March 2003 The International Reference for Chip-Scale Electronics, Flip-Chip Technology, Optoelectronic Interconnection and Wafer-Level Packaging Email the editor

The LNL logo shows how micron-sized waveguide bends can make integrating 10K optical functions on a single 1cm2 chip possible.

LNL Technologies Raises $7.1 M to Develop Optoelectronic Chips

Cambridge, Mass.-LNL Technologies, a developer of monolithically integrated photonic and opto chips, has raised $7.1 million in seed funding earmarked to commercialize its photonic miniaturization platform.

LNL earlier demonstrated commercially made prototypes that enable the integration of 10,000 photonic functions on a single square-centimeter (cm2) chip-an improvement of several orders of magnitude beyond anything commercially available to date, according to LNL.

The company claims it has solved the two fundamental problems facing commercial photonic miniaturization. LNL's solutions are reducing the size and bend radius of a photonic "wire" (waveguide) by several orders of magnitude-from the current 1cm to a few microns. The company's technology is also able to send light from a fiber cable into a miniaturized waveguide with minimal power loss (coupling).

These accomplishments drive increased chip density, higher yields and lower packaging costs.

LNL's miniaturization leverages the production geometries of chipmaking to enable lower-cost products. Costs are the most significant factor in the packaging of photonic and optoelectronic products. Moreover, the integration of formerly discrete components will lower packaging costs due to greater chip density.

Current technologies place 5-30 chips on each wafer, but LNL can fit 500-3,000 chips on each. Higher yields with dramatically smaller chip sizes lead to higher manufacturing yields as they limit the impact of wafer defects and non-uniformities-critical factors for photonic chip yields. [lnltech.com]

Newport's new optics manufacturing facility in Irvine, Calif.

Newport Corp. Opens Precision Optics Manufacturing Facility

Irvine, Calif.-Newport Corp. has opened a 42,000 ft2 optics manufacturing facility for the company's Newport Precision Optics (NPO) business. The new facility is part of Newport's $16.3M investment in the precision optics business.

The plant will support the manufacture of standard and very high precision optic products, including collimators, beam expanders and spatial filters, as well as spherical optics, aspheric optics, windows, mirrors, beam splitters, prisms, polarized filters, lenses and high-performance thin film coatings for spectral ranges from 157nm DUV to infrared wavelengths. [newport.com]