ADC consolidates tunable laser operations
ADC took on the Swedish facility when it bought tunable laser start-up Altitun in May 2000 and only recently completed the commissioning of the site. The Jarfalla facility was equipped to handle all of the production processes including InGaAsP/InP epitaxy through to packaging and testing for ADC s Anywave tunable laser products.
The move looks like further evidence that the low demand for tunable sources is expected to continue for some time yet. In June this year, Bandwidth9, a manufacturer of VCSEL-based tunable source modules, made a 45% reduction to its workforce in response to weak demand. However, the company’s business plan is still on track and its new G2 MetroFlex transmitter will still be sampled to customers this year.
“The impact [of the workforce reduction] to our product strategy is zero,” Jake Weise, Bandwidth9’s VP of marketing, told Compound Semiconductor magazine. “Customers for our V5 series are still receiving their units as planned and some of those customers have elected to migrate to the new G2 MetroFlex module.”
The G2, launched at OFC in March this year, uses the same VCSELs as the V5 series, but also has a wavelength locker integrated into the butterfly package. Customers for the G2 will also have the option of an SOA gain element to give output powers of up to 1 mA.
