JEC Launches and Explains "Nikko Materials"April 4, 2001...As part of an internal shift and strategy by its parent company, Japan Energy
Corporation, what was known as NIMTEC Inc. has become Nikko
Materials. The change represents a reshuffling of similar operating companies
within JEC which, in addition to NIMTEC, includes subsidiaries NIMTEC GmbH in
Europe, Japan Energy Pte Ltd. in Singapore, and Japan Energy (Taiwan) Co. which
are now united under the Nikko Materials name. “Changing our name to Nikko
Materials harmonizes all of the names of our fellow subsidiary companies worldwide,”
said Robert H. Combs, President and CEO of Nikko Materials. The word “Nikko”
is a contraction of the Japanese words “Nippon” (meaning Japan) and the word
“ko” (meaning mining). In addition to producing sputtering targets for the manufacture
of semiconductors, data storage devices and optical films, Nikko Materials offers
InP and CdTe wafers used for compound semiconductor and IR sensor applications.
Nikko's parent, the Japan Energy group, consists of 210 subsidiaries and 92
affiliates. The company was founded as Nippon Mining in 1905 and has been a
pioneer in the field of materials technology, especially high purity metal products,
throughout the past century.
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Mitel and Agilent Push for 10Gbaud 4 Channel Module StandardsApril 4, 2001...Building on what they set out to do in February, when a 12-channel MSA was
announced to push for new fiberoptic module standards, Mitel
Corporation (NYSE: MLT) and Agilent Technologies
Inc. (NYSE: A) have announced the signing of a new Multi-Source Agreement
(MSA) that the principals say will set a standard for next-gen 4-channel parallel
fiberoptic modules, operating at data rates up to 10 Gbaud. The standardized
package and optical and electrical interfaces for their respective modules is
geared to ensure that customers will have access to multiple international sources
that are compatible with other components within their systems. Both companies
expect to offer their respective modules this year, which are designed for a
variety of fiberoptic communications applications. The parallel optic module
features four transmit and four receive channels in one package, each operating
at 1 Gbaud to 2.5 Gbaud, for an aggregate bandwidth of 4 Gbaud to 10 Gbaud in
each direction. The module is designed to meet next gen systems, including very
short reach OC-192 and InfiniBand connections. The new modules can support transmission
requirements of 10 Gbaud while utilizing less than one inch of board space and
the transceiver is compatible with an industry-standard MTP/MPO-terminated parallel
fiber optic interconnect. Product design, development, manufacturing, marketing
and distribution of the parallel fiber optic modules will take place independently.
To obtain a copy of the multi-source specification and for more information
on parallel optics, visit either Agilent's
specific site location or Mitel's.
April 3, 2001...With the combined clout of Ireland entrepreneur Mike Peirce and NMRC
(Ireland's National Infomatics and Communication Technologies (ICT) Research
Centre in Cork), a new
startup called FireComms Ltd. has
been launched
to exploit NMRC's RCLEDs (Resonant Cavity LEDs) and VCSELs (Vertical Cavity
Surface Emitting Lasers). NMRC has made the launching of startup companies a
prime mission. NMRC director, Professor Gabriel Crean, underscored that the establishment
of FireComms, with what the Institute regards as one having "significant
Intellectual Property dimensions and a strong valuation from the very start,"
was precisely the type development NMRC envisioned. "We have a strategic
ICT research agenda from optoelectronics to microsystems and nanosciences. Research
and commercial success are inextricably linked in ICT and we are
committed to encouraging strong startups which will have the resources to become
large indigenous companies." Professor Crean will serve as Chairman of
FireComms. Joining him on the new board of directors will be Mike Peirce who is also Chairman of Parthus and founder and CEO of Mentec. Other equity investors will be announced shortly.
Relevant
details regarding NMRC's integrated research strategy in the fields especially
relevant to FireComms' charter, and to the compound semi industry as a whole,
can be found on NMRC's website, specifically under the Photonics
Research Group section.
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Princeton Lightwave Reports 1w InP Performance for 1400 ApplicationsApril 4, 2001...Thanks to Princeton Lightwave's
recently reported 1-watt
performance for an InP optical amplifier, we'll likely see more applications
opening in the 1400nm wavelength range. PLI claims to be the first company to
announce that it has reached the 1-watt power level from a single narrow-stripe
1480-14xx pump laser chip. The 1-watt achievement is credited to an advanced
structure developed by PLI's engineering research team under the direction of
Dr. Dmitri Garbuzov. PLI's WavePower product family of pumps are sampling in
the 1350 nm-1510 nm wavelength range for Raman amplification in the S, C, and
L bands, and are sampling in the 1460 nm-1490 nm wavelength range for erbium-doped
fiber amplifiers (EDFAs). PLI is slated to begin high volume production of their
InP-based platform in Q-4 of 2001. The products will be offered in chip-on-carrier
as well as modules in a standard 14-pin butterfly package. Additional options
include FBG stabilization, isolation, and polarization-maintaining fiber. Details Disclosed On Agility's C-band 10mw InP Tunable LaserApril 4, 2001...Following alpha testing at Agility's InP
manufacturing facility in Santa Barbara, California., Agility co-founder and
Chief Development Engineer has detailed data and results about the company's
high-power, monolithic, 10-mW
widely-tunable laser which was formally introduced March 19th at OFC. Packaged
as a truly monolithic part on Agility's manufacturing line, the company claims
this is the first such prototype of its kind that can deliver substantial power
and rapidly tune to more than 90 ITU (International Telecommunications Union)
channels from a single chip. According to the company's report, the new chip
serves as a robust, economical platform that proves easy to manufacture because
it has no moving parts. An alternative production technique to attain this level
of high power in tunable lasers involves combining multiple chips and complicated
optical packaging, a process Agility states is comparatively difficult and expensive
to automate. SiGe Coming Soon to a Startup or University Near YouApril 4, 2001...IBM intends to open access to their Silicon Germanium (SiGe) technology, according
to a background-rich article by EE Times' Margaret Quan titled "IBM
Broadens Access to SiGe Technology." For those unfamiliar with the
roots of SiGe development (despite the fact that it has "silicon"
in its name, it, like SiC has two elements, therefore it is regarded as a compound
semiconductor technology), it really did all begin at IBM and credit goes to
a rare technology champion at IBM named Bernie Myerson, who is now Vice President
of the Communications Research and Development Center at IBM Microelectronics.
Bernie has commented publicly on the open access news that the university program
is building "a deep pipeline" of people with the skill to work with SiGe. He
called IBM's approach of opening the doors to its SiGe technology "a fairly
radical" one and noted that IBM has had SiGe pretty much to itself for a decade
now. The startups and academics using IBM's SiGe are slated to work with Mosis,
a Marina del Rey, California-based prototyping and production service, which
is affiliated with the University of Southern California. Mosis will do the
integration of chip designs from different designers onto a single mask set
and Mosis will then arrange for the subsequent prototype production at IBM Microelectronics'
fab in Burlington, Vermont. Our news features are reported
by the CompoundSemi News staff writers.
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