FEBRUARY 21, 2007 -- Bookham Inc. (search for bookham) today announced that its 980-nm OceanBright pump laser technology has been selected by Tyco Telecommunications Inc. (search for Tyco Telecommunications) for deployment in its undersea cable systems.
Tyco Telecommunications has chosen Bookham to be the lead supplier of 980-nm pump laser modules. The products will be used in erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs), which, in turn, are incorporated into repeaters that form a critical element of undersea cable systems around the world.
"As the leading provider of 980-nm pumps, Bookham was the logical choice to supply pump modules for our undersea systems and will enable Tyco Telecommunications to remain at the forefront of the world's most advanced and cost-effective turnkey solutions," contends Harold Conlon, director of supply chain at Tyco Telecommunications. "The quality and reliability of the Bookham terrestrial module has been established over many years. This experience has established the building blocks to adapt the Bookham pump technology for the extremely demanding requirements of the undersea market," he adds.
According to Bookham, its design team has many years of experience with undersea requirements, and Tyco Telecommunications has been using the Bookham chip technology since 1999.Â
The latest pump module in the OceanBright laser portfolio incorporates the Bookham generation-eight laser chip (G08), a continuation of a previous generation of laser chips qualified for submarine use. It is capable of exceeding 400 mW at operating temperatures of 0°C to 45°C and complies with multi-source agreement (MSA) requirements for use in uncooled applications.
"The selection by Tyco Telecommunications--one of the key players in this market--is a considerable endorsement of our technology," says Mark Ives, PLM director, at Bookham. "Demand for submarine systems can be cyclical, resulting in potentially high requalification and start-up costs for dedicated undersea production lines. The ability to apply the Bookham 980-nm pump technology to both terrestrial and submarine systems enables continuous production, resulting in production cost savings."
Bookham says the reliability of its 980-nm pump laser technology has already been proven with over 350,000 units shipped and 14 billion device hours with less than 25 FIT.