Lightwave Logic, Inc. (NASDAQ: LWLG) has announced its first commercial material supply license agreement for its Perkinamine chromophore electro-optic polymers. The company has been working on electro-optic polymer development for photonic applications since at least 2008.
The company did not identify the customer or how the materials will be used, although Lightwave Logic is known to have worked with Polariton (see, for example, “Lightwave Logic touts stability of its polymer material in Polariton's plasmonics platform”) and startup SilOriX on the use of its organic polymers for optical modulators for fiber-optic communications applications. Lightwave Logic CEO Michael Lebby acknowledged that while its electro-optic polymer technology could be used for a variety of applications, the company has focused its efforts on 1550- and 1310-nm telecom and datacom applications.
Lebby said the deal runs for at least four years. In addition to a license initiation fee, the agreement covers per-unit royalties, minimum royalty levels that increase annually, and minimum sales volume in units.
The deal marks commercial acceptance of Lightwave Logic’s technology and approach, Lebby asserted. He added he is pursuing other license opportunities that may be the subject of similar announcements in the not too distant future. Pursuit of such license agreements is part of what Lebby describes as a three-pronged approach towards commercialization, alongside development of the company’s own chips and technology transfer. He says that examples of Lightwave Logic’s own chips are returning from multiple fabs, setting the stage for additional prototyping efforts. He revealed that significant developments in this area are on tap for later this year.
Meanwhile, he says that the market is beginning to warm to new approaches towards component development as the industry grapples with how to support future optical transmission rates and chip I/O requirements. He pointed to the attention being given to barium titanate (BTO) and thin-film lithium niobate approaches alongside electro-optic polymers as evidence of this trend.
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