PRESS RELEASE


Arrayed Fiberoptics Corporation Announces Low-Cost, High-Performance Epoxy-Free Fiber Arrays

San Jose, CA – January 30, 2004 – Arrayed Fiberoptics Corporation, the leader in enabling next-generation fiberoptic components, today announced its epoxy-free fiber array, designed to be used as a subcomponent for planar lightwave circuits (PLCs), such as arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs).

Currently, the industrial practice for PLC waveguide-to-fiber coupling is simple butt-coupling using epoxy. In this approach, the PLC edges are polished, aligned, and epoxy bonded to a fiber array device. The fiber array device is typically made by machining V-grooves into the surface of a glass or silicon plate, and placing the fibers in these grooves. Epoxy bonding is proven to provide quick and simple alignment, low cost, and robust packaging. Unfortunately, this approach leaves epoxy in the optical path, where it causes limitations in power, performance, and reliability due to epoxy degradation. These problems are most acute for AWGs, because they are typically used in long-haul DWDM applications, which require very high power. These limitations have inspired various attempts to eliminate epoxy from the optical path, typically through the use of additional hardware such as microlenses or external mounting plates. However, due to the complexity and cost of these approaches, they have not been widely adopted.

Arrayed Fiberoptics' epoxy-free fiber arrays (EFFAs) incorporate a patent-pending, integrated epoxy-blocking structure. These EFFAs preserve the simplicity, low-cost, and robustness of typical fiber butt-coupling, while keeping the optical path epoxy-free. As a result, PLC manufacturers can use their existing packaging designs with very little modification. These EFFAs offer an unprecedented combination of power handling, performance, price, miniaturization, and reliability. They can be configured in linear arrays up to 1x64 channels and 2-D arrays, with array pitch as small as 127 um. Even in large arrays, EFFAs provide very precise positioning of fibers, to +/- 0.3 um in both the horizontal and vertical dimensions. This is much higher precision than is available from the V-groove technology traditionally used for similar applications. Arrayed Fiberoptics' EFFAs thus not only enable higher power and reliability in devices, but they also enable improved device performance due to better alignment precision. Further, unlike V-grooves, these EFFAs enable not only linear arrays, but also 2-D arrays.

"We are pleased to offer these epoxy-free fiber array subcomponents to leading fiberoptic component vendors. EFFAs offer the well-established benefits of epoxy butt-coupling while elegantly eliminating the problems of epoxy in the optical path," said Ben Connors, Vice President of Arrayed Fiberoptics Corporation. "They enable breakthroughs in cost, performance, and functionality for many devices."

Typical applications for Arrayed Fiberoptics' EFFAs include coupling to PLCs or array devices, such as AWGs, beam splitters, OADMs, optical cross-connect switches, microlens arrays, etc. Arrayed Fiberoptics will team with component vendors to easily integrate these EFFAs into their existing devices for improved characteristics, or alternatively they can be used to create dramatically new component designs.

Evaluation samples of Arrayed Fiberoptics' EFFAs are available now with 250um pitch, and EFFAs with pitch as small as 127 um are currently in development. The company will demonstrate sample devices at the Optical Fiber Communication (OFC) conference in Los Angeles, February 24 - 26, 2004.


About Arrayed Fiberoptics Corporation

Arrayed Fiberoptics Corporation, based in San Jose, CA was founded to enable the evolution of fiberoptic components from existing hand-crafted assemblies to modern, reliable, affordable devices. Our team of experienced industry veterans is creating what is destined to become the standard platform in integrated fiberoptic components. Arrayed Fiberoptics Corporation is a privately held company funded by a consortium of leading domestic and international venture firms, together with industry executive investors. Please contact , 408-745-1900 for more information.


News and Press Contact:

Ben Connors
Phone: 408-745-1900