Next-generation optical switching.
Exclusively licensed from the University of Arizona.
Post-Quantum Tek is an early-stage photonics company working to commercialize exclusively licensed optical switching technology developed through research at the University of Arizona. PQT is seeking investment and strategic partnerships to advance this innovation into a commercially viable, next-generation optical switching solution.
In plain terms.
PQT is seeking investment to develop and commercialize optical switching technology designed to help future data centers and high-performance computing networks move information more efficiently, with the potential for lower energy consumption and reduced cooling requirements.
The problem
Data centers and AI systems need ever more networking capacity, and that drives energy consumption, heat, and operating cost.
The solution
PQT's exclusively licensed University of Arizona technology aims to redirect optical signals more efficiently, potentially reducing energy consumption and heat.
The opportunity
Growing demand for AI infrastructure, data centers, and high-speed communications creates markets for more efficient optical switching.
The investment
PQT is raising capital to hire an engineering team, build and test a prototype, and establish a path to commercialization.
Potential advantages.
PQT's switch steers light from one fiber to another without converting the data into electricity along the way. That design is where its potential advantages come from.
Energy efficient
Designed to reduce the energy required to redirect optical signals.
Rapid optical reconfiguration
Potential to establish and redirect optical connections quickly.
Reduced heat generation
Potential to lower switching-related heat and associated cooling requirements.
Scalable optical architecture
Designed to support the increasing connectivity demands of advanced communications networks.
By reducing the energy required for optical switching, PQT's technology has the potential to lower heat generation and associated cooling demands. These improvements could contribute to more energy-efficient communications infrastructure. Detailed measurements and their sources are in Technical Resources.
Exclusive rights.
Post-Quantum Tek holds an exclusive license to patented optical switching technology developed through research at the University of Arizona.
PQT is not pursuing a concept available to anyone. The company has secured exclusive licensing rights to the intellectual property that forms the foundation of its commercialization plan: US 9,453,970, "Reconfigurable diffractive optical switch," and its divisional US 9,726,827, issued to the Arizona Board of Regents and licensed to PQT through Tech Launch Arizona.
Built on University of Arizona research.
PQT's commercialization strategy builds on optical switching research that originated at the University of Arizona's Wyant College of Optical Sciences, including research into reconfigurable optical connections and their potential applications in high-speed communications networks.
The research
Research switches were built and tested in university labs between 2013 and 2017 and published in eight peer-reviewed papers.
The collaborators
Part of that research was done with Microsoft Research and UC Berkeley. That was university research on the underlying approach; it is not a test or endorsement of a PQT product.
The inventors
Pierre-Alexandre Blanche, Nasser Peyghambarian, and Brittany Lynn. Dr. Blanche, an Optica Fellow, is PQT's Founding Investigator.
From research to commercialization.
PQT has the license and the research foundation. It does not yet have a product. PQT is seeking investment to assemble a specialized engineering team, develop and validate a working prototype, establish strategic development partnerships, and advance its exclusively licensed technology toward commercial production.
Today
An exclusive license to the patents, and the university research behind them.
Next, with investment
Build the engineering team, design and build a prototype, and test it against the performance the research suggests.
Then
Strategic development partnerships, field evaluation, and a path to commercial production.