MURRAY HILL, N.J., June 13--Lucent Technologies and Siros Technologies Inc. have expanded their 1999 corporate partnership in which they agreed to develop and sell Very Small Aperture Laser (VSAL) technology. The new partnership broadens the parameters of the previous relationship and intellectual property agreement. VSAL technology--developed at Lucent's Bell Laboratories--is the most compact and simple source of highly focused light to date: it is capable of demonstrating spot sizes as small as tens of nanometers in diameter without the use of complex lens systems or short wavelength lasers, Lucent said. Our agreement is an example of how we seek strong partners to help us commercialize Bell Labs technology beyond Lucent's core businesses, said Steve Socolof, vice president in Lucent's New Ventures Group. Siros' strategic relationships with industry leaders are key to strengthening their position as a leader in the advancement of new technologies like VSAL, andalso to realizing broader market potential than originally envisioned when those technologies were first developed. Siros Technologies Inc. is a privately held company located in San Jose, Calif. It creates ultra-high density, optical storage products with the capacity needed for today's information-based applications.