Company Director Masao Kawachi awarded Medal with Purple Ribbon
- for achievements in developing the Planar Lightwave Circuit (PLC) -
April 28, 2008

On April 29 the Japanese government announced the recipients of the Medals of Honor in spring, including Company Director Masao Kawachi, who is to receive the Medal with Purple Ribbon. The award ceremony is to be held on Friday, May 16.

The Medal with Purple Ribbon is bestowed on "individuals who have contributed to academic and artistic developments, improvements and accomplishments," and has been awarded this time to Director Kawachi in recognition of his significant contributions to creating a global optical parts industry by actualizing Planar Lightwave Circuit (PLC) technology?the world's first technology for manufacturing optical integrated circuits formed on a flat substrate capable of connection with optical fiber. PLC technology was made possible by neatly combining the technology for forming thick film of high-grade glass utilizing the optical fiber manufacturing method with LSI microfabriction technology used to manufacture optical integrated parts having such functions as branching, muliplexing/demultiplexing, and switching lightwaves among others.

[Greetings from Director Kawachi]

I am very pleased and privileged with the undeserved honor of being selected to receive the award at this time. I am grateful to all the people concerned at NTT laboratories and other organizations for their kind guidance and support, without which I would have never been able to achieve such recognition. I am truly honored on behalf of all those concerned for the highly evaluated initiative of our teamwork, which was made possible through joint efforts from the design stage to the manufacturing process, the mounting and evaluation of optical circuits, and to system application in the course of developing the Planar Lightwave Circuit (PLC). Since silica-based PLCs currently constitute our core photonics products group, I will continue my utmost efforts to be worthy of this honor, toward further developments, the ongoing evolution of academic and industrial fields, and for our company.

April 28, 2008
Masao Kawachi, Director

[Reference]

Masao Kawachi
Born on March 17, 1949 in Gumma Prefecture
Director, NTT Electronics Corporation

Career summary

March 1973

Completed the master's course at the Department of Electronics and Applied Physics, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology.

April 1973

Joined NTT. Since then, has been engaged in research and development of liquid crystal displays, optical fiber, and planar lightwave circuits.

December 1978

Honored by the Tokyo Institute of Technology with a doctorate degree in Engineering for his study on the electro-optical effects of liquid crystals.

February 1982

Became an exchange researcher at Communications Research Centre Canada (for one year).

February 1994

Became General Manager of the Opto Components & Modules Research Department, NTT Opto-electronics Laboratories.

July 1996

Became General Manager of the Research Planning Department, NTT Basic Technologies Research Laboratories.

July 1998

Became Director of NTT Opto-electronics Laboratories.

January 1999

Became Director of Network Innovation Laboratories.

July 2003

Became Director of the NTT Science and Core Technology Laboratory Group.

July 2005

Became Director and General Manager of the Technology Development Division, NTT Electronics Corporation.

April 2008

Assumed current position.

Major research achievements

Since joining NTT, Mr. Kawachi has been consistently engaged in research and development of optical parts, and conducted early research on liquid crystal displays, followed by trailblazing research and development of optical fibers and optical integrated circuits for communications. His major achievements include the development of silica-based, single-mode optical fibers using the Vapor-phase Axial Deposition (VAD) method, and development of the silica-based Planar Lightwave Circuit, for which he is being awarded the Medal of Honor.

The creation and evolution of an optical fiber communications system necessitates optical parts having the functions of branching, multiplexing/demultiplexing, and switching lightwaves among others. In the past, lenses and thin-film filters were combined to make certain bulk-type optical parts, while optical fiber was treated with fusion bonding or a drawing process to make fiber-type optical parts. However, the mass production of such parts proved difficult, thus posing problems in terms of low-cost production and compact integration. Mr. Kawachi actualized the world's first technology (silica-based PLC technology) for producing optical integrated circuits on a flat substrate capable of connection with optical fiber by neatly combining the technology for forming thick film of high-grade glass by utilizing the VAD method?an optical fiber manufacturing technology?with LSI microfabriction technology, and thereby overcame the issues posed by conventional optical parts.

The success of silica-based PLC technology stimulated research and development activities regarding light guides both in Japan and abroad, leading to an evolution of technologies for designing, processing, mounting and evaluating optical circuits. The silica-based PLC technology further grew as an integrated optical part technology that supports optical communications systems, and thereby significantly contributed to creating a global optical parts industry.

Major patents

Pat. No. 1374991: "The manufacturing method and manufacturing device for light guide film"
Pat. No. 2653883: "Broad wavelength band operative light guide optical multiplexing module"

Major awards and recognitions

• The Kenjiro Sakurai Memorial Award (for development of a silica-based planar lightwave circuit)
• The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication's award for achievement (for trailblazing research on a planar lightwave circuit for optical communications)
• Director-General of the Science and Technology Agency award for contribution to science and technology (for development of a silica-based planar lightwave circuit by flame hydrolysis deposition)
• The Ohkohchi Memorial Award for technology (for development of a silica-based planar lightwave circuit)
• IEEE Fellow(For contributions to optical fiber communications using silica-based optical fibers and planar lightwave circuits)
• The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication's fellowship (for significant contributions to research and development of optical fiber and a planar lightwave circuit)
• The Japan Society of Applied Physics' fellowship (for trailblazing research on a planar lightwave circuit and development of optical circuit devices)

Major papers presented

• (Related to optical fiber)
  1. "Low-loss single-mode fibre at the material-dispersion-free wavelength of 1.27µm", Electron Lett., 13, pp.442-443, 1977.
  2. "100km single-mode VAD fibres", Electron. Lett., 17, pp.57-58, 1981.
• (Related to planar lightwave circuit)
  1. "Fabrication of SiO2-TiO2 glass planar optical waveguides by flame hydrolysis deposition", Electron. Lett., 19, pp.583-584, 1983.
  2. "Silica waveguides on silicon and their application to integrated optic components", Optical and Quantum Electronics 22, pp.391-416, 1990.
  3. "Planar lightwave circuit device." Journal of the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication, C, Vol. J81-C2, pp. 513-523, 1998

Career in public positions, etc.

Member of the Research Planning and Evaluation Subcommittee, Council for Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology

Member of the Strategic Base Building WG, Science and Technology Promotion Coordination Expenditures Examination Subcommittee

Constituent member of the 21st Century Network Basic Technology Research Promotion Conference, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications

Major committee membership in learned societies, etc.

Chairman, Opto-electronics Research Specialized Committee, Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication
Director for Planning, Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication
Vice-Chairman of the Steering Committee, Japan Chapter of IEEE/LEOS
Chairman of the Steering Committee, Japan Chapter of IEEE/LEOS
President-elect, Electronics Society, Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication
Current position.