u²t was founded by Andreas Umbach, Günter Unterbörsch and Dirk Trommer in January 1998 as a spin-off company of Heinrich-Hertz-Institut für Nachrichtentechnik Berlin GmbH (HHI). In the late nineties, the three scientists realised an increasing interest in the components they had developed. They decided to meet this demand and founded u²t Innovative Optoelectronic Components GmbH. Driven by the success of their products on the market, the company had to expand quickly. In autumn 2001, u²t announced the acquisition of LKF Advanced Optics GmbH. LKF was founded in 1996, also by former employees of HHI, and has since been active in the field of fast and tuneable optical pulse sources and optical switching technology. u²t Photonics AG is now a highly specialised company with accumulated excellence in the fields of high-speed device and systems design. In combination with a long-term R&D partnership with HHI, this expertise ensures continuous innovation for the applications of the high-speed future.
Major Milestones of u²t Photonics AG
| Enterprise | Products |
2009 | <//li><></> - Acquisition of u²t UK modulator business
| - launch of Integrated DPSK Receiver <//span>sampling of Coherent 100G DP QPSK receiver
|
2008<//li> | | - launch of MSA based VSR receiver
- demo of Integrated DPSK Receiver<//span>
|
2007 | - ISO 9001:2000 certification with A-grades and no nonconformities
| - prototypes of 100 GHz photodetectors XPDV4120R
|
2006 | - Telcordia Qualification of main product lines completed
| - product launch 70 GHz photodetectors XPDV3120R
|
2005 | - joint development programme for 43 Gbit/s balanced receiver components with Lucent Technologies
| - product launch of high-performance 43 Gbit/s DPSK balanced photoreceiver
|
2004 | - concentration on expansion and improvement of operations
- participation in European technology project
| - several design wins with global transponder and linecard vendors for 40 Gbit/s systems
- product launch of 1300 nm mode-locked laser
|
2003 | - continuous strengthening of our management team
- expanding worldwide sales partnerships
| - major design wins from various Tier I customers of the test and measurement industry
- launch of highly integrated 43 Gbit/s receivers
|
2002 | - additional space allocated for future InP wafer production
- fully integrated IT solution
| - participation in the German MultiTeraNet research programme
- extension of product spectrum to comprise mode-locked laser sources
|
2001 | - new office space in the vicinity of HHI
- new facilities for warehouse production and product characterisation
- strategic customer relationships
- acquisition of LKF Advanced Optics GmbH and the formation of Photonics AG
| - further extension of production capacity
- project for quality assurance certification started
- prototypes of 40 Gbit/s photoreceivers tested and delivered
|
2000 | - establishment of customer relations
- first round of financing raised from private investor (Dr T. Fischer)
| - consolidation of photodetector manufacturing process
- launch of development programmes for 40 Gbit/s photoreceivers and electro-optic modulators
|
1999 | - office and lab space on the premises of Heinrich-Hertz-Institut (HHI)
| - development of integrated spot size converter to improve responsivity and fibre alignment
|
1998 | - foundation of Innovative Optoelectronic Components GmbH
- first contact with customers at OFC and ECOC
| - market-oriented development of ultra-fast optoelectronic components
- first sales of prototypes of ultra-fast photodetectors
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