Furukawa Electric and Mitsui Chemical Join Forces to Produce High Power 980 nm Laser Chips

CLINTON, N.J., March 19 -- Fitel Technologies, Inc., and its parent company, the Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd, announces the development of a joint venture with Mitsui Chemical to produce high power 980 nanometer (nm) laser chips.

The joint venture will leverage Furukawa's expertise in output signal stabilization and Mitsui Chemical's semiconductor chip technology to create a decoupled confinement heterostructure (DCH) chip capable of more than 300 mW in output power.

The company, named MC Fitel, will be based in Chiba, Japan and will be headed by Yoshikazu Ikegami of the Furukawa Electric Optical Devices Division. Furukawa and Mitsui have been working jointly on the development of high power 980 nm chips since October 2000. The formation of MC Fitel will streamline the development and manufacturing process to quickly address the increasing market demand for 980 nm pump lasers. The 980 laser chips will be used exclusively in Fitel's industry standard, hermetically sealed 14-pin butterfly packages.

"Mitsui and Furukawa have a great deal of compatible technologies and we're excited to begin working even closer with them on the development of these high power 980 nm products," stated Kunihiro Matsubara, managing director, Information Systems. "We're seeing greater demand for 980 nm pump lasers, and we fully intend to increase our current market share in this area by combining our expertise to produce a technically superior product."

Laser diode modules are an integral component for erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs), which are used to amplify optical signals in WDM systems. 980 nm pump laser modules are often used in pre-amplifiers because of their low-noise characteristics. Fitel Technologies and Furukawa have a strong history and expertise in developing and manufacturing laser diode modules.

"Although demand for these products has been steadily increasing, the technology necessary to produce a high power, stable 980 nm chip has been a challenge," explained Toshio Kikuta, general manager, Fitel Products Division. "By developing this joint venture with Mitsui Chemicals, Furukawa is taking the lead in developing an advanced product to satisfy the market demand."