20 June 1997 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Congressional Record: June 28, 1996 (Senate)] [Page S7269-S7277] From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:cr28jn96-23] NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 1997 ***** Amendment No. 4427 (Purpose: To authorize $20,000,000 to be appropriated for the DARPA Optoelectronic Centers) Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of Senator Domenici and ask for its immediate consideration. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report. The legislative clerk read as follows: The Senator from Arizona [Mr. Nunn], for Mr. Domenici, proposes an amendment numbered 4427. The amendment is as follows: In section 201(4), strike out ``9,662,542,000'' and insert in lieu thereof ``$9,682,542,000''. Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, this amendment authorizes $20 million for the DARPA sponsored Optoelectronics Centers. Optoelectronics is widely recognized as a critical enabling technology for many information-age defense, aerospace, and commercial applications. It is the cornerstone for battlefield sensing [ultraviolet to infrared and rf], for image and signal processing, for high-speed communications, for input-output devices such as displays and cameras, and for optical storage. The development of manufacturable, reliable, cost-effective optoelectronic technology for these applications is essential to national defense as well as to our national competitiveness. This will require the challenging fusion of technological advances in electronic and photonic technologies, and the coordinated effort of our national resources from academia, industry, and the Government. Over the initial 5 years of their existence, under the effective management of DARPA, the University Optoelectronics Centers have come a long way toward filling their role as a major resource for future U.S. defense needs. As the U.S. industry is steadily decreasing its investment in research, these Centers have become an integral part of the U.S. research and development effort, and are a major source of R&D personnel for the U.S. Government and the optoelectronics industry. The Centers' value as a resource is derived in large part from the variety of subdisciplines that they accommodate, enabling a synergy that would not be available to an individual researcher or a smaller research group. Through exposure to the defense community and industry, the Centers are also in a position to provide future engineers that can enter the work force seamlessly. The Centers are therefore a primary source of engineering manpower, an important, complimentary avenue for technology exchange. There are many examples of clear links to product development and on- going interactions, as a measure of the contributions of the DARPA- funded Centers. At the Center for Optoelectronics Science and Technology [COST] the emphasis is toward optical communications networks on a scale ranging from local area networks to the global grid. The COST Research Program includes three thrusts-optoelectronic systems [e.g., parallel optical links], laser and modulator technology [e.g., In AIP-InGap quantum well devices], and optical receiver technology [including MESFET and HBT receivers]. At the National Center for integrated Photonic Technology [NCIPT] the focus is on the Optically-Controlled Phased Array Antennas [OCPAA] project in which significant impact could be made on the general application of photonics to microwave systems. The Center added a second focus area in optoelectronic integration with significant effort in the Optochip project, explained below. The Center also has devoted resources toward interconnects, including work on low-skew ribbon cable. At the Optoelectronic Materials Center [OMC], the major focus has been on diode-based visible sources, optoelectronic tools for intelligent manufacturing, and optoelectronic information networks. The work on visible diode sources is aimed at the realization of compact visible light sources based on GaN light emitting diodes and diode lasers, second harmonic generation of diode lasers, and up-conversion fiber lasers. The work in optolectronic tools aims primarily at the development of optoelectronic sensors for the silocon manufacturing industry, including applications in interferometric lithography, spectroscopic analysis of trace impurities, and the control of temperature during thermal processing steps. The Center's work in information network concentrates on the establishment of a test bed to evaluate wide bandwidth optical interconnects--based both on fiber and free-space technology. At the Optoelectronic Technology Center [OTC] the main focus is on computer interconnects [including guided wave and free space technologies], and high-performance networks [including time domain, subcarrier, and wavelength-division multiplexing]. Mr. President, these Centers have been a valuable tool to the Department of Defense and my amendment will allow them to continue this vital work. I understand my colleagues on both sides of the aisle have agreed to accept my amendment. I appreciate their support, ask for adoption of the amendment, and I yield the floor . Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I believe this has been cleared by the other side. Mr. NUNN. Mr. President, it has been cleared. I urge its adoption. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the amendment. The amendment (No. 4427) was agreed to.