US start-up bags millions

17 Jun 2002

Applied Optoelectronics secures funding to develop long-wavelength lasers for the telecoms market.

US-based manufacturer of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) Applied Optoelectronics has raised USD 10 million in its second round of funding. The NASA spin-off will develop and manufacture new long-wavelength laser products for metropolitan telecoms markets.

"With our knowledge of molecular beam epitaxy in semiconductor lasers we have created a product that targets the metropolitan-area network," said Applied Optoelectronics' chief executive Thompson Lin. Lin believes that the company's technology will allow the use of cheaper, long-wavelength lasers in telecoms networks within cities.

The company is expanding its production capacity to meet the demand for its VCSELs and hopes that emerging applications, such as optical switching, will also fuel demand.

First established in 1997 at NASA's Space Commercialization Center, Applied Optoelectronics has since built and moved to a 24,000 sq.ft semiconductor manufacturing facility at Sugar Land, Texas. The company also develops quantum cascade laser technology for chemical spectroscopy in non-invasive medical diagnostics and environmental monitoring.