<strong>AOS</strong> <strong>News</strong> Volume 25 Number 1 2011by Ben EggletonCUDOSLaunchOn the 6 th of April 2011 an exciting event washeld to mark the new phase of CUDOS –the ARC Centre of Excellence for Ultrahighbandwidth Devices for <strong>Optical</strong> Systems - at the centre’sheadquarters based in the School of Physics at <strong>The</strong><strong>University</strong> of Sydney.Professor Ben Eggleton shows Senator Kim Carr,Federal Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science andResearch, the CUDOS laboratoriesIt was my pleasure to host the Ministerfor Innovation, Industry, Science &Research, Senator Kim Carr, who officiallylaunched the centre and unveiled thecommemorative plaque in front ofan enthusiastic audience of over 250people.Prior to the official launch, ProfessorMargaret Sheil, CEO of the <strong>Australian</strong>Research Council, members of theCUDOS Advisory Board and <strong>University</strong>of Sydney executive staff joined me andSenator Carr on a tour of the CUDOSlabs. Senator Carr was very pleased tomeet some of the staff and students withinCUDOS and find out more about theirresearch. <strong>The</strong> Launch also provided anopportunity to screen our new videowhich was well received. “CUDOS –faster, Smaller, Greener” can be seen onYouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=830YgQ_C9fYCUDOS was initially fundedfrom 2003 to 2010. <strong>The</strong> outstandingachievements made during this periodhave contributed, I believe, to us nowreceiving $23.8 million under the mostrecent ARC Centres of Excellence fundinground, to cover a new R&D over theperiod from 2011 to 2017. <strong>The</strong> NSWGovernment is also supporting us with$500,000 through the State’s ScienceLeveraging Fund, a program that supportsNSW-based research and developmentconsortia.CUDOS is collaboration betweenseven of Australia's leading universitieswith research characterised by strongExcellence in Research for Australia (ERA)performance, as recently reported, in theirdisciplines of optical physics and electricaland electronic engineering. <strong>The</strong> <strong>University</strong>of Sydney, ANU, <strong>Macquarie</strong> <strong>University</strong>,Swinburne <strong>University</strong> of Technology,RMIT <strong>University</strong>, Monash <strong>University</strong> andUTS will work with an extended groupof partner investigators from the world'sleaders in photonic research including<strong>The</strong> <strong>University</strong> of Oxford, ImperialCollege London, <strong>University</strong> of Karlsruhein Germany, the National Instituteof Advanced Industrial Science andTechnology, Japan and local companiesSilanna and Finisar.<strong>The</strong> new CUDOS will have arevolutionary new program of research.We will build on what has alreadybeen demonstrated, that an integratedphotonic-based signal processing platform- a photonic chip - can switch data atspeeds beyond terabits a second. Centralto the new direction is our extensioninto the field nanophotonics focusingon metamaterials and plasmonics, withthe aim of developing miniature devicesthat rely on optical characteristics tooperate, which are unattainable with bulkmaterials.Senator Carr ‘s address highlighted andpraised the potential of our photonic chiptechnology to magnify the capacity of theNational Broadband Network.“As the NBN fibre is rolled out to moreand more homes, the traffic on the coreof the network will rise. New technologybeing developed by CUDOS to increasethe core network capacity will help ensurehome users can get 1Gbps, 10Gbps ormore in the future as their need grows.”Senator Carr said.<strong>The</strong> Innovation Minister said thereare many other uses for the technologicalspin-offs of the research work undertakenby CUDOS.“CUDOS is generating and processingnew wavelengths of laser light for sensingchemical signatures which can detectexplosive material or chemicals potentiallySenator Kim Carr was pleased to meet and talk with CUDOS students34
<strong>AOS</strong> <strong>News</strong> Volume 25 Number 1 2011Senator Kim Carr officially launchedCUDOS on April 6 2011.used in a terrorist threat, environmentalpollutants or disease.”“This has enormous implications forthe nation’s border security in areas likeCustoms and Quarantine. <strong>The</strong> technologybeing developed will also help to maintainour envied reputation for providingclean, green, disease-free products and,importantly, will help to ensure that exoticdiseases do not become established inAustralia,” Senator Carr said.CUDOS has an exciting andchallenging 7 years ahead. Our futuresuccess lies in our collaborations, ourvision, our cross-platform research andour talented researchers and students.I also look forward to our ongoingassociation with and involvement in the<strong>Australian</strong> <strong>Optical</strong> <strong>Society</strong>.Professor Ben Eggleton isDirector of CUDOS. For moreinformation on CUDOS visit,www.cudos.org.au.CUDOS was officially launched on 6 April2011. Professor Ben Eggleton, Director ofCUDOS, is in foreground, with front row(l-r): Professor Trevor Hambley, Dean ofScience; Professor Margaret Sheil, CEOof the ARC; Senator Kim Carr, FederalMinister for Innovation, Industry, Scienceand Research; Professor Stephen Garton,Acting VC and Provost; Professor JillTrewhella, DVC (Research); Dr GregClark, Chairman of CUDOS AdvisoryBoard; and Professor Clive Baldock, Headof School of Physics.Product <strong>News</strong><strong>Optical</strong> Fiber Polarization Controller from oemarket.comThis polarization controller has threeadjustable paddles to induce the change ofbirefringence of the fiber. <strong>The</strong> design is basedon three wave plates with fixed retardationand variable orientation angles to controlthe state of polarization. Complete Poincaresphere coverage is achieved by adjusting theangles of the three easy-to-adjust paddles.This polarization controller can be usedto convert elliptically polarized light ina single mode fiber into another state ofpolarization, including linearly polarizedlight.Both 0.9mm and 3mm jacketed fibers areavailable for this product.40 Channel 100GHz AWG Module from oemarket.comThis module is a high performance DWDMmux/demux product based on silicaon-siliconplanar technology (AWG orarrayed waveguide gratings). It has a uniqueathermal packaging design that achievestemperature compensation passively withno requirement on electrical control. It isa completely passive module that has highstability and reliability.This module has 100GHz channel spacingand performs 40 channel multiplexing ordemultiplexing at the ITU wavelengths inC or L bands. It offers a combination oflow optical insertion loss and high channelisolation along with long term reliabilityand low cost per channelEach channel has broad Gaussian spectralresponse. Customized frequency grids,fiber types and connectorisation optionsare also available. Input and output fibers,such as SM fibers, MM fibers and PMfiber can also be customized to meet specialrequirements.Contact: sales@oemarket.com or Visit www.oemarket.com35