A laser diode is a semiconductor device similar to a light-emitting diode in which a diode pumped directly with electrical current can create lasing conditions at the diode's junction.
Photonics is a branch of optics that involves the application of generation, detection, and manipulation of light in form of photons through emission, transmission, modulation, signal processing, switching, amplification, and sensing. Photonics is closely related to quantum electronics, where quantum electronics deals with the theoretical part of it while photonics deal with its engineering applications. Though covering all light's technical applications over the whole spectrum, most photonic applications are in the range of visible and near-infrared light. The term photonics developed as an outgrowth of the first practical semiconductor light emitters invented in the early 1960s and optical fibers developed in the 1970s.
Indium phosphide (InP) is a binary semiconductor composed of indium and phosphorus. It has a face-centered cubic ("zincblende") crystal structure, identical to that of GaAs and most of the III-V semiconductors.
A blue laser emits electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength between 400 and 500 nanometers, which the human eye sees in the visible spectrum as blue or violet.
RF Micro Devices, was an American company that designed and manufactured high-performance radio frequency systems and solutions for applications that drive wireless and broadband communications. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, RFMD traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol RFMD. The Company was founded in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1991. RF Micro had 3500 employees, 1500 of them in Guilford County, North Carolina.
Fiber-optic communication is a method of transmitting information from one place to another by sending pulses of infrared or visible light through an optical fiber. The light is a form of carrier wave that is modulated to carry information. Fiber is preferred over electrical cabling when high bandwidth, long distance, or immunity to electromagnetic interference is required. This type of communication can transmit voice, video, and telemetry through local area networks or across long distances.
IPG Photonics is an American manufacturer of fiber lasers. IPG Photonics developed and commercialized optical fiber lasers, which are used in a variety of applications including materials processing, medical applications and telecommunications. IPG has manufacturing facilities in the United States, Germany, Russia and Italy.
Veeco is a global capital equipment supplier, headquartered in the U.S., that designs and builds processing systems used in semiconductor and compound semiconductor manufacturing, data storage and scientific markets for applications such as advanced packaging, photonics, power electronics and display technologies.
Robert Louis Byer is a physicist. He was president of the Optical Society of America in 1994 and of the American Physical Society in 2012.
Caswell is a lost settlement within Greens Norton civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, approximately 3 miles (5 km) north-west of Towcester, 8 miles (13 km) south-west of Northampton and 12 miles (19 km) north-west of Milton Keynes. It consists almost entirely of Caswell Park science and technology park, which has developed since the 1940s around a 19th-century farmhouse.
MACOM Technology Solutions is a developer and producer of radio, microwave, and millimeter wave semiconductor devices and components. The company is headquartered in Lowell, Massachusetts, and in 2005 was Lowell's largest private employer. MACOM is certified to the ISO 9001 international quality standard and ISO 14001 environmental standard. The company has design centers and sales offices in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
Finisar Corporation is a manufacturer of optical communication components and subsystems.
Santur Corporation developed, manufactured and commercialized tunable lasers as well as parallel array devices and photonic integrated circuits for the telecommunications industry. It was established in November 2000 in Fremont, California initially developing and commercializing the tunable lasers for metro and long-haul dense wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) systems. The company had a patented a Distributed Feedback Laser (DFB)-array technology, which enabled the manufacture of broadly tunable sources that have the same performance and reliability as fixed DFBs. Santur claimed to have set a new standard in the telecommunications industry with its technology that features a unique combination of high power, wide tunability, stability, Telcordia GR-468 reliability, and value.
IQE PLC is a British semiconductor company founded 1988 in Cardiff, Wales, which manufactures advanced epitaxial wafers for a wide range of technology applications for wireless, optoelectronic, electronic and solar devices. IQE specialises in advanced silicon and compound semiconductor materials based on gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP), gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon. The company is the largest independent outsource producer of epiwafers manufactured by metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy (MOCVD), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD).
James Robert Biard was an American electrical engineer and inventor who held 73 U.S. patents. Some of his more significant patents include the first infrared light-emitting diode (LED), the optical isolator, Schottky clamped logic circuits, silicon Metal Oxide Semiconductor Read Only Memory, a low bulk leakage current avalanche photodetector, and fiber-optic data links. In 1980, Biard became a member of the staff of Texas A&M University as an Adjunct Professor of Electrical Engineering. In 1991, he was elected as a member into the National Academy of Engineering for contributions to semiconductor light-emitting diodes and lasers, Schotky-clamped logic, and read-only memories.
Thorlabs, Inc. is an American privately held optical equipment company headquartered in Newton, New Jersey. The company was founded in 1989 by Alex Cable, who serves as its current CEO. His daughter, Jennifer Cable, serves as president. As of 2018, Thorlabs has annual sales of approximately $500 million. Outside its multiple locations in the United States, the company has offices in Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. It sells approximately 20,000 different products.
NeoPhotonics Corporation is an American public corporation based in San Jose, California. It was founded in 1996. The company develops, manufactures and sells optoelectronic products that transmit, receive and switch high speed digital optical signals for communications networks, These products include transceivers, tunable lasers, high bandwidth receivers, optical semiconductors, photonic integrated circuits, and 100 gigabit per second and above modules." These are each "cost-effective components that handle massive amounts of data at very high speeds".
Luminar Technologies Inc. is an American technology company that develops vision-based lidar and machine perception technologies, primarily for self-driving cars. The company's headquarters and main research and development facilities are in Orlando, Florida; a second major office is located in Palo Alto, California.
Coherent Corp. is an American manufacturer of optical materials and semiconductors. As of 2023, the company had 26,622 employees. Their stock is listed at the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol COHR. In 2022, II-VI acquired laser manufacturer Coherent, Inc., and adopted its name.
Coherent, Inc., headquartered in Santa Clara, California is an American company that develops, manufactures and supports laser equipment and related specialty components. Coherent was founded in May 1966 by physicist James Hobart and five cofounders. It went public in 1970. Over time, Coherent acquired other laser businesses and expanded to lasers for different industries and applications. From 2004 to 2021, it grew from $400 million to almost $2 billion in revenues, in part through a series of acquisitions. In 2022, II-VI Incorporated acquired Coherent, Inc. and took the name Coherent Corp.
