TOKYO -- Central Glass Co., Ltd, a Japan-based supplier of components for optical networking announced today the commercial availability of an ultra-thin (~20 microns) thin-film filters designed for PON transceivers. Central Glass Co. fabricates the filters in 2 forms: with a polyimide film substrate or no substrate at all. The substrate- free type is designed for insertion into optical waveguides as the excess loss is minimal and it highly isolates background noise. Dr. Shigeki Sakaguchi, who leads product development at Central Glass, said “We are very proud of our engineering, design and process teams. The ultra-thin filters can be used in either traditional free-space or planar lightwave circuit (PLC) transceivers. In either case, manufacturers will be able to improve transmission characteristics, reduce package size and reduce costs.” Central Glass manufactures the thin film filters using batch processing techniques which yields more devices per wafer than conventional material systems through smaller chip sizes (i.e. 1 mm x 0.5 mm). The ultra-thin TFFs for PON transceivers achieve insertion loss levels < 0.1 dB and isolation levels exceeding 40 dB.

Central Glass is now supplying ultra-thin TFF chips to transceivers vendors targeting “Triple Play” applications for PONs. Their customer base includes both PLC-based optical subsystem and free-space optics vendors. Central Glass offers samples to new prospective customers and is ready for volume production. Dr. Sakaguchi further stated: “Our customers are very excited about the availability of the ultra-thin TFFs. In order to replace copper based solutions in the PON market, components must be very cost competitive. Our low-cost approach to filter fabrication coupled with longer reach resulting from improved performance means better economics for our customers.”

Central Glass Co. Ltd.