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6
Policy Issues and Recommendations
Policy issues considered by the panel included the issue of competitiveness,
the matter of education for photonics, and the question of facilities--especially
those for growing and characterizing superlattice materials.
COMPETITIVENESS
This, in the panel's view, is the critical issue. There is no question concern-
ing the increasing importance of photonics, but the future role of the United
States in this field is not so clear. There is excellent work being done in Ger-
many, France, the United Kingdom, and other countries of Europe. There is
also evidence of future strong competition from Korea, Taiwan, and the
People's Republic of China. However, as in so many high-technology fields, the
major competition at present comes from Japan. The issue of competitiveness
~11 consequently be discussed in relation to the Japanese effort.
The semiconductor laser was first demonstrated in this country (by four
groups, almost simultaneously and the double-heterostructure version--which
made the device practical--was also first demonstrated in the United States.2
Yet, the largest number of such lasers are now produced in Japan, from the
high-volume, low-cost version used in compact disc players to high-performance,
high-cost versions designed for long-distance, fiber-optic communication
systems. There are many other examples of photonic concepts originating in
this country but developed as products in Japan. The only major counter-
example in the photonics field where the United States continues to play a
65
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66
PHO TONICS
dominant role is optical fibers. Here there has been an excellent coupling
between research and development and manufacturing.
In a 1986 Fortune survey of experts in various high-technology fields, Japan
was rated well above the United States and Europe in optoelectronics, an
evaluation epitomized in the following statement: "Everyone concedes that
the Japanese lead the world hands-down in one important new technology
originally developed in the U.S."3
Due to the critical nature of Japanese competition in high-technology fields,
there have been many studies of the reasons, with recommendations for
improvement of the U.S. position. Many of these studies conclude that the
differences in competitiveness arise largely from structural differences in the
two societies. Certainly, there is more effective central planning concerning
technical objectives in Japan than in the United States, as well as a more
consistent set of government policies concerning direct government support,
taxation, end tariff structures to support these objectives. Japan's lower interest
rates and different methods of financing development work also encourage
longer-term objectives than is the case in the United States. To the extent that
changes in major national policies are desirable, the impetus for such change
will have to come from a top level, with consideration of the effects on all
elements of society. The remainder of this discussion will consequently focus
on issues specific to photonics, with suggestions to industry and recommenda-
tions for the federal government that the panel believes could be implemented.
Some of the recent studies of the competitiveness issue related to photonics
include the 1984 NAE/NRC study, The Competitive Status of the U.S. Electron-
ics Industry4; the NSF-sponsored, Japanese Technology Evaluation Program's
(JTEC) 1985 report, Opto- and Micro-Electronicss; and the 1986 NRC state-of-
the-art review, Advanced Processing of Electronic Materials in the United States
and Japan.6 According to the JTEC report:
In opto-electronics, in particular, the Japanese have made major, original
contributions and, while their adaptive ingenuity can be expected to continue to
produce market-oriented products, their original creative contributions to this field are
expected to increase steadily in the future. Of particular significance are the
collaborative interactions between industrial organizations, and between these
organizations and the Japanese government, with the Opto-electronics Joint Research
Laboratory as a clear example.
The Japanese government, which plays an important role in promoting its
industries through such means as protectionist trade policies, does not dictate selection
and development of specific technological options. Industrial organizations in Japan
have made long-term commitments to these technologies, and they are not deterred
from Pursuing them even if the payoff is not immediate or is not generic in char-
acter. ~
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POLICY ISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The NRC Electronic Materials report states:
At present, the Japanese are ahead of the United States in the development and
application of advanced processing technologies. At least ten of the major semiconduc-
tor companies in Japan have vigorous programs targeted for projects with an exited
payoff 7 to 10 years later. There are only a few, perhaps two, U.S firms similarly
involved. Japan seems to have evolved a successful approach for identifying and im-
plementing critical technologies within the commercial environment.
67
The latter report cites these key ingredients in the Japanese success story:
commitment--the willingness to start developments that are expected to take
10 or more years to bring to the marketplace; coupling--effective coupling
between exploratory research and development and device fabrication;
commerce--the 10 or more semiconductor companies with large research and
development efforts; and creativity. It should be noted that the Japanese have
built much of the base for their success on consumer products. Thus the de-
velopment of marketable consumer products should be a major goal for U.S.
industry. A proposed national photonics demonstration project that supports
this goal is described later in this chapter.
Recommendations
The following are suggestions to industry offered by the panel:
It is essential to increase our industrial competitiveness in product
development and manufacturing and in marketing skills. This industrial effort
requires university and national laboratory support. One or more centers
should be established to emphasize the manufacturing problems of photonic
devices and systems. This effort should be a joint industry/university/national
laboratory effort--the industries being those with experience in manufacturing
photonic products and the universities and national laboratories being those
with a broad range of experience with specialized photonic techniques.
Photonics is vital to information storage and transmission, and deterioration
of our national position cannot be allowed to continue.
~ There must be continuing support for, and industrial effort in, long-
range research and innovation, a source of this country strength.
~ The photonics industry should consider the advantages of an industry
association that could help organize consortia to conduct cooperative research
and address technical problems and policy issues beyond the scope of any one
organization.
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68
PHO TONICS
The following are recommendations to the federal government offered by
the panel:
· Government should play a more active role in assessing technological
opportunities and catalyzing development of technology in industry. Careful
consideration should be given to creation of a national photonics project with
widespread industrial and university participation. The project should be one
that no single company would do by itself but that could have potential advan-
tages for several. It would have limited life. Persons from universities and sev-
eral industries would seek leaves-of-absence from their permanent affiliations.
The temporary affiliation would be similar to that of the national laboratories
organized for specific tasks during World War II and would have as its goal a
major photonics project. The purpose would be to build a demonstration
system aimed at promoting information transfer that has a mix of near-term
enabling technologies (e.g., field-testing advanced, low-loss, f~ber-optic connec-
tors) and demonstrating advanced devices such as OEICs in an experimental
photonic-oriented architecture. The project should be defined and carried out
by an industry/government team, with specific tasks assigned to the university
community. It would be best if the project had both commercial and military
payback and leverage. Examples of possible projects are given at the end of this
chapter.
~ The panel is recommending stable, basic research funding with an
increased emphasis at the interface of research and development. Materials
research should be an integral part of this supported effort
Government contractors who receive a percentage of sales for their in-
dependent research should devote a sizable fraction to projects with a life span
of 5 to 10 years. Longer-term research needs to be encouraged, and in view of
the difficulty in proceeding from research to products, some funds might even
be set aside for pilot plants to test the ease of manufacturing new products.
~ Regulation and antitrust and tax policies must be considered carefully
as they relate to industrial investment in the transfer of technology from
research, in the development of manufacturing technologies for low-cost/high-
volume production, and in providing new services. Policies designed for mature
and stable industries often impede progress when there are rapid technological
changes, high-technology investment costs, and an international suite of
competitors. The government should provide the necessary legal changes to
promote broadband information technology into our communication infra-
structure.
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POLICYISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
ED UCATIO N IN PH OTO NICS
69
Since 1985, the Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers has
conducted surveys of optics-related programs in U.S. universities.) The 1985
Optics in Education summary listed 30 schools with such programs; 50 were
listed in 1986 and 62 in 1987. The Optical Society of America, the Lasers and
Electro-optics Society of the IEEE, and SPIE all do a good job of publicizing
the field and of hosting tutorial sessions along with their technical meetings.
There are many new texts--both on basic and specialized subjects--as the text-
book exhibits at the recent Conference on Lasers and Electro-optics demon-
strated. Thus the growth in educational opportunities in photonics is encourag-
ing. Nevertheless it must tee recognized that the promise of this field will not be
reached without a continuing supply of high-quality people who are well edu-
cated in the fundamentals of this subject.
Although there need not be a common curriculum for photonics, exchange
of innovative ideas in a new field such as this can be especially helpful.
Excellent tutorial articles on photonics are appearing in Optics News, IEEE
Transactions on Education, and various trade journals, but a more concerted
effort could be made for regular tutorials and exchange of information on
photonics educational programs. This might be done in a regular section of
one of the above journals or as a separate publication in the spirit of the
American Joumal of Physics. The latter might be the product of a joint en-
deavor similar to that responsible for the Joumal of Lightwave Technology.
Exchange of information on modern optics laboratories is especially important
in view of the great amount of faculty time needed to develop a good laboratory.
It is well-known that there are widespread equipment deficiencies in the
universities of this country for teaching and research in all fields. The National
Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Defense (DOD), and other govern-
ment agencies have initiated programs to help with this problem, but it is not yet
solved. Since photonics is such a new field and because of the rapid growth in
programs as described above, the equipment deficiency for photonic teaching
laboratories is especially acute. It is recommended that the several government
agencies concerned with this field, together with industry representatives, mount
a joint program extending over several years and designed to alleviate this short-
age. Awards should be competitive, based on critical reviews of proposals.
SPECIALIZED EQUIPMENT FOR PHOTONICS
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
The problem of inadequate equipment for photonic teaching laboratories
has been addressed above. The cost of obtaining and maintaining the fabrica-
tion and diagnostic equipment for modern photonics research and development
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70
PHO TONICS
organizations represents an even greater problem. Excellent microfabrication
facilities for semiconductor optoelectronics devices are available in a number
of universities but are extremely expensive to operate and maintain. The
increasing need for access to MBE, MOCVD, or other units for fabrication of
quantum well and other superlattice devices adds greatly to the cost. MBE units
are priced at a minimum of $750,000 (although educational discounts may be
available) and require budgets of at least $100,000 per year to operate.
MOCVD is in some ways simpler to operate but presents a serious safety
problem that may require special protective facilities. During the past fiscal
year the NSF had many more requests than could be funded for MBE and
MOCVD units. Even if funds were available for purchase of these, the budgets
for continuing operation would present a serious Problem. To add to these
worries, newer techniques such as gas-source MBE ~ may make some of these
units obsolete. This problem exists not only for universities but also for the
smaller industrial laboratories.
It seems clear that not every research laboratory that should have access
to one of these specialized growth units can afford its own facilities. The Na-
tional Nanofabrication Facility at Cornell University--available to researchers
throughout the country--represents one approach to the problem. Another
bright spot is the increasing use of industrial facilities and those of national
laboratories by university researchers through joint research programs,
university/industry centers, or merely by informal arrangement.
Recommendation
· The panel recommends shared use of existing MBE, MOCVD, and
other specialized microfabrication equipment. This should be encouraged by
a variety of incentives, e.g., tax credits and supplemental grants. When requests
for new units do appear to be justified, it should be determined that the
institution is realistic regarding the source of funds for proper operation of the
equipment. Additional postdoctoral positions in the national laboratories
should be established.
SUGGESTIONS FOR A NATIONAL PHOTONICS PROJECT
A specific photonics project would tee very beneficial for accelerating efforts
to develop the enabling technologies described in this report. It would provide
a focus for developing and evaluating technology, and it would serve as a show-
piece of the technology developed. Many possible projects could be selected to
advance the enabling technologies. Although choosing a particular project or
setting specific goals or resource requirements is better done by the photonics
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POLICYISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
71
project organizers, the panel has suggested two sample projects below (one for
the automotive industry and one for the information-processing industry) and
has outlined the attributes that the project should encompass. Also mentioned
are some important technology activities with suggested ways of implementing
the project.
In general, the project should address a potentially large market and should
focus at least partly on inexpensive manufacture of photonic components.
These components and resulting systems should be suitable for industrial
environments, thereby giving them potential widespread use. It would be highly
desirable to include multiple photonic applications such as sensing, information
processing, and telecommunications in such a project. The project could be
located at one research center or distributed among several locations.
One possible project focuses on the automotive industry, with the major
goal being a safer, high-performance automotive prototype. First, vehicles
could be instrumented with photonic technology to demonstrate not only
functionality and reliability but also ability to perform new functions. Examples
of instrumentation include sensors and networks (e.g., engine sensors in pre-
viously inaccessible areas, fiber-optic gyroscopes, antiskid braking sensors, op-
tical data systems, and display systems). In this activity, attention should be
given to fundamental issues of environmental ruggedness and reliability. Such
characteristics are needed for most applications beyond telecommunications
and information processing in controlled environments and present a different
set of criteria by which to evaluate a particular technology. In automotive
applications photonic devices such as lasers and fiber connectors can be
required to have a 99.98 percent reliability over a-40 to 125° C range with a
7-year (60,000-hour) lifetime. In addition, photonic technology could be
brought to the automotive factory in the form of sensors and control systems,
robotic tactile and vision systems, and data-processing systems. For each case,
emphasis would be on pushing technology well beyond todays capability.
An alternate project is to build an advanced supercomputer prototype.
This project could focus on architectures, in particular multiprocessors, optical
link technology such as board-to-board and chip-to-chip connections, and com-
ponent technology such as optoelectronic integrated circuits. In the latter two
areas, research activity could focus not only on new technological concepts but
also on questions of ease of manufacture. Much emphasis should be placed on
materials and basic process development. Further issues involving packaging
include automated optical alignment and environmental stability.
Both of these sample projects emphasize demonstrating approaches that
can lead to manufacturable and reliable systems. Such considerations ~11 be
the basis of a critical assessment of programs for the project. For example, any
effort involving new architectures should use components and link technology
viewed as available in some predetermined time frame. In addition, the project
should be structured to emphasize technology rather than system architecture
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72
PHO TONICS
or system development. The demonstrations should not be related closely
enough to any particular application to be perceived as product development.
Thus the example systems mentioned above would be more a generic control
system and an information-processing demonstration.
A national photonics project must be organized to obtain maximum cooper-
ation among universities, industry, and government. Industry can perhaps best
set the goals and define needs. The project should emphasize new concepts and
devices (e.g., laser diodes that operate effectively at high temperature) but
should also include some network/architecture work. If too much emphasis is
placed on demonstrating ease of manufacture, industry may tee reluctant to par-
ticipate due to patent conflicts. There are numerous methods of avoiding such
issues--for example, by conducting a basic research program (generally at
universities) in parallel with technology demonstrations (at industrial labs) or
by having a large part of the program carried out at a national laboratory. A
national laboratory may be a particularly attractive choice because of its key
generic attributes. These could include a stable staff and facility, an existing
program involving and related to photonics that does not involve commercial
products, and a charter that is not purely military, so that industrial involvement
and guidance could tee facilitated. The project should be coordinated with other
major government-sponsored (e.g., the NSF, U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific
Research, Office of Naval Research, Army Research Office) specific photonic
thrusts to provide the desired unique thrust towards manufacturable enabling
photonic technologies. Finally, it is important to have good communication and
high levels of commitment among the scientists and engineers involved in the
project. These can be fostered by meeting frequently or by having the major-
ity of the technical participants contiguously located (i.e., within easy driving
distance) if the project is not confined to a single laboratory site.
A national photonics project having the attributes described above would
enhance the U.S. competitive position. In addition to demonstrating specific
technology, it would serve the essential function of providing more technological
experience for this country present and student photonic scientists and en-
g~neers.
REFERENCES
1. IEEE. 1987. Special Issue on Semiconductor Lasers. Journal of Quantum
Electronics Historical Section QE-23:651-695.
2. Casey, Jr., H. C., and Panish, M. B. 1978. Heterostructure Lasers, Part
A: FundamentalPrinciples. New York: Academic Press.
3. 1986. The high-tech race--who's ahead. Fortune 114~0ctober 13~:29-
37.
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POLICYISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
73
4. National Academy of Engineering/National Research Council. 1984. The
Competitive Status of the U.S. Electronics Industry. Washington, D.C.:
National Academy Press.
Japanese Technology Evaluation Program. 1985. Opto- and Micro-
Electronics. JTEC Report, PB85-242402.
National Research Council. 1986. Advanced Processing of Electronic
Materials in the United States and Japan. Washington, D.C.: National
Academy Press.
7. Report of the President's Commission. 1985. Industrial Competitiveness
--The New Reality. 0-481-213. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing
Office.
Defense Science Board. 1987. Report of the Defense Science Board Task
Force on Semiconductor Dependency. Washington, D.C.: Department of
Defense.
9. Sumney, L. W., and R. M. Burger. 1987. Revitalizing the U.S. semi-
conductor industry. Issues in Science and Technology 3~4~:32-41.
10. SPIE. 1985 and 1986. Opticsin Education.
11. Narayanamurti, V. 1987. Artificially structured thin film materials and
interface. Science235(February27~:1023-1028.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
national photonics
