Open Competition - Electronics/Computer Hardware/Communications (October 2000)

Integrated High Gain Glass Fiber Amplifiers and Hybrid Mono-phase Organic-Inorganic Glass-on-Si Photonic Components

Sponsor: NP Photonics, Inc. (formerly NP Photonic Technologies, LLC)

• Project Performance Period: 11/1/2000 - 10/31/2003
• Total project (est.): $3,346,195.00
• Requested ATP funds: $1,998,467.00

Fiber-optic technologies have improved markedly in recent decades, but certain key components remain expensive and inefficient, hindering the expansion of fiber-optic telecommunication networks. One of these components is the optical splitter, which splits the light traveling along a single transmission line into several new lines so that the signal can be distributed to customers. Splitting the light results in a large loss of light intensity and signal quality. A typical splitter divides the light from a single optical fiber into 16 new lines, losing 94 percent of the light intensity in the process. To counteract this loss, the network must use expensive optical-power boosting amplifiers. The global fiber-optic cable and component market now estimated at $15 billion is expected to reach an astounding $738 billion by 2025. The development of low-cost splitters and amplifiers that could be manufactured with the same kind of efficiency seen in the processing of semiconductor chips would dramatically improve U.S. industry's competitiveness in this huge market. NP Photonics, Inc., proposes to develop an innovative "amplifying splitter" in which a splitter chip and an amplifier chip are integrated together. In the splitter chip, the channels are formed onto the surface of a silicon chip using standard lithography. The amplifying chip consists of arrays of short length fiber amplifiers with high gain. The company estimates that the new "amplifying splitter" could be manufactured for a very low price. The new component will be made possible through the development of a technology for merging glass with plastic polymers. The new hybrid material will retain the high-quality optical performance of glass, while at the same time possessing the polymer's ability to be formed into precise patterns using inexpensive photolithography. A small company, NP Photonics, Inc., was unable to secure funding from private sources for this high-risk project and would not have been able to tackle the ambitious research and development project without the ATP's support, losing two to five years of competitive market position for the proposed technology.

For project information:

Seppo Honkanen, (520) 799-7402
honkanen@np-photonic.com

ATP Project Manager

Michael Schen, (301) 975-6741
michael.schen@nist.gov