27 Jan 2025
Communications component vendor transfers production of C-Band emitters to Ottawa facility.
Ortel, the California-based supplier of optical communications components now owned by Photonics Foundries, says it has transferred production of its flagship C-Band laser diode to the Canadian Photonics Fabrication Centre (CPFC).
Operating in the 1550 nm wavelength region, the lasers are fabricated on an indium phosphide (InP) wafer platform, offering features including a narrow linewidth (typically 50 kHz), high power (up to 100 mW), and low-noise performance.
The laser will be provided as model number 1790 in the 14-pin butterfly form, and model number 1995 in a cooled TO56 package. Various standard or custom chip-on-submount forms will also be available, and Ortel says that the switch will enable a step up in manufacturing capacity.
Initial customer samples will be available in February, with fully qualified production device availability expected by the end of June. The devices had previously been fabricated by Emcore.
“This transfer assures uninterrupted wafer supply and a smooth transition of this industry-leading laser to ever expanding markets including lidar, fiber-optic sensing, coherent and externally modulated fiber optic communications, and test and measurement,” the company added.
Capacity upgrade
Grant Olecko, Ortel’s VP of product line management, noted in a release from the Alhambra firm:
“Throughout the design and qualification process, we've been thrilled to partner with the team at the CPFC. Their wafer fab is a state-of-the-art facility offering key advantages over the prior Emcore fab including supply security, custom epitaxy growth, superior technology, and major capacity improvements.
“The CPFC's impressive world-class scientists and engineers leverage sophisticated tools and advanced process technology to help our customers achieve exceptional precision and optimized laser performance.
“These capabilities layered with Ortel's recognized strengths in device design, vertical integration, and global expertise, create a considerable advantage for customers."
Velko Tzolov, the director general at the government-owned CPFC, added: “We are delighted to formalize our long-term relationship with Ortel. This partnership will allow us to work together on innovative technologies that drive impactful device performance improvements while continuously maintaining highly reliable wafer fabrication.”
One of the exhibitors at this week’s SPIE Photonics West event in San Francisco, the CPFC is a pure-play III-V compound semiconductor wafer foundry with expertise in InP, gallium arsenide (GaAs), and gallium nitride (GaN) materials.
Opened in 2004, the 48,000 square-foot facility partners with clients to move custom-design photonic devices into high-yield, high-volume manufacturing.
Examples include InP and GaAs modulators, monolithic photonic integrated circuits (PICs), photodiodes, diode lasers, superluminescent LEDs, and emitter arrays.
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