Businesses and individuals worldwide are demanding higher-speed communications and data-handling capability. The widely accepted solution for meeting such demand is the use of dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM) in an all-optical Internet. The all-optical Internet infrastructure has three main segments: long-haul, fiber-optic trunk lines; citywide and local-area fiber-optic rings; and the well-known "last-mile" fiber-optic branches that connect to the users. While installations of the long-haul and citywide segments are underway in the U.S., Japan and Europe, the last-mile segment has not yet been adequately addressed.
A broad range of both active and passive DWDM optical components is needed to complete this segment of the infrastructure, and represents by far the largest market for such devices. (All three segments require the devices.)
Products are already under development by many companies to meet the ever-growing demand. But the key element does not yet exist: a high-volume manufacturing technology that can create components at low-enough cost to entice end-users to upgrade from the electronic Internet connections they now have.
Natcore believes it has precisely that technology.
The highest-performing optical components are made from high-purity silicon dioxide, with controlled amounts of additives used to create the desired functionality in any particular class of device.
An arrayed waveguide is an excellent example: The usual process for making the device is deposition of a multi-layer, silicon dioxide structure on a silicon wafer. The transmission, or core, layer is thicker and has a higher index of refraction compared to the thinner buffer layer between it and the silicon wafer substrate. The core layer is coated with a cladding layer identical to the buffer layer.
This illustration depicts a cross section of a typical waveguide structure.
Schematic View of a Waveguide Structure
Currently, deposition of the core and cladding layers is accomplished by flame hydrolysis of silicon tetrachloride into silicon dioxide.
The deposition process itself takes high temperatures (>900 °C), after which the deposited film must be densified at elevated temperatures for an extended period of time. Deposition uniformity requirements limit process chamber sizes, so only a limited number of wafers (typically six or less) can be handled at one time. Increased production volume is achieved by operating multiple chambers simultaneously, providing little or no economy of scale.
In contrast, Natcore's film growth technology enables optical-quality silicon dioxide films to be grown over large areas and on large numbers of wafers simultaneously, providing huge economies of scale and a concurrent reduction in costs.
Furthermore, because the growth proceeds at ambient temperature, several patterning and processing steps can be combined to further reduce costs. The result promises to be lower manufacturing costs for high-performance, silicon dioxide-based optical devices by a very significant margin compared to current production techniques.
Natcore has several options to generate revenue in this rapidly growing market. The fastest and least capital-intensive path to market is through licensing our growth technology to original equipment manufacturers.
The array of planar components to which the technology applies is extensive: modulators, attenuators, couplers, splitters, arrayed waveguides, tunable lasers, erbium-doped fiber amplifiers, add/drop optical mux, variable optical attenuators, etc.
Even though margins are all-important in the current market environment, optical equipment remains costly. According to several market analysis firms, the reason is straightforward: Manufacturability of components still has a long way to go.
To address this situation, two things must happen: 1) technology must be developed to enable discrete devices to be integrated into planar lightwave circuits, or PLCs; and 2) a low-cost manufacturing process for optical components must be developed. Securing these advances will offer tremendous opportunities for component vendors to capture significant market share for their products.
Use of Natcore's technology represents a potential breakthrough in cost that could spawn dramatic growth in this market. Natcore's film growth technology requires no vacuum or high-temperature processing, making it an enabling technology for low-cost production of PLCs. Such a situation works in Natcore's favor for securing favorable license terms.
