BinOptics Produces GaN-Based Continuous-Wave Blue Laser

BinOptics has produced a short cavity, continuous-wave, etched facet blue laser that allows the company to make at least three times as many lasers per wafer

Ithaca , N.Y., June 5, 2007– BinOptics Corporation announced today that it has become the first manufacturer to produce a short-cavity, GaN-based, continuous-wave blue laser using etched-facet technology instead of the mechanical cleaving method currently used by the industry.

BinOptics CEO Alex Behfar said, “Our etched-facet technology allows us to manufacture devices with much shorter cavities than possible with cleaved-facets and, as a result, we are able to obtain at least three times as many blue lasers from a wafer than can be produced using the conventional cleaved-facet method.” The company said that the demand for competitively priced blue lasers is growing exponentially and that its technology will enable the market for HD-DVD’s, game consoles, and optical storage devices using blue lasers to grow with rising consumer demand.

“Although etched-facet technology has clearly demonstrated its value for InP-based communications in meeting the challenging performance and cost targets of telecom and datacom up to 10Gbps, these same benefits are only now being realized by BinOptics for GaN-based blue lasers,” said Al Schremer, Director of GaN R&D for BinOptics. “We have made continuous-wave blue lasers with cavity lengths as short as 100µm and a threshold current as low as 10mA. Current cleaved-facet laser cavity lengths are on the order of 500 to 600µm.”

BinOptics products are manufactured using a proprietary etched-facet technology, which significantly reduces the cost of production, testing, and handling compared to conventional laser processing. The technology also enables monolithic integration of multiple functions on a single chip because of its flexibility and high yield. The company’s products include edge-emitting lasers with optional integrated monitoring detectors as well as the industry’s first horizontal-cavity surface-emitting laser (HCSEL™). The company currently manufactures high reliability InP-based lasers operating at the 1310nm, 1490, and 1550nm wavelengths and operating up to 10Gbps.

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About BinOptics Corporation

BinOptics manufactures monolithically integrated laser chips based on its proprietary etched-facet technology. This unique platform allows the company to meet commercial requirements with higher reproducibility, more flexibility for product design and integration, significantly lower cost, and higher performance than alternative processes. The company's products address datacom and telecom applications such as gigabit Ethernet and PON as well as advanced non-telecom applications. Founded in November 2000, BinOptics is privately held. The company is located in the Cornell Business & Technology Park in Ithaca, N.Y.

For more information about BinOptics and its products, please visit www.binoptics.com or contact Norman Kwong at sales@binoptics.com or 607-257-3200 x251.