29 November 2002 -- Munich-based integrated circuit manufacturer Infineon Technologies AG is to spin off its passive wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) R&D unit, which makes arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs) and related components, and merge these activities with privately owned OpTun Inc, an Israeli fabless start-up headquartered in Menlo Park, CA, USA developing semi-custom monolithic integrated optical circuits.
The combined company will retain the name OpTun and target the supply of Smart WDM solutions and modules to the optical networking systems market. OpTun's products are based on planar lightwave circuit (PLC) technology. This uses silicon-based manufacturing and brings the benefits of high integration-based functionality to WDM products, says OpTun.
Available solutions from OpTun incorporate a range of building blocks including optical switches and switching fabrics, integrated power monitoring, variable optical attenuators, and AWGs.
Infineon will transfer related intellectual property and patents to the new company, and be a shareholder. Infineon, with its worldwide sales distribution network, will act as a global distributor for OpTun's products.
In conjunction with the spin-off/merger, OpTun is raising a second round of financing involving Infineon AG, Landeskreditbank Baden-Wuerttemberg, Seed Ventures GmbH together with existing investors Benchmark Capital and Delta Ventures. Negotiations are taking place with additional investors to join the round. So far, OpTun has raised a total of USD19.5m, and also has a venture leasing line from Lighthouse Capital.
OpTun says that its broadband Controlled Mode Interaction (CMI) based devices enable integration because they are less sensitive to manufacturing process variations and provide superior broadband optical performance using standard manufacturing processes.
The new company will combine OpTun's CMI-based devices with Infineon's passive WDM expertise and advanced integration technologies. The high level of integration achievable was demonstrated by Infineon's monolithically integrated 20-channel single-chip reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer (ROADM) shown at March's OFC 2002. By combining these building blocks, OpTun will offer cost-efficient and highly integrated semi-custom passive WDM solutions and a small footprint.
"Identifying promising start-ups in markets with high growth potential and venturing with them has always been a cornerstone of our strategy," said Thomas Seifert, senior VP and general manager of Infineon's Wireline Communications group. "The combination of Infineon's WDM unit with OpTun reflects the opportunity we currently see in the integrated optics sector."
"The potential of highly integrated optical components to provide higher level of integration and cost efficiencies has never been greater," says OpTun's CEO Edwin Slonim. "They can either displace discrete components in existing optical networking systems, or support new functionality and price/performance points in next generation systems being designed today."
Slonim will continue as CEO, with marketing and customer support in Menlo Park, engineering headquarters in Munich, Germany and an R&D facility in Haifa, Israel. Manufacturing is outsourced.
OpTun will have about 50 staff, who will also support the existing Infineon WDM product line.