Agilent, Photonics Center Collaborate

Anne Fischer Lent

The Photonics Center at Boston University is constructing the Integrated Optics Laboratory and has worked with Agilent Technologies Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif., in equipping it. The center invested a little more than $800,000 in testing devices, and Agilent will continue to provide engineering support after the lab opens in the second quarter. Cliff Robinson, director of corporate relations, said that its goal is to achieve worldwide leadership in photonics technology development.

The new optical test equipment, which includes a lightwave measurement system, an all-band high-performance tunable laser, an Infiniium digitally controlled amplifier oscilloscope, a spectrum analyzer and a precision reflectometer, will be available to researchers and optical "incubator" companies, enabling them to test a broad spectrum of electro-optics technologies. The scientists can measure the performance of individual electro-optic components during various stages and that of integrated components and subsystems up to and including 10 Gb/s.

The $80 million, 235,000-sq-ft center was established to help commercialize photonics technology. It encourages collaboration between the university, with its resources and expertise, and the private sector, including technology developers and investors. To date, the center has created nine photonics companies, which collectively have raised more than $92 million from venture capital sources.