Source/Type: CompoundSemi Online -- Compound Semiconductor Supply Chain News - Reported News

BeamExpress Secures $1.3 Million in First Round of Investment
Author: CompoundSemi News Staff

April 23, 2008... BeamExpress SA, a laser technology company based in Lausanne, Switzerland reports having secured a first round investment of $1.3M with I-Source (France). BeamExpress says that the investment proceeds will be used to expand the team and move from prototype to series production. Jean-Claude Charlier and Prof. Eli Kapon launched BeamExpress SA as a Spin-off of BeamExpress Inc. when it was sold to NeoPhotonics Inc. in 2006. At that time, the vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) technology was transfered to the newly formed company headquartered in Lausanne.

In cooperation with EPFL, the Swiss Institute of Technology in Lausanne, BeamExpress SA designs and manufactures high-speed long-wavelength lasers with extremely low power consumption. These lasers are used for next generation high-speed computing and communication applications. The company notes that the market is changing with the rapid adoption of silicon photonics, which now require light sources emitting in the long-wavelength range (1200nm up to 1600nm). BeamExpress’ VCSEL technology is reportedly ideal for these applications.

“The secret of our VCSEL high performance, lies in our “Localized wafer fusion” technology which makes possible the use of InP- and GaAs-based materials giving high power, single mode laser beam with narrow line width," commented Professor Eli Kapon, Co-founder and Chief Scientist of BeamExpress and Director of the Laboratory of Physics of Nanostructures. Beam Express SA News Release

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