NTT Advanced Technology Corporation gets 2010 CLEO/Laser Focus World Innovation Award

Washington, DC--The CLEO/QELS: 2010 co-sponsors (APS, IEEE Photonics Society, OSA) and Laser Focus World announced that NTT Advanced Technology Corporation (Tokyo, Japan) is the winner of this year's CLEO/Laser Focus World Innovation Award. The award recognizes the company for its development of a very broad-wavelength-range (532 to 4000 nm), voltage-controlled laser-beam scanner with no moving parts that is 100 times faster and 100 times smaller than conventional scanners. NTT Advanced Technology Corporation will accept this award at the CLEO Plenary Session on Monday, May 17 at 6 p.m. at the San Jose Civic Center.

The winning entry, KTN Voltage-Controlled Laser Beam Scanner Using KTN Crystals, identifies a novel laser-scanning device that offers several benefits compared to conventional beam scanners. The device, which employs a crystal composed of potassium, tantalum, niobium, and oxygen, uses step and continuous operation with applied voltage formats rather than mechanical movement, allowing it to achieve operation rates ranging from DC to several hundreds of kilohertz. Simple in design, the compact, high-speed device can be used for such applications as laser-radar detection, laser-scanning displays, and laser machining.

"The KTN scanner is a very simple device that controls the laser deflection angle," said Kazuhiko Komatsu, senior vice president of NTT Advanced Technology Corporation. "Because of this capability, this basic optical component will have a wide range of potential applications and will bring new value to the industry by its unprecedented technical features such as high speed and compact size. We are honored to be recognized by CLEO, Laser Focus World, and the laser-science community."

NTT Group has filed more than 100 patents related to KTN crystal-growth technologies, optical scanning devices, assembly technologies, and applications.

"Each year, we are impressed by the number of submissions presenting significant advances in the field of lasers and electro-optics," said Stephen Anderson, associate publisher and editor-in-chief, Laser Focus World. "The quality of these submissions is a reminder of the incredible strides in innovation being made by CLEO exhibiting companies. It is our honor, through the Innovation Awards program, to recognize NTT Advanced Technology and the three honorable-mention companies. Their products represent some of the most ground-breaking and are likely to have a significant impact in this field."

In addition to NTT Advanced Technology Corporation's winning entry, three other products will be recognized during the CLEO Plenary Session on May 17 with honorable mentions:

--Femtolasers GmbH
CEP-Stabilized FEMTOPOWER V for Few-Cycle Pulse Generation
For the FEMTOPOWER V carrier-envelope-phase (CEP)-stabilized booster amplifier that generates high-power, few-cycle laser pulses critical to the attosecond science community.

--General Photonics Corporation
PMDPro Polarization Mode Dispersion Analyzer for Communications Networks
For the development of a compact, all-digital, inexpensive test instrument that both generates and compensates for the effects of PMD in high-speed, in-service communications networks.

--TOPTICA Photonics AG
High-Power Tunable Laser Source for Sodium Spectroscopy and Other Applications
For the creation of a tunable, narrow-linewidth, high-power (30 W), 589 nm yellow laser for guide star, spectroscopy, LIDAR, phototherapy, and other visible and near-IR applications.

Each year, the CLEO/Laser Focus World Innovation Awards Program honors the most timely, groundbreaking products in the field of laser science. Designed to showcase some of the most significant new products in the field, Innovation Award entries are evaluated on criteria critical to product success: impact, functionality, life expectancy, effect on the optics industry, innovation and patents or trademarks.

For more information on the CLEO/Laser Focus World Innovation Awards, visit www.CLEOconference.org/InnovationAwards.

About CLEO/QELS
With a distinguished history as the industry's leading event on laser science, the Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO) / Quantum Electronics Laser Science Conference (QELS) is where laser technology was first introduced. In 2010, CLEO/QELS will unite the field of lasers and electro-optics by bringing together all aspects of laser technology, with content stemming from basic research to industry application. Sponsored by the American Physical Society's (APS) Laser Science Division, the Institute of Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Photonics Society and the Optical Society (OSA), CLEO/QELS provides a holistic reflection of the critical developments in the field, showcasing the most significant milestones from laboratory to marketplace. With an unparalleled breadth and depth of coverage, CLEO/QELS connects all of the critical vertical markets in lasers and electro-optics. For more information, visit the conference's website at www.cleoconference.org.

About Laser Focus World
Published since 1965, Laser Focus World is a global media franchise for engineers, researchers, scientists, and technical professionals that provides comprehensive global coverage of optoelectronic and photonic technologies, applications, and markets. The magazine and its related website (www.laserfocusworld.com) reports on and analyzes the latest developments and trends in technology and business in the worldwide optoelectronic and photonics industry.

About PennWell Corporation
The publisher of Laser Focus World, PennWell Corporation is a diversified business-to-business media and information company that provides quality content and integrated marketing solutions for the following global industries: oil and gas, electric power, water, electronics, semiconductor, contamination control, optoelectronics, fiber optics, computer graphics, enterprise storage, information technology, fire, emergency services and dental. Founded in 1910, PennWell publishes 75 print and online magazines and newsletters, conducts 60 conferences and exhibitions on six continents, and has an extensive offering of books, maps, directories, web sites, research, and database services. In addition to PennWell's headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the company has offices in Nashua, New Hampshire; Houston, Texas; London, England and other locations worldwide.