Coherent, Inc. Introduces High Power EDFA Pump Laser for DWDM Applications at OFC 2001

<%=company1%> will introduce a high power, 980-nm, optically pumped semiconductor vertical cavity surface emitting (VCSEL) laser, the OPSL™-980-500, at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC) in Anaheim, California, March 19-21, 2001. Intended for pumping Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifiers (EDFAs) in high-channel-count Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) applications, the OPSL-980-500 is the first pump laser on the market to provide >500 mW of "kink-free" output power from a single-mode fiber pigtail.

"The initial target market for this product is telecom instrumentation and R&D where very high power, wavelength stable, 980-nm pumps are being sought for use in new high-channel count DWDM EDFAs," said Vittorio Fossati-Bellani, president of Coherent's TeleCom-Actives Group.

Mark Gitin, director of marketing for TeleCom Coherent added, "The OPSL can replace several multiplexed conventional fiber Bragg grating (FBG) stabilized devices with a single compact footprint. To date, the highest power conventional FBG stabilized 980-nm lasers available produce about 300 mW ‘kink-free' and typically must be operated 10-20% below this level. The OPSL-980-500 is designed for an operating point of 500mW - nearly two times the power of its competitors. The technology is also scalable to higher powers as the market demands it."

Easy to integrate into EDFAs, the OPSL-980-500 features an internally cooled, single-sided 9-pin, single-mode fiber pigtailed package, is spectrally stable over wide drive current and temperature ranges, and can be ordered with nominal operating wavelengths of between 975 nm and 985 nm.

"The OPSL technology was demonstrated at OFC 2000 and has since been successfully beta tested in EDFA designs by a number of key companies manufacturing EDFAs. We are excited that this technology is now being released as a product," added Fossati-Bellani.

Founded in 1966, Coherent, Inc. is a Standard & Poor's SmallCap 600 company and a world leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of lasers and systems for commercial, scientific, medical and telecom markets. Telecom Coherent is a coordinated marketing program that promotes the telecom-related products developed and produced by Coherent's Photonics Group and TeleCom-Actives Group, including semiconductor telecom laser sources, optical coatings and components, and lasers for manufacturing telecom components.