Technical Insight
Intense Photonics wins grant for optical switch (Fiber News)
Intense Photonics (Glasgow, Scotland) has been awarded a $630 000 grant from the Scottish Executive to develop an optoelectronic packet switch. The device will integrate all of the components required for the routing of information packets on one monolithic chip. Intense sees this as the foundation for a new generation of optical network peripherals that will deliver very high bandwidth as and when organizations require it. The project, expected to last 18 months, will use Intense Photonics quantum well intermixing technology to monolithically integrate all the required devices onto one chip (see p63 for more details). These include lasers drivers and modulators, photodetectors, waveguides, multiplexers and demultiplexers. The resulting device will be one of the most highly integrated optical components ever made. "This is an ambitious project which will enable the world s telecommunications equipment makers to start building all-optical communication systems for mass markets," said Jim Ashe, VP of sales and marketing.
