Zia moves quantum dot lasers towards commercialization
The company says the first milestone was the manufacture of a 1310 nm DFB laser on a GaAs substrate, which allows for a lower cost manufacturing model compared to devices based on InP substrates. The output power is 5 times more stable compared to traditional uncooled QW lasers over typical operating temperature ranges.
In addition, Zia has produced a 1310 nm monolithic laser structure with operating wavelengths from 1277-1333 nm, which is suitable for CWDM Ethernet applications. Finally, the company has developed a 1550 nm tunable gain chip that allows S, C and L-band tuning with a maximum output power of 40 mW.
"We achieved these milestones sooner and with better results than we had ever anticipated," said Luke Lester, CTO and founder of Zia Laser. "These results are very encouraging and validate our efforts in moving quantum dot technology from the research lab to commercial viability."
"Accomplishing these milestones was crucial in demonstrating the validity of QD laser technology. This is further reinforced with an aggregate 23,500 hours of testing and reliability data on these devices, allowing us to deliver samples by April," added Sohale Mufti, chief of marketing and sales. "Zia has great potential with this technology with quantum dot lasers that are highly temperature insensitive, feature an extremely broad gain spectrum and ultra-narrow linewidth."
"Systems and components suppliers are looking for solutions that offer both higher performance and lower cost, at the same time," said Tom Hausken, director Optical Communications Components at Strategies Unlimited. "Zia Laser with its quantum dot technology has the potential to make this a reality."
"Based on my experience with the commercialization of VCSELs, the Quantum Dot device has a more profound systems level impact," said Thomas Brennan, president and CEO. "Module vendors will be able to replace their current QW lasers with QD lasers that have better performance before needing to add external modulation, cooling or isolation."
Zia Laser, Inc.
Chris Wiggins
Tel: +1 505 243-3070, ext. 24
Fax: +1 505 243 3071
E-mail: cwiggins@zialaser.com
Web site: http://www.zialaser.com
