Technical Insight
Tunable laser revenues set to exceed $1 billion (Market News)
Tunable laser revenues set to exceed $1 billion A new report from KMI and Sirraya estimates that the tunable laser market will grow rapidly and will soon surpass $1 billion in annual revenues. The main application for tunable lasers is currently for inventory management and sparing. As the wavelength is not fixed, network operators can save large amounts on inventory, especially as optical networks approach 160 channels, sometimes requiring 20 backup lasers per channel. New applications are also emerging as networks evolve, and tunable lasers are expected to enable bandwidth-on-demand, optical cross-connects, wavelength routing and next-generation metro networking. The report identifies 26 manufacturers in various stages of developing or offering tunable lasers. These devices are grouped into monolithic cavity edge-emitting lasers, external cavity diode lasers and vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). The edge-emitter category includes FabryPerot, distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) and distributed feedback (DFB) device designs, and incorporates the integration of device elements such as arrays of DFB cavities or new schemes for integrating DBRs. The advantages of this approach include stability, reproducibility and potential cost efficiencies. Thirteen companies have developed such emitters, including ADC, Agere, Agility, Alcatel, ExceLight, Fujitsu, JDSU, Marconi, Multiplex, NEC, NEL, Nortel and Santor. External cavity lasers (ECLs) employ a simple FabryPerot laser in combination with an external reflector or grating to provide feedback (see Compound Semiconductor April 2001, p24). This type of laser holds promise as an optical communications solution if the cost advantages, as well as the robustness and reliability, can be developed further. ECDL manufacturers include Blue Sky Research, iolon and New Focus. VCSELs have the advantage that the tuning cavity is short and can employ a Fabry Perot design, which results in a lower-cost device. Bandwidth9, Novalux and Princeton Optronics all have VCSELs for the 1550 nm region in various stages of development. "Tunable Lasers for Optical Communications: Technology, Products, and Applications" is available from KMI Corp see www.kmicorp.com.
