Luxtera
Encyclopedia
Luxtera Inc., founded in 2001, is based in Carlsbad, California
. Luxtera is a fabless semiconductor
company that is using silicon photonics
technology to build complex electro-optical systems in a production silicon CMOS
process. It is the first company on the market with a product that monolithically incorporates active optics for data communications manufactured with low-cost silicon-based chip processing.
This class of technology (also being aggressively developed by large companies such as Intel and IBM
) is widely predicted to displace large portions of the existing photonics industry that rely on discrete assemblies of electronic and photonic devices. Luxtera's partners include Freescale Semiconductor (fabricates Luxtera's chips). Luxtera is a Caltech spin-out with funding from venture capital
, its business partners, and DARPA. It was founded by a number of members of Prof. Axel Scherer
's lab group, including Cary (Lawrence) Gunn, Michael Hochberg
, Tom Baehr-Jones
, and also Axel Scherer
. Other co-founders include Prof. Eli Yablonovitch
and John Oxaal.
In 2010, Luxtera was selected as one of MIT Technology Review's 50 Most Innovative Companies.
Longer term the company is aiming to displace copper cabling in short reach video applications such as DisplayPort and HDMI.
Carlsbad, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Carlsbad had a population of 105,328. The population density was 2,693.1 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Carlsbad was 87,205 White, 1,379 African American, 514 Native American, 7,460 Asian, 198 Pacific Islander, 4,189 from other...
. Luxtera is a fabless semiconductor
Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
company that is using silicon photonics
Silicon photonics
Silicon photonics is the study and application of photonic systems which use silicon as an optical medium. The silicon is usually patterned with sub-micrometre precision, into microphotonic components. These operate in the infrared, most commonly at the 1.55 micrometre wavelength used by most...
technology to build complex electro-optical systems in a production silicon CMOS
CMOS
Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor is a technology for constructing integrated circuits. CMOS technology is used in microprocessors, microcontrollers, static RAM, and other digital logic circuits...
process. It is the first company on the market with a product that monolithically incorporates active optics for data communications manufactured with low-cost silicon-based chip processing.
This class of technology (also being aggressively developed by large companies such as Intel and IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
) is widely predicted to displace large portions of the existing photonics industry that rely on discrete assemblies of electronic and photonic devices. Luxtera's partners include Freescale Semiconductor (fabricates Luxtera's chips). Luxtera is a Caltech spin-out with funding from venture capital
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
, its business partners, and DARPA. It was founded by a number of members of Prof. Axel Scherer
Axel Scherer
Axel Scherer is the Bernard Neches Professor of Electrical Engineering, Physics, and Applied Physics at the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Scherer's office is located in the Sloan Annex, and his lab manager is Kate Finigan. He is known for fabricating the world's first semiconducting...
's lab group, including Cary (Lawrence) Gunn, Michael Hochberg
Michael Hochberg
Michael Hochberg is an American physicist. He is an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the University of Washington. Hochberg was born in Ithaca, NY, and attended high school at the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts. He obtained a BS in Physics in 2002 and a PhD in...
, Tom Baehr-Jones
Tom Baehr-Jones
Tom Baehr-Jones is an American physicist who has made contributions in the field of Nanophotonics. His findings have been published in Nature, Nature Photonics, Nature Materials, the IEEE/OSA Journal of Lightwave Technology, and Optics Express, among many others. Baehr-Jones is a co-founder of...
, and also Axel Scherer
Axel Scherer
Axel Scherer is the Bernard Neches Professor of Electrical Engineering, Physics, and Applied Physics at the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Scherer's office is located in the Sloan Annex, and his lab manager is Kate Finigan. He is known for fabricating the world's first semiconducting...
. Other co-founders include Prof. Eli Yablonovitch
Eli Yablonovitch
Eli Yablonovitch along with Sajeev John, was one of the two applied physicists who invented the field of photonic crystals in 1987. He and his team were the first to create a 3-dimension structure that exhibited a full photonic bandgap, it is called Yablonovite...
and John Oxaal.
In 2010, Luxtera was selected as one of MIT Technology Review's 50 Most Innovative Companies.
Blazar
In August 2007, Luxtera announced the availability of Blazar, a 40GB optical active cable for interconnect within high performance computer clusters using single-mode fiber. Blazar is compliant with the SFP+ interface, allowing for the cable to be used in several different applications.Longer term the company is aiming to displace copper cabling in short reach video applications such as DisplayPort and HDMI.