12 January 2012

Teledyne and Zephyr partner on optical interconnect fiber-optic products  

Zephyr Photonics of Zephyr Cove, NV, USA and Teledyne Microelectronic Technologies of Los Angeles, CA (a business unit of Teledyne Technologies Inc of Thousand Oaks, CA) have partnered to develop and market optical interconnect technology solutions to meet the high-bandwidth and harsh-environment demands of the defense, aerospace, commercial aviation, and oil & gas industries.

The partnership combines Zephyr’s proprietary vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) technology with Teledyne Microelectronics Technologies’ five decades of experience designing and manufacturing multichip modules (MCMs) and ruggedized fiber-optic assemblies for a variety of applications.

This is the first major commercial partnership for Zephyr, which was founded in 1987 as the R&D firm OptiComp and recently transitioned to a commercial enterprise. The agreement with Teledyne includes joint product development to address future market opportunities, provides a collaborative sales channel to reach more customers faster while opening new markets via Teledyne’s multiple divisions, and establishes a trusted partnership for government funding proposals for new technology development.

Teledyne Microelectronic Technologies is already a Department of Defense (DoD) Trusted Source for microelectronics, while Zephyr provides solutions to the DoD and to the aerospace, industrial, energy and intelligence industries.

“This is a significant step for Zephyr Photonics as we work to establish our foothold as a trusted resource and partner for optoelectronic technology across a variety of markets and industries,” says the firm’s CEO Tom Steding. “Working with Teledyne Microelectronic Technologies provides credibility to our customers via a trusted manufacturing facility and further demonstrates our commitment to the defense OEMs and, ultimately, the warfighter,” he adds.

The joint manufacturing and product marketing collaboration aims to provide optical interconnect fiber-optic products that can overcome harsh-environment data communications obstacles and enable optical interconnect solutions that meet the requirements of national security and commercial applications.

“Together, we will deliver unparalleled and reliable solutions to system designers and improved SWaP for applications and environments where data communications is not just important, it is mission critical and potentially life-saving,” says Terry Thomas, Zephyr’s executive VP of business development. "Zephyr Photonics’ proprietary high-temperature VCSELs can withstand temperatures over 155°C and are well suited for unmanned airborne vehicles, in addition to extreme heat conditions in down-hole oil drilling applications,” he adds.

“Teledyne Microelectronic Technologies relationship with Zephyr Photonics expands our range of optoelectronic packaging solutions well beyond the competition’s,” reckons Albert Andry, VP & general manager of Teledyne Microelectronic Technologies. “By partnering with Zephyr Photonics, we can take our superior fiber-optic packaging capabilities to the Oil & Gas sector, where extreme temperature requirements are driving technology to limits not seen before.”

Tags: Teledyne VCSELs

Visit: www.zephyrphotonics.com

Visit: www.teledynemicro.com