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2023 Innovators Awards: Meet the honorees

Aug. 1, 2023

For the sixth straight year, Laser Focus World held its Innovators Awards program, which celebrates the disparate and innovative technologies, products, and systems found in the photonics market.

Peter Fretty

Bronze: SemiNex Corporation

SemiNex Corporation proudly presents its industry-leading semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) platform that exhibits the best performance at both the 1550 nm and 1310 nm wavelength ranges. The SOA structure is based on a proprietary AlInGaAs material system and advanced waveguide design with multiple quantum wells on an InP substrate with excellent optical and thermal performances. The output power of an SOA channel at 1550 nm and 1310 nm can reach higher than 350 mW and 450 mW, respectively, at drive current of 1 A, the industry’s best.

The SOA platform can provide a single channel or an array of up to 20 channels. Such high channel count and customizable channel pitch allow the system designers the freedom to integrate the SOA array with a silicon photonic integrated circuit (PIC) to minimize the total footprint of the final system and to reduce the overall cost. As applications in optical communications and automotive LiDAR demand ever-increasing optical power for longer reach and distance, the SemiNex SOA Array platform can and has helped many customers to reach their desired targeted specifications and spearhead next-generation photonics design.

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Congratulations to all of the honorees of the 2023 Laser Focus World Innovators Awards. Each year, this program has a panel of judges review each of the submissions and rate the level of innovation and its perceived benefit to the further evolution of the industry.

While we provide recognition at various levels (Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze), it is important to note innovation at any level is important in pushing the market forward to further immerse photonics technologies into the applications and products improving our lives.

Be sure to run through the slideshow to learn more about the honorees.

About the Author

Peter Fretty | Market Leader/Group Editorial Director

Peter Fretty began his role as the Market Leader, Digital Infrastructure in September 2024. He also serves as Group Editorial Director for Laser Focus World and Vision Systems Design, and previously served as Editor in Chief of Laser Focus World from October 2021 to June 2023. Prior to that, he was Technology Editor for IndustryWeek for two years.

As a highly experienced journalist, he has regularly covered advances in manufacturing, information technology, and software. He has written thousands of feature articles, cover stories, and white papers for an assortment of trade journals, business publications, and consumer magazines.