Jan 16 2008
Redfern Integrated Optics, Inc. (RIO), the developer and manufacturer of high-performance low-cost transmitters for the fiber optic sensing and communication markets, today announced product availability of a narrow spectral linewidth, low phase noise laser, housed in an industry-standard 14-pin butterfly package, specifically designed for fiber optic sensing applications.
Energy industry and security applications are driving rapid growth in the fiber optic sensor market for improving oil and gas extraction, exploration, surveying and asset protection. As a result, the market for fiber optic sensing systems is transitioning from a phase of early field trials into rapid commercialization and high growth of over 35 percent CAGR. According to forecasts published at the Optoelectronic Industry Development Association's 2007 Annual Forum, the fiber optic sensor market is poised to exceed $1B by 2011.
RIO's new laser product combines low phase noise and narrow linewidth performance comparable to fiber lasers with the low cost, simplicity, size, stability, insensitivity to vibration and high reliability of semiconductor lasers.
"By leveraging our Telcordia-qualified planar external cavity laser (PLANEXTM) platform in the area of sources for fiber optic sensing applications, we can dramatically alter the price-performance tradeoff currently faced by systems suppliers" said Dr. Radu Barsan, president and CEO for RIO. "We designed this product to address the specific needs of our fiber optic sensing customers and are committed to delivering the best light source solutions available in this market."
Jeff Bush, president and CEO of Optiphase, Inc., a leading vendor of interrogation instrumentation for various types of fiber optic interferometric sensor systems, remarked: "Advances made by RIO with their planar external cavity laser designs provide a very attractive solution to meet our needs for low phase noise, low vibration sensitivity, and low RIN, as successfully demonstrated in system field trials. I'm very pleased that RIO has commercialized their planar ECL configured in an industry-standard 14-pin butterfly package. This and the large operating temperature range capability of RIO's product, enables an unprecedented ease of implementation of a high performance laser in our instrumentation systems. I'm impressed."