University of Michigan licenses fiber to Arbor
Arbor Photonics signed an exclusive license agreement for chirally coupled core optical fiber with the University of Michigan (both in Ann Arbor, MI). The agreement grants Arbor Photonics rights to commercialize the fiber and devices enabled by the design for lasers, optical amplifiers, and laser-beam delivery. The chirally coupled core concept, dubbed CCC or 3C fiber, utilizes an internal structure to produce single-spatial-mode output from very large-mode-area fibers, and was invented by Almantas Galvanauskas at the University of Michigan Center for Ultrafast Optical Science. The technology will be used by Arbor Photonics to produce high-power, short-pulse, single-mode fiber lasers for microelectronics, solar-cell manufacturing, and defense.
ESA qualifies Gooch & Housego fiber modules
Gooch & Housego announced a supply deal with Swiss space equipment supplier, Oerlikon Space, for its Modular Fiber Optic Assembly (MFOA). Oerlikon Space will use the MFOA as part of its work with the European Space Agency (ESA) on its Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission.
The MFOA will specifically be used in the first-ever polar-orbiting, space-borne 2-D interferometric radiometer. The MFOA, ideal for this application due to the carefully controlled optical path lengths of fiber, has undergone vigorous testing to qualify for use in this space application. “We have been working closely with Oerlikon (formerly Contraves Space) on the MFOA for over five years, so this deployment is a significant achievement,” said Gareth Jones, Gooch & Housego CEO. “We are seeing increasing demand for our products in critical applications that require components and assemblies of the highest reliability, particularly in the aerospace and defense sector.”
Acquisition strengthens Ethernet offering
LG-Nortel (Seoul, Korea), a joint venture of LG Electronics and Nortel established in 2005 that provides telecommunications equipment and network solutions, closed the acquisition of Novera Optics (Santa Clara, CA), a developer of fiber-optic access solutions that extend high-speed carrier Ethernet services from optical core networks to customer premises. Current access technologies have proved inadequate for carriers around the world that still face challenges delivering fiber-to-the-node and fiber-to-the-home (FTTx) services to residential and business customers. Novera‘s wavelength-division-multiplexing passive optical network (WDM-PON) technology addresses these challenges by boosting customer bandwidth and simplifying delivery of high-speed optical communications services.
Northrop Grumman wins fiber-gyro contract
Optoelectronic systems provider Northrop Grumman won a contract to supply high-accuracy inertial navigation systems (INS) for four new Buques de Accion Maritima (Maritime Action Ships) being built for the Spanish navy at the Navantia shipyard in Ferrol, northwest Spain. The contract, valued at more than $1.5 million, was awarded by Navantia to Northrop Grumman‘s Sperry Marine business unit. Installation, commissioning, and trials will be overseen by Sperry Marine‘s sales and service representative in Spain. Each of the ships will be fitted with one MK 39 Mod 3A ring-laser gyro (RLG) INS and one MK 27 fiber-optic gyrocompass. The MK 39 Mod 3A will provide both high-accuracy geographic positioning information and precise attitude and heading data for navigation and weapon systems.
Network hardware sales jump 14%
Communications market research firm Infonetics Research (Campbell, CA) reports that worldwide optical-network hardware sales are back on an upward track after the usual first-quarter seasonal decline, as total optical hardware revenue hit $4.1 billion in the second quarter, up 14% sequentially. Infonetics‘ report, Optical Network Hardware, reports that the jump in manufacturer revenue was driven by strong performances by Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei, and ZTE, in part due to increased activity in China. “Optical spending by carriers in most Asia Pacific regions generally remains strong for the next few years,” said Michael Howard, principal analyst at Infonetics Research.
For more business news visit www.optoelectronicsreport.com.
Also in the news . . .
Communications components supplier Aspen Optics (Hong Kong, China) launched a configuration tool called the Aspen Optical Ethernet Configurator at www.aspenoptics.com for system integrators and Internet service providers to generate solutions for fiber network connection. . . . Nextreme Thermal Solutions (Durham, NC), which makes microscale thermal- and power-management products for the photonics and optoelectronics industries, secured $13 million in Series B financing. . . . Automation Engineering, a supplier of high-precision flexible automation systems for optoelectronic component and other photonic component assembly, will be partnering with 3-EDGE (Munich, Germany) for European sales and service support of AEi‘s automation systems.
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