CLINTON, N.J. -- Fitel Technologies, Inc., and its parent company, the Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd, today announced the development of a joint venture with Mitsui Chemical to produce high power 980 nanometer (nm) laser chips. The joint venture will leverage Furukawa’s expertise in output signal stabilization and Mitsui Chemical’s semiconductor chip technology to create a Decoupled Confinement Heterostructure (DCH) chip capable of more than 300mW in output power. The company, named MC Fitel, will be based in Chiba, Japan and will be headed by Yoshikazu Ikegami of the Furukawa Electric Optical Devices Division. Furukawa and Mitsui have been working jointly on the development of high power 980nm chips since October 2000. The formation of MC Fitel will streamline the development and manufacturing process to quickly address the increasing market demand for 980nm pump lasers. The 980 laser chips will be used exclusively in Fitel’s industry standard, hermetically sealed 14-pin butterfly packages. “Mitsui and Furukawa have a great deal of compatible technologies and we’re excited to begin working even closer with them on the development of these high power 980nm products,” stated Kunihiro Matsubara, Managing Director, Information Systems. “We’re seeing greater demand for 980nm pump lasers, and we fully intend to increase our current market share in this area by combining our expertise to produce a technically superior product.” Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd.Fitel Technologies Inc.For more information on OFC 2002, please visit: www.nottheofc.com