CHATSWORTH, Calif. -- Sabeus Photonics, Inc., announced the first commercial shipments of a product manufactured with its revolutionary optical fiber cold writing technology. Cold writing permits the rapid, non-destructive fabrication of an important class of precise, in-fiber optical components that have application not only in optical networking but also in aerospace, civil engineering, and earth sciences, among others. Cold writing is one of several new high-concept technologies that form the underpinnings of Sabeus' rapidly-escalating business and reputation. "We've just seen a generation of DWDM technology that dramatically accelerated the rate at which capacity increases became feasible. The next generation of technology will have to mirror this trend by significantly accelerating the rate of cost reduction. Otherwise, the public network will not keep up with the projected growth in data traffic. Sabeus, with its 'art of the simple' approach, is demonstrating that a real opportunity exists to attack cost at it roots by fundamentally rethinking `how things are done.'" said Karen Liu of leading telecommunications research firm RHK (South San Francisco). The newly released Sabeus product, an ultrastrong, in-fiber pump laser locker, typifies Sabeus' approach to technology. Before Sabeus, such devices were manufactured by mechanically stripping or acid-etching a piece of optical fiber to expose the delicate core, and then scribing patterns into the exposed core with an invasive radiation procedure. Although the fiber is then recoated and packaged, its mechanical integrity is so compromised that the component's use in many important applications is ill advised. Sabeus had a better idea: write the pattern right through the outer layers of the fiber. This high concept was previously impossible to implement because at the ultraviolet wavelength (240nm) needed to "write" the pattern, the outer layers of an optical fiber were effectively destroyed. Sabeus scientists, however, engineered a new system where a longer wavelength of near-ultraviolet light is used to "cold write" the fiber core right through the cladding and the protective polymer. This eliminates the need to recoat and package the pump locker. The resulting patented process yields a component that is as mechanically strong as unmodified fiber, and that can be fabricated robotically -- guaranteeing the highest possible degree of manufacturing repeatability. The pump laser locker is critical to the manufacture of optical amplifiers for the optical communications network. Sabeus Photonics Inc.