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.
