About Lightwave Logic

Lightwave Logic, Inc. operates as a technology company. The company focuses on the development of next generation photonic devices and non-linear optical polymer materials systems for applications in high speed fiber-optic data communications and optical computing markets. The company is in various stages of photonic device and materials development and evaluation with potential customers and strategic partners. The company expects to obtain a revenue stream from technology licensing agreements, technology transfer agreements and the production and direct sale of its own electro-optic device components. The company is moving toward commercialization of next generation electro-optic photonic devices made on its P2IC technology platform which it has detailed as: Polymer Stack, Polymer Plus, and Polymer Slot. The company’s unique polymer technology platform uses in-house proprietary high-activity and high-stability organic polymers. Electro-optical devices called modulators convert data from electric signals into optical signals for multiple applications. The company’s differentiation at the modulator device level is in higher speed, lower power consumption, simplicity of manufacturing, small footprint (size), and reliability. The company has demonstrated higher speed and lower power consumption in packaged devices, and during 2022, it continued to make advances in techniques to translate material properties to efficient, reliable modulator devices with commercial foundries. The company focuses on testing and demonstrating the simplicity of manufacturability and reliability of its devices, including in conjunction with the silicon photonics manufacturing ecosystem. In 2022, the company discussed the addition of several silicon-based foundry partners to help scale in volume its polymer modulator devices. Silicon-based foundries are large semiconductor fabrication plants developed for the electronics IC business, that are engaging with silicon photonics to increase their wafer throughput. Partnering with silicon-based foundries not only demonstrates that its polymer technology can be transferred into standard production lines using standard equipment, it also allows it to efficiently utilize its capital. The company’s extremely strong and broad patent portfolio allows it to optimize its business model in three areas, such as traditional focus on product development, patent licensing and technology transfer to foundries. The company is initially targeting applications in fiber optic data communications and telecommunications markets and are exploring other applications that include automotive/LIDAR, sensing, displays etc., for its polymer technology platform. Materials Development The company designs and synthesizes organic chromophores for use in its own proprietary electro-optic polymer systems and photonic device designs. A polymer system is not solely a material, but also encompasses various technical enhancements necessary for its implementation. These include host polymers, poling methodologies, and molecular spacer systems that are customized to achieve specific optical properties. The company’s organic electro-optic polymer systems compounds are mixed into solution form that allows for thin film application. The company’s proprietary electro-optic polymers are designed at the molecular level for potentially superior performance, stability, and cost-efficiency. The company’s proprietary and unique polymers have the potential to replace more expensive, higher power consuming, slower-performance materials, such as semiconductor modulator devices that are used in fiber-optic communication networks today. The company’s patented and patent pending molecular architectures are based on a well-understood chemical and quantum mechanical occurrence known as aromaticity. Aromaticity provides a high degree of molecular stability that enables its core molecular structures to maintain stability under a broad range of operating conditions. The company expects its patented and patent-pending optical materials along with trade secrets and licensed materials, to be the core of and the enabling technology for future generations of optical devices, modules, sub-systems, and systems that will develop or potentially out-license to electro-optic device manufacturers, contract manufacturers, original equipment manufacturers, etc. Device Design and Development Electro-optic Modulators The company designs its own proprietary electro-optical modulation devices. Electro-optical modulators convert data from electric signals into optical signals that can then be transmitted over high-speed fiber-optic cables. The company’s modulators are electro-optic, meaning they work because the optical properties of the polymers are affected by electric fields applied by means of electrodes. Modulators are key components that are used in fiber optic telecommunications, data communications, and data centers networks etc., to convey the high data flows that have been driven by applications, such as pictures, video streaming, movies etc., that are being transmitted through the Internet. Electro-optical modulators are expected to continue to be an essential element as the appetite and hunger for data increases every year, as well as the drive towards lower power consumption, and smaller footprint (size). Polymer Photonic Integrated Circuits The company also designs its own proprietary Photonic Integrated Circuits (otherwise termed a polymer PIC). A polymer PIC is a photonic device that integrates several photonic functions on a single chip. The company’s technology can enable the ultra-miniaturization footprint needed to increase the number of photonic functions residing on a semiconductor chip to create a progression like what was seen in the computer integrated circuits, commonly referred to as Moore’s Law. One type of integration is to combine several instances of the same photonic functions, such as a plurality of modulators to create a multi-channel polymer PIC. The number of channels can be varied depending on application. For example, the number of photonic components could increase by a factor of 4, 8, or 16. Another type of integration is to combine different types of devices, including from different technology bases, such as the combination of a semiconductor laser with a polymer modulator. The company’s P2IC platform encompasses both these types of architecture. The company’s modulator devices, enabled by its electro-optic polymer material systems, work at extremely high frequencies (wide bandwidths) and possess inherent advantages over current crystalline electro-optic material contained in most modulator devices, such as bulk lithium niobate (LiNbO3), indium phosphide (InP), silicon (Si), and gallium arsenide GaAs). The company’s advanced electro-optic polymer platform is creating a new class of modulators such as the Polymer Stack, Polymer Plus, Polymer Slot, and associated PIC platforms that can address higher data rates in a lower cost, lower power consuming manner, smaller footprint (size) with much simpler data encoding techniques. The company’s electro-optic polymer material will boost the performance of standard PIC platforms, such as silicon photonics and indium phosphide. The company’s electro-optic polymers can be integrated with other materials platforms because they can be applied as a thin film coating in a fabrication clean room such as may be found in semiconductor foundries using standard clean room tooling. This approach the comopany calls Polymer Plus. The company’s polymers are unique in that they are stable enough to seamlessly integrate into existing CMOS, Indium Phosphide (InP), Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), and other semiconductor manufacturing lines. Of relevance are the integrated silicon photonics platforms that combine optical and electronic functions. These include a miniaturized modulator for ultra-small footprint applications in which the company terms the Polymer Slot. This design is based on a slot modulator fabricated into semiconductor wafers that include both silicon and indium phosphide. The company is working with commercial foundries to implement its electro-optic polymers into accepted PDKs by the foundries. The company works with the foundries is being focused with the Polymer Plus and the Polymer Slot polymer modulators. Business Opportunity The company is developing next generation proprietary photonic devices that are based on its advanced electro-optical polymer material systems. First Product – The Ridge Waveguide Modulator A ridge waveguide modulator is a type of modulator where the waveguide is fabricated within a layer of the company’s electro-optic polymer system. Various cladding materials and electrodes are layered over the core polymer. The polymer materials are then part of an integrated photonics platform that can house other photonic devices, such as lasers, waveguides etc. In April 2017, the company achieved bandwidth suitable for 25Gbps data rates in an all-organic polymer ridge waveguide intensity modulator prototype, a significant improvement over its initial 10Gbps device modulator prototype that was announced in 2016. In July 2017, the company advanced its high-speed modulation performance to satisfy 28Gbps data rates for QSFP28 standards which are also utilized for 100Gbps data center applications. In September 2017, the company achieved outstanding performance of its ridge waveguide Mach-Zehnder modulators ahead of schedule, with bandwidth performance levels that will enable 50Gbaud modulation in fiber-optic communications. The company is further optimizing its high-performance modulators for additional specifications that are beginning to be required by the fiber communications industry for applications, such as networks running at data rates of 800Gbps. Electro-Optic Polymer Production –Approach vs. the BLA Approach Electro-Optic Material Approach The company’s core material expertise relates to the production of high-performance, high-stability electro-optic polymers for high-speed (wide bandwidth) telecommunication and data communications applications. More specifically, it lies in a less mainstream, yet firmly established, scientific phenomenon called aromaticity. Aromaticity causes a high degree of molecular stability. It is a molecular arrangement wherein atoms combine into multi-membered rings and share their electrons among each other. Aromatic compounds are stable because the electronic charge distributes evenly over a great area preventing hostile moieties, such as oxygen and free radicals, from finding an opening to attack. Electro-Optic Photonic P2IC Device Approach The company’s electro-optic devices are built around its proprietary organic polymer material systems that will enable better performance than the embedded legacy technology built around inorganic materials. The company’s initial device, a ridge waveguide modulator, though highly miniaturized utilizes conventional design and fabrication techniques in the industry. The company’s future devices will utilize silicon photonics (SiPh) technology, which can support highly miniaturized slot waveguides structures etched in large format, low cost, and less expensive silicon wafers coated with its organic electro-optic polymers. Intellectual Property The company’s intellectual property portfolio has expanded significantly over the last year as it is developing its P2IC into prototypes. The company actively filed technical utility patents over the past few years, and is in the process of readying a number of other inventions for formal filings in 2023. The company expects to continue innovating with its P2IC platform for the next couple of years. The company had a number of patents issued over the past few months indicating that its technology is being recognized as being unique. In 2018, the company acquired the polymer technology intellectual property assets of BrPhotonics Productos Optoelectrónicos S.A., a Brazilian corporation, which significantly advanced its patent portfolio of electro-optic polymer technology with 15 polymer chemistry materials, devices, packaging and subsystems patents and further strengthened its design capabilities to solidify its market position as it prepares to enter the 400Gbps integrated photonics marketplace with a highly competitive, scalable alternative to installed legacy systems. In 2022, the company acquired the polymer technology and intellectual property assets of Chromosol Ltd (UK), which significantly strengthened the company's design capabilities with foundry PDKs with extremely low temperature atomic layer deposition (ALD) processes that effectively hermetically seal polymer devices that have been prepared for high volume manufacturing. The advanced fabrication processes of ALD with temperatures below 100C will solidify its market position with both the company's manufacturing foundry partners as well as end-users as it prepares to enter the 800Gbps integrated photonics marketplace. In total, the company’s patent portfolio consists of 66 granted patents that include 52 from the US, 1 from Canada, 6 from the EU, 2 from Japan and 3 from China. The company’s materials patent portfolio has also strengthened significantly with the filing of additional new patent applications on its core Perkinamine molecular compounds, as well as recent, innovative inventions that are expected to protect its P2IC polymer PIC platform from potential competition. Included in the company’s patent portfolio are the following nonlinear optic chromophore designs, such as stable free radical chromophores, processes for preparing the same; stable free radical chromophores, processes for preparing the same; tricyclic spacer systems for nonlinear optical devices; anti-aromatic chromophore architectures; heterocyclical anti-aromatic chromophore architectures; heterocyclical chromophore architectures; heterocyclical chromophore architectures with novel electronic acceptor systems; and multi-fiber/port hermetic capsule sealed by metallization and method. The company’s patent portfolio includes patents not only on nonlinear optic chromophore designs, but also device designs and inventions, fabrication process inventions, packaging design inventions, as well as novel chemistry to enable high performance, low power, small footprint polymer PIC technology. The company’s strategic plan is to utilize its core proprietary technology and leverage its proprietary optical materials to be the core of and the enabling technology for future generations of optical devices, modules, sub-systems and systems that it will develop or potentially out-license to electro-optic device manufacturers. The company relies on a combination of patents, patent applications, trademarks, trade secrets and contractual provisions to protect its technologies. Further, employees are required to surrender any inventions or intellectual property developed as part of their employment agreements. The company also has a policy of requiring prospective business partners to enter into non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) before disclosure of any of its confidential or proprietary information Heterocyclical Steric Hindering System: This patent describes a nitrogenous heterocyclical structure for the integration of steric hindering groups that are necessary for the nanoscale material integration. Due to the [pi]-orbital configuration of the nitrogen bridge, this structure has been demonstrated not to interfere with the conductive nature of the electronic conductive pathway and thus is non-disruptive to the electro-optic character of the core molecular construction. The quantum mechanical design of the system is designed to establish complete molecular planarity (flatness) for optimal performance. Totally Integrated Material Engineering System: This patent covers material integration structures under a design strategy known as Totally Integrated Material Engineering. These integration structures provide for the wrapping of the core molecule in sterically hindering groups that maximally protect the molecule from environmental threats and maximally protect it from microscopic aggregation (which is a major cause of performance degradation and optical loss) within a minimal molecular volume. These structures also provide for the integration of polymerizable groups for integration of materials into a highly stable cross-linked material matrix. Business Strategy The company’s business strategy anticipates that its revenue stream will be derived from one or some combination of the following: technology licensing for specific product application; joint venture relationships with significant industry leaders; and the production and direct sale of its own electro-optic device components. The key elements of the company’s strategy are to further the development of proprietary organic electro-optic polymer material systems; develop photonic devices based on its P2IC technology; develop proprietary intellectual property; grow its commercial device development capabilities; partner with silicon-based foundries who can scale volume quickly; grow its product reliability and quality assurance capabilities; grow its optoelectronic packaging and testing capabilities; grow its commercial material manufacturing capabilities; maintain/develop strategic relationships with major telecommunications and data communications companies to further the awareness and commercialization of its technology platform; and add high-level personnel with industrial and manufacturing experience in key areas of its materials and device development programs. Research and Development The company’s research and development expenses were $12,805,374 for the year ended December 31, 2022. History The company was founded in 1991. It was incorporated under the laws of the state of Nevada in 1997. The company was formerly known as Third-order Nanotechnologies, Inc. and changed its name to Lightwave Logic, Inc. in 2008.