PTB Industry News

Spire Corporation to Develop Advanced
Photodiodes Under NASA Contract

BEDFORD, MA, Oct. 19 -- Spire Corporation has been awarded a $600,000 contract from NASA's John H. Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, OH, to develop advanced high-speed photodetectors for next-generation fiber-optic communications systems.

Under the two-year contract, Spire's Optoelectronics Division will employ its proprietary metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) process to develop and produce high-speed avalanche photodiodes (APDs) using the compound semiconductor material indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) and aluminum gallium antimonide (AlGaSb).

According to Spire, its advanced APD would offer lower noise than currently available detectors, translating into lower data error rate, longer distance between repeaters, lower costs, and higher reliability for the user. The company anticipates offering APD wafers to device manufacturers.

Spire has also announced the signing of a letter of intent to sell selected assets and technological innovations of it Optoelectronics Division to Methode Electronics, Inc., Chicago, IL. Methode manufactures component devices for OEMs of information-processing and networking equipment, voice and data communications systems, consumer electronics, automobiles, aerospace vehicles, and industrial equipment. Under the terms of the agreement with Spire, Methode would become the vehicle for commercialization of the technology developed under this contract.

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