Agere Takes Raman Underseas

ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- Agere Systems (NYSE: AGR.A), the world leader in communications semiconductors, today announced the industry's first undersea pump laser for Raman amplification in ultra-high-capacity submarine optical networks. "Undersea networks demand high-reliability components, and our new pump laser is specifically designed to meet the stringent requirements of submerged high-capacity applications," explained Stefan Rochus, Agere's director of marketing for submarine and amplifier applications. "With this device, Agere is extending its expertise in Raman technology - first deployed in terrestrial networks - into the undersea market." The new device, called the SLR250, is an uncooled, high-power Fabry-Perot (FP) pump laser stabilized with an external fiber Bragg grating (FBG). The indium phosphide-based laser, available in 1480 nanometer (nm) and other 14xx nm wavelengths, supports a fiber output power of up to 250 milliwatts (mW) with a drive current of less than one amp and an operating voltage of less than 2.5 volts. Agere Systems