Ultrafast fiber laser manufacturer Fianium Ltd (Southampton, UK) has unveiled a new type of photonic crystal fiber (PCF), which it says is the early fruits of its strategic collaboration with the University of Bath (Bath, UK). "By working closely with the inventors of PCF and authors of numerous patents, Fianium has gained an immensely deep understanding of the technology and has been able to evolve its processes and IP to make them even better and more cost effective," the company notes.
The new, patent-protected fiber design is exclusive to Fianium, and is integral to the company's ongoing new product development strategy as it strives to extend its market and technology leadership in supercontinuum fiber lasers.
By working closely with customers and the University of Bath, Fianium says it has been able to discover many limitations and shortcomings of traditional fiber lasers. Inspired by this knowledge, the new PCF design was created to "right these wrongs" and enable development of better performing, more stable, and more cost-effective supercontinuum laser solutions.
Currently Fianium has no plans to become a PCF supplier and has developed its own fiber supply chain in order to protect continuity of supply. Fianium CEO Anatoly Grudinin believes will be an interesting year ahead: "Given the current economic climate I predict we'll see a number of mergers and consolidations during 2009 which could conceivably see suppliers starting to become competitors. In this highly competitive market I'm a firm believer in vertical integration, or at least having control of supplier relationships. We therefore felt it prudent to develop our own, reliable supply chain in order to guarantee the long term, high quality continuity of supply of our new PCF."
Earlier this week, Fianium responded to Fianium's website.
Fianium calls itself the world leading manufacturer of ultrafast fibre lasers. Its customers are in biomedical, material inspection and processing, and universities around the world. For more information, see Fianium's website.
