Veeco, Nova Crystals Join on Laser Development

WOODBURY, N.Y., Oct. 25 -- Veeco Instruments Inc. is joining with Nova Crystals Inc. in its development of high-performance lasers, known as PICSELs (photonic integrated circuit surface emitting lasers). Nova has purchased a Veeco Nexus ion beam etch system, which uses advanced reactive ion beam etch (RIBE) and chemically assisted ion beam etch (CAIBE) technology.

According to Ty Mitchell, Nova Crystals' vice president and COO, "Our partnership with Veeco has enabled us to develop a production-worthy solution for the development of our 1310-nm PICSELs. No other commercially available tool has the capability to tilt the substrate to enable better definition of the laser facet while at the same time optimizing its surface quality.

"Veeco's equipment and process development team have helped support our PICSEL design philosophy, which combines the attractive features of conventional VCSELs (vertical cavity surface emitting lasers) with the merits of edge emitting lasers," Mitchell said. "This allows Nova Crystals to integrate more functionality onto the device."