AMSTERDAM - ECOC - WaveSplitter Technologies, Inc., a worldwide supplier of innovative fiber-optic components and modules for advanced optical networks, and Gemfire, an integrated photonics company, announced today that they will demonstrate high-performance Variable Optical Attenuator Multiplexers (VOA-Mux), at the European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC) 2001. The product demonstration combines WaveSplitter’s expertise in silica-on-silicon Arrayed Waveguide Grating (AWG) designs and hybrid integration with Gemfire’s unique VOA technology and expertise in polymer materials and processing to deliver industry-leading performance in terms of power consumption, attenuation range and polarization dependent loss (PDL) in a small footprint.

Hybrid integration, which entails the designing of integrated products based on multiple technology platforms, addresses the industry’s need to reduce component size and cost without compromising performance. With hybrid integration, the best material choice can be used to combine individual optical functions through innovative packaging. For the VOA-Mux, the advanced polymer platform VOA enables lower power consumption, wider attenuation range, and lower PDL while the silica-based AWG allows for low insertion loss and compact size for this high channel count device. These features are critical for applications such as pre-emphasis at transmitter sites, dynamic channel balancing at MUX/DeMUX locations and receiver overload control.

“WaveSplitter is at the forefront of the “new integration” model—multiple companies combining their core competencies to accelerate product development—to deliver best-in-class components to customers,” said Bill Diamond, president and CEO of WaveSplitter. “By collaborating with innovative companies like Gemfire, we are able to offer our customers an industry leading product that satisfies their performance, size, and budget requirements, while delivering all the benefits of hybrid integration.”

“Including our VOA technology platform with WaveSplitter’s silica-on-silicon AWG enables both companies to offer unprecedented performance in a highly integrated device than would not be possible from a single technology platform,” said Richard Tompane, president and CEO of Gemfire.

WaveSplitter Technologies Inc.
Gemfire Corp.