacturer of thin film optical components, recently announced new dichroics filters/mirrors specifically optimized for LED applications. These LED ColorDichroics efficiently reflect and transmit random polarized light from individual high brightness power LED sources of different colours. Applications of LED ColorDichroics range from Projection Display illumination optics to various uses in solid state lighting and instrumentation . . . more

- 30 March 2006 -
Cyberlux LEDs selected for US Air Force security lighting system
Cyberlux Corporation says it has completed the contract requirements associated with the advanced solid-state LED security lighting system developed by Cyberlux for the US Air Force. Based on the demonstration results of the Portable Covert Illumination System, the Air Mobility Battlelab completed the project briefing with A7 Air Mobility Command senior leadership and successfully transitioned the Watchdog System from field trials to . . . more

- 29 March 2006 -
Opto news summary:
Highlight of the opto news in the past week has been the prospective marriage of two of the systems majors: Swedish telecoms equipment maker Ericsson is likely to make a counter-offer for Lucent, which has been approached by French telecoms equipment provider Alcatel. If it goes through, such a merger would create the world’s biggest telecoms equipment company having total sales of over £12.6 bn and 90,000 employees . . . more

- 28 March 2006 -
National Semiconductor drops inductors from white LED drivers
National Semiconductor Corp has introduced three new inductor-less white LED drivers for display backlighting in mobile phones, PDAs, portable gaming devices and MP3 media players. Having no external inductors, the LM27951, LM27952 and LM27964 significantly reduce the size of LED lighting solutions, while providing highly efficient switched-capacitor technology to extend battery life in portable devices . . . more

- 27 March 2006 -
Ovum says annual opto trend remains positive
According to newly-published market research, opto components sales grew 11% in 2005. This was down 1% for 4Q05 with JDSU remaining the market leader. However, Finisar is ahead on grounds of profitability amongst the publicly traded companies; reporting its second consecutive profitable quarter . . . more

- 27 March 2006 -
Vishay exceptionally small white LED suits power apps
Vishay Intertechnology Inc is addressing the rising demand for white surface-mount (SM) LEDs by releasing an exceptionally small and bright . . . more

- 24 March 2006 -
Violet lasers see success in print industry
The focus of media attention has been on the application of violet laser diodes to optical data storage. Considerable discussion is being aired as to the respective merits of these components for next-generation high-definition DVD - Blu-Ray versus HD, the matter has yet to be resolved . . . more

- 23 March 2006 -
OSRAM Opto Semiconductors' TOPLED targets variable message applications
OSRAM Opto Semiconductors Inc has added some enhancements to its Power TOPLED line of LEDs. In particular, the addition of OSRAM's advanced thin-film chip technology within these TOPLED packages now produces a new and significantly higher brightness. The company has also refined the offerings for its lensed Power TOPLED portfolio . . . more

- 20 March 2006 -
Barco optimises LED displays for US TV sports
Barco has launched its own sports perimeter LED solution optimized for
TV broadcast, the Barco SP-10 . . . more

- 15 March 2006 -
Advanced Photonix consolidates and relocates
Vertically integrated semiconductor manufacturer of optoelectronic solutions, high-speed optical receivers and Terahertz instrumentation, Advanced Photonix, Inc., has received final approvals for tax abatements from the City of Ann Arbor in connection with the consolidation of its semiconductor micro-fabrication operations and relocation of its corporate office to Ann Arbor, MI, USA . . . more

- 10 March 2006 -
Milestone 100 Gbit/s Ethernet-Over-Optical
In a paper presented to the Optical Fiber Communication Conference & Exposition (OFC), Bell Labs, R&D arm of Lucent Technologies, announced the first reported optical transport of electronically multiplexed 107 . . . more

- 9 March 2006 -
High brightness in industry-standard die attach from Cree
Cree, Inc., released its new EZBright LED chip platform which it describes as a major advance in LED chip technology. This is because they have Cree's highest brightness levels but in a new, easy-to-die attach chip. This means that for the first time Cree's brightest chips can be assembled into LED packages using industry-standard processes . . . more

- 7 March 2006 -
OFC-NFOEC News Update
3 Gbit/s BERT
Agilent Technologies Inc., announced a low-cost 3 Gbit/s BERT (Bit Error Ratio Tester) that enables transceiver manufacturing test at one-third the price of the existing N4906B BERT . . . more

- 6 March 2006 -
GPON triplexer family for FTTP
Emcore Corp has introduced its GPON triplexer product line designed specifically for FTTP applications. Conforming to G.984 ITU FSAN requirements, the triplexer will be on display at the OFC/NFOEC this week . . . more

- 6 March 2006 -
LED driver chips offer more in smaller packages
Allegro MicroSystems Inc., is amongst a growing cadre of chip companies releasing new devices for the LED driver sector. Its new charge pump white LED driver - the A8435 offers a white LED driver solution for portable electronics display applications . . . more

- 6 March 2006 -
Cost-effective XFP transceiver testing
At OFC/NFOEC 2006, Daito Test Services is demonstrating the first all integrated MSA optical transceiver test instrument, revolutionizing verification and manufacturing test processes of any type of XFP MSA transceiver . . . more

- 6 March 2006 -
Bookham acquires VCSEL specialist Avalon
Bookham Inc., is to acquire Avalon Photonics, the Zurich, Switzerland, based supplier of single-mode and multimode VCSEL chips. Avalon Photonics' VCSEL chips, arrays and subassemblies are used in the datacoms, sensing and measurement markets . . . more

- 5 March 2006 -
NEC InP Signal -Reshaping LSI enables 40 Gbit/s
At the Optical-communication Fiber Conference, NEC Corporation has developed a signal-reshaping LSI chip that it says facilitates a 40 Gbit/s fibre optic transmission system. It significantly enhances the quality and length of 40 Gbit/s based WDM long-haul transmission as compared with conventional systems, due to its ability to compensate for signal distortion resulting from fibre optic impairments, says NEC . . . more

- 3 March 2006 -
Photonics leaders in the spotlight at OFC/NFOEC
The next big show for the photonics industry is the OFC/NFOEC 2006* exhibition and conference which takes place from the 7th to the 9th of March at the Anaheim Convention Center, USA. As usual there were many news releases timed for the event - too many to cover individually so this summary intends to provide a taster of what will be on show next week. Web links are provided for additional information follow ups . . . more

- 3 March 2006 -
Aeluros to demonstrate integrated EDC/10G PHY at OFC/NFOEC
Aeluros, the supplier of low-power CMOS based 10G PHY solutions, announced its next generation 10GbE PHY/SerDes devices with integrated electronic dispersion compensation (EDC) capability . . . more

- 28 February 2006 -
Key win for LED phosphor technology
Adding to recent industry wins, phosphor experts, Intematix Corporation of Fremont, CA, USA, has demonstrated another key addition to its customer list by announcing that it will provide its industry-leading line of patent-backed phosphors to Taiwan's Kingbright Electronic Co. Ltd . . . more

- 27 February 2006 -
Nuclear Filter Technology awarded licenses for fibre optic hydrogen sensors
The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) announced that Nuclear Filter Technology (NucFil) has been awarded licenses to manufacture fibre optic hydrogen sensors . . . more

- 23 February 2006 -
Bookham to showcase new products at OFC/NFOEC
Bookham Inc promises to unveil widely expanded product portfolios, focusing on components for reconfigurable networks, tunability and pluggability, at next month's OFC/NFOEC show in Anaheim . . . more

- 23 February 2006 -
JDSU software enables networks carrying triple-play services
JDSU has released the latest versions of its industry-leading fiber characterization PC software analysis solutions: Optical FiberCable v4 and Optical FiberTrace v6 . . . more

- 22 February 2006 -
Marubun to represent Polatis in Japan
Polatis Inc has formed a distribution agreement with Marubun Corporation whereby Polatis' optical switches will be available to Marubun’s network of sales channels for the Japanese telecom market . . . more

- 21 February 2006 -
DARPA Program to develop 50% efficient PV for terrestrial
EMCORE Corporation signed a subcontract to participate in the Defense Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Very High Efficiency Solar Cell (VHSEC) program to more than double the efficiency of terrestrial solar cells within the next . . . more

- 20 February 2006 -
Goodrich gives army better night vision
At the Asian Aerospace 2006 Show in Singapore, Goodrich Corporation revealed that it has been awarded a contract from the US Army's RDECOM CERDEC Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate to design, develop and deliver an InGaAs technology for use in high-definition . . . more

- 19 February 2006 -
Fibre optics news update: Fujitsu, Avanex and others
Looking out across the telecom landscape there are many signs for encouragement. Many were looking forward to the New Year with fingers crossed. Thanks to Photonics West, not a few exciting new product launches have been filtering down and market watchers are predicting a better year ahead . . . more

- 17 February 2006 -
Cree hits record 350 mA for brightness and efficacy
Cree Inc announced general availability of the industry's highest efficacy white power LEDs at 350 mA. The white XLamp(R) 7090 power LED package achieves a typical efficacy of 47 lumens per watt at a drive current of 350 mA, and 57 lumens of typical light output . . . more

- 17 February 2006 -
NIST helps optimize light-emitting semiconductors
Physicists at JILA have demonstrated an ultrafast laser technique for "seeing" once-hidden electronic behaviour in semiconductors, which eventually could be useful in more predictable design of optoelectronic devices, including semiconductor lasers and white LEDs . . . more

- 16 February 2006 -
LED & OLED news round-up
Every week the LED’s pervasiveness increases. Portable electronics have become the biggest end-use market for LEDs and not only is this likely to continue but also further diversify. Today, displays are a billion dollar market for LEDs but that is not to say other portable applications are being neglected. One of the other segments with great potential is portable illumination, with many millions of flashlights sold already; filament light bulbs seem to be doomed if recent developments are factored in . . . more

- 15 February 2006 -
Spire to develop thermophotovoltaics
Bedford, MA, USA, based Spire Corporation has received a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant to develop a new type of thermophotovoltaic (TPV) power cell. The grant is from NASA's John Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, OH, USA; neither the size of the grant nor . . . more

- 14 February 2006 -
Avago Technologies photo sensor supports slimmer mobile phone designs
Avago Technologies' new lower height and shorter analog-output ambient light photo sensor, targets mobile, consumer, commercial and industrial products. The APDS-9003 sensor is supplied in a miniature six-pin ChipLED lead-free surface-mount package with dimensions of 1.6 mm x 1.5 mm x 0.55 mm . . . more

- 14 February 2006 -
DTI funds UK InP photonics programme
The Department of Trade and Industry in the UK has awarded funding to a collaborative project to develop advanced InP-based photonic materials and devices as part of its Technology Programme . . . more

- 03 February 2006 -
Finnish contract to develop high-power laser diode bars
Modulight has received a $1.8m contract from Finland's Tekes to develop high-power laser diode bars for solid-state pumping, to be delivered by the end of 2006 . . . more

- 03 February 2006 -
First XFP 10 Gb/s DWDM transceiver launched
Japan’s Fujitsu Ltd and Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd have jointly developed what they claim is the first commercial 10 Gb/s small form factor pluggable (XFP)-type optical transceiver for dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) . . . more

- 02 February 2006 -
Finisar launches DWDM SFP pluggable transceivers
Fibre-optic component and subsystem maker Finisar Corp has launched dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) small form factor pluggable (SFP) transceivers . . . more

- 25 January 2006 -
OCP to close long-wavelength VCSEL plant
Optical Communication Products Inc is to close its facility in Broomfield, CO, USA, which makes dilute nitride-based long-wavelength vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) . . . more

- 24 January 2006 -
Record 22 W cw output for 975nm laser
Alfalight has achieved a record continuous wave output power of 22 W from a 975nm wavelength single-stripe multimode diode laser operating at 25ºC, 47% up on the previous record . . . more

- 16 January 2006 -
Emcore acquires K2 Optronics for $4.8 million
Component and subsystem manufacturer Emcore has acquired the remaining stake of K2 Optronics Inc for $4.8 million . . . more

- 16 January 2006 -
Cree's XLamp LEDs chosen by lighting designer for Winter Olympics
Lighting designer and manufacturer Space Cannon is buying $5.4 million worth of Cree's XLamp power LEDs, to be used for all its future solid-state lighting installations, including February’s Winter Olympics in Turin . . . more

- 12 January 2006 -
Avanex cuts revenue guidance
Optical component manufacturer Avanex Corp of Fremont, CA, USA expects net revenue of $35-37m for its fiscal Q2/2006 (to end-December 2005), well below previous guidance of $41-45m . . . more

- 11 January 2006 -
AOI adds new R&D centre
Applied Optoelectronics Inc, which makes lasers, photodetectors, and modules for fibre-optic communications, has appointed Chien-Yu Kuo as senior vice president to lead its new R&D team in the San Jose, CA area . . . more

- 6 January 2006 -
Civcom launches 10 Gb/s tunable transponder
Civcom of Petah-Tivka, Israel has launched the Free-Light Compact high-performance, long-reach 10 Gb/s tunable transponder for dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) applications.. . . more

- 6 January 2006 -
Firecomms opens North America and Asia offices
Firecomms Ltd of Cork, Ireland, which develops high-speed visible lasers and LEDs for optical data communications for small area networks, has opened new regional offices in the US and Japan. . . more

- 4 January 2006 -
Fairchild sells LED lines to Taiwan's Everlight; retains optocoupler and IR lines
Fairchild Semiconductor of South Portland, Maine, USA has sold its LED and LED display product lines to Everlight International Corp., a US subsidiary of Everlight Electronics Co. Ltd., of Taipei, Taiwan, which is already a foundry manufacturer of LED products for Fairchild. However, Fairchild is retaining its optocoupler and infrared product lines. . . more

- 22 December 2005 -
CIP launches reflective SOA for WDM passive optical networks
The Centre for Integrated Photonics (CIP), based at Martlesham Heath, Ipswich, UK, has developed a monolithic InP-based reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) offering highly optimized performance for wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) passive optical network (PON) applications . . . more

- 22 December 2005 -
Cyrium gains $3 million in funding for quantum dot-based PVs
Ottawa-based Cyrium Technologies Inc., a developer of GaAs quantum dot-based high-efficiency photovoltaic solar cells for the space and terrestrial markets, has closed a $3 million round of financing. Pangaea Ventures Fund LP led the financing and was joined by existing investors Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) Venture Capital and Chrysalix Energy II US Limited Partnership . . . more

- 29 November 2005 -
Hybrid silicon-InAlGaAs evanescent laser developed at UCSB
Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara have developed a novel laser by bonding InAlGaAs-based optical gain layers directly to a silicon laser cavity (H. Park et al, Opt. Express 13 (23), 9460-9464 (2005)). The hybrid laser offers an alternative to silicon Raman lasers and is an order of magnitude shorter. The laser is optically pumped, operates in continuous-wave mode, and only needs 30mW of input pump power . . . more

- 29 November 2005 -
Flash LED for digital camera auto-focusing in low light up to 3 metres
Agilent Technologies has introduced a high-brightness light-emitting diode (LED) designed to provide the illumination required to operate the automatic focus function of a digital still camera under low-light conditions, and at a range up to 3m. Agilent claims that the ASMT-FJ10 is the brightest auto-focus LED on the market (light output is typically 18 candela at 20mA) and has the industry's smallest package footprint (4.80mm x 4.80mm) . . . more

- 22 November 2005 -
Osram licenses white LED technology to Lednium
Germany’s Osram GmbH has licensed white LED technology developed by its Osram Opto Semiconductors subsidiary to Lednium of Melbourne, Australia (a subsidiary of Avatar Industries Ltd) for use in its Lednium series of LED lamp products, which include three-dimensional multi-chip geodesic dome-shaped LED lamps . . . more

- 22 November 2005 -
Kopin's Chinese LED chip joint venture ready for mass production
Kopin Corp of Taunton, Massachusetts has officially opened the new campus of its China-based joint venture KoBrite Corp, which will mass produce gallium nitride-based blue-spectrum light-emitting diode chips . . . more

- 14 November 2005 -
Lumileds asserts patents against UEC and Epistar
Lumileds Lighting U.S., LLC of San Jose, CA, USA has initiated litigation for patent infringement against Epistar Corporation and United Epitaxy Co., Ltc. . . . more

- 14 November 2005 -
SDK launches GaN-based near-ultraviolet and green LED chips
At the Inchem Tokyo 2005 international exhibition at Tokyo Big Sight on November 15-18, Showa Denko K.K. is launching its proprietary gallium nitride-based near-ultraviolet and green light-emitting diode (LED) chips for use in general white lighting and backlighting of large LCD . . . more

- 3 November 2005 -
Laser-based item monitoring system award
Of three technologies developed at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Laser-Based Item Monitoring System has received an Excellence in Technology Transfer Award from the Southeast Region of the Federal Laboratory consortium...more

- 2 November 2005-
AOI puts fibre into home optical components
Applied Optoelectronics Inc is introducing optical modules for Passive Optical Networks (PONs). It is offering bi-directional and tri-port optical blocks for Gigabit-PON (G-PON) and Ethernet PON (E-PON) applications...more

- 28 October 2005 -
GaN lightens fuel cell technology
GaN crystals studied for such uses as light sources for future DVD devices is part of a research project of the Japan Science and Technology Agency...more

- 27 October 2005 -
Silicon and germanium modulator
Research published by engineers at Stanford University in California details a newly invented silicon chip component that solves a major difficulty in using light instead of electricity to carry data among chips in electronic devices...more

- 27 October 2005 -
Alfalight aims for 80% conversion efficiency
Alfalight Inc of Madison, Wisconsin, has been awarded $1.4m in funding for Phase II of the Super High Efficiency Diode Sources (SHEDS) program, sponsored by DARPA...more

- 25 October 2005 -
Lightweight visible and IR lighting system
Cyberlux Corporation has been selected to provide an advanced solid-state LED security lighting system for the US Air Force, Air Mobility Battlelab...more

- 24 October 2005 -
OIDA roadmap for InP foundry model
The US Optoelectroinics Industry Development executive director D Michael Lebby shared the roadmaps developed by the OIDA with peers from the International Coalition of Optoelectronic Industry Associations...more

- 24 October 2005 -
BOET distributed and service JPSA in China
Beijing Opto-Electronics Technology Co. Ltd. (BOET). has entered into a partnership agrement with J P Sercel Associates (JPSA) whereby BOET will sell and service JPSA laser systems in China...more

- 22 October 2005 -
Two processes for QD fabriatieon patented
Univrsity of Buffalo's Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics have filed a patent on the methods used to produce quantum dots for bioimaging and photovoltaic applications...more

- 21 October 2005 -
Combo white LED driver minimises board space
Linear Technology has the LT3466-1 dual step-up DC/DC converter: a white LED driver and a boost converter in a low profile 3mm x 3mm DFN package. The LED driver channel can drive up to 10 white LEDs from a single cell Li-Ion input at up to 83% efficiency...more

- 21 October 2005 -
Nano CdSe and CdTe for solar cells
Researchers with Berkeley Lab and the University of California, Berkeley, have developed the first ultra-thin solar cells comprised entirely of inorganic nanocrystals and spin-cast from solution...more

- 21 October 2005 -
Evident Technologies expands for QD demand
Evident Technologies has added a top sales executive and expanded both its own sales force and its global distribution network...more

- 21 October 2005 -
Lehigh University grows optical facilities.
Lehigh University's Center for Optical Technologies has added a three-story facility housing a high-tech manufacturing space where students and faculty will produce devices such as lasers...more

- 18 October 2005 -
Aculight's mid-IR laser award
The developer of innovative laser technologies, has been awarded a new contract under the SBIR program. The $200,000 Phase I award from the National Institutes of Health is funding a joint effort with Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN) to develop a compact, low-cost, optical neural stimulator....more

- 17 October 2005 -
TFT LCD makers drive and evade indium shortage
III-Vs Review predicted indium shortages and price rises at the start of 2005 and again in June. Now it appears that the TFT LCD panel makers aggressively ramping capacity, means ITO (indium-tin-oxide), a key component for colour filters is expected to be in short supply by 2007...more

- 17 October 2005 -
Kit offers failure analysis and micromachining for laser-cutting systems
New Wave Research has introduced StageLaze, an accessory kit for the QuikLaze laser-cutting product family...more

- 14 October 2005 -
IR wavelength key to slower skin ageing
Research at the UK University of Sunderland looks be leading to a major breakthrough in the multi-billion pound anti-ageing industry. They found that a certain IR wavelength kept white blood cells alive in adverse environmental conditions and protects against UV...more

- 14 October 2005 -
Dimmable LEDs light up kitchens
Permlight Products Inc has begun shipping its Enbryten Under ENBU series of dimmable LED under-cabinet lighting fixtures for residential applications...more

-13 October 2005 -
On night vision, IR, costs and production
Shephard's two day Night Vision conference USA had a keynote address by Ed Bair, PEO Intel, EW and Sensors for the US Army, who enthused over night vision but said doubt existed whether ‘performance’ and acceptable ‘cost’ could be kept in line much longer...more

- 13 October 2005 -
Fox Group shifts CTO and CEO places
The Fox Group Inc has made a transition from technology development to the sales of its product successfully. Since this focused phase of development is effectively over, Heikki Helava has resigned as CEO and moved to CTO...more

-10 October 2005 -
THz PORTRAIT gets £2m development
University of Essex researchers have been awarded almost £1.2m in a programme in collaboration with academics from University College London, the Universities of Bath and Leeds, and the Centre for Integrated Photonics Ltd in Ipswich. to develop portable, handheld THz radiation detectors ...more

- 10 October 2005 -
Single photon detection teams with avalanche photodiodes
Princeton Lightwave has licensed IBM’s single-photon detection (SPD) technology. An SPD is the keyl component of quantum cryptography systems, which enables extremely secure communications...more

- 10 October 2005 -
Silicones for LEDs
In his paper, "Silicone Materials for LED Packaging," Dow Corning's Maneesh Bahadur presents new data on the photothermal, mechanical and application properties of silicones and discuss new developments ...more

- 4 October 2005 -
Laser Optics wins business for InSb components
The Laser Optics business unit of Photonic Products Group Inc has recently expanded its production capacity for sets of waveband optical components used in state-of-the art, imaging system assemblies produced by Raytheon...more

- Oct 4 2005 -
US-Spanish study reappraises structure of cubic GaN
Newly published research from Ohio and Barcelona University published in the Sept. ...more

- 4 October 2005 -
Shin-Etsu licenses SiGen NanoTec for opto substrates
Silicon Genesis Corporation (SiGen) has entered into a broad
intellectual property license agreement with Shin-Etsu Chemical Co.,
Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan ...more

- 30 September 2005 -
High Tech Optics escapes from Thales
Thales High Tech Optics (HTO) activities in the UK, US, Singapore, Germany and Hungary have been acquired by Candover for a total E220m ( $264.4m), payable in cash...more

- 30 September 2005 -
Sensors Unlimited looks to $4.5m contract
Sensors Unlimited Inc has been awarded a contract by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, to develop a 1280x1024 pixel, dual-wavelength, visible and shortwave infrared focal plane array....more

- 30 September 2005 -
Laser-based corded and gaming mice
Based on Agilent's patented LaserStream technology two reference designs are being offered: one for high-end corded mice and one for high-performance gaming mice...more

- 29 September 2005 -
Proprietary single crystal UV filter business
The INRAD business unit Photonic Products Group Inc. has been awarded a series of follow-on production contracts from ATK Missile Systems' Clearwater, FL facility for over 5500 of two types of UV waveband optical filter elements...more

- 28 September 2005 -
Netherlands' Nuon Solar leading in World Solar challenge
In the 1,870-mile World Solar Challenge race down Australia, "Nuna 3," was just short of 300 miles from Adelaide. Australia's Aurora Vehicle Association about 100 miles behind, followed by U. of Michigan's "Momentum" and Ashiya U. of Japan's "Sky Ace Tiga"...more

- 28 September 2005 -
Vishay's new GaAs IR phototriac
Vishay Intertechnology, Inc.is offering the VO3062 and VO3063, two new zero crossing 1.5-kV/s dV/dt phototriacs designed to isolate low-voltage logic from
ac voltages up to 380V...more

- 26 September 2005 -
Fluorescent LIF detection for LPA
Agilent US and Picometrics SA France have a nonexclusive co-marketing agreement for Picometrics' Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) detection systems with Agilent's Capillary Electrophoresis system...more

26 September 2005
Infineon's VCSELs are now Alight
Alight Technologiess has reached a definitive agreement with Infineon to acquire Infineon's 1300nm GaInNAs VCSEL platform including manufacturing equipment and IPR rights, as well as 1300-nm wafers....more

- 26 September 2005 -
Improved performance, cuts maintenance
The MRC Optics subsidiary of the Photonic Products Group Inc was awarded a contract for precision optical components from Lockheed Martin Electronics and Missiles Control divison for its Lot II production of the Arrowhead Electro-Optical System...more

- 25 September 2005 -
Three laser diodes for ranging applications
Opnext Inc, an Hitachi spin-off, has developed three new laser diodes for information and industrial applications...more

- 25 September 2005 -
Room temperature LET from InGaP/GaAs and QW
Illinois professors Milton Feng, Nick Holonyak and colleagues have developed and run a new laser-emitting transistor at room temperature which could radically change microchip technology and its capabilities in the market...more

- 26 September 2005 -
MONA to join up photonics and nanotech
The European Commisision's goal is to leverage synergies in photonics and nanotechnologies, to increase the impact and efficiency of investment on EU R&D...more

-26 September 2005 -
Olsen researches MOP, LBPE & Sample in space
A science agreement with the European Space Agency for a research program is to be performed with Dr Greg Olsent as a test subject for three experiments of ESA’s onboard research program...more

- 23 September 2005 -
SiC at heart of super lens
Physicists at the University of Texas in Austin ha