American Holographic (AH; Fitchburg, MA), a maker of holographic diffraction gratings and spectral sensor modules, has been bought by Agilent Technologies (Palo Alto, CA). The acquisition is largely—but not entirely—due to Agilent's push to expand its offerings in the telecommunications market. Under the terms of the agreement, AH becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Agilent's Communications Solutions Group and will remain at its present location. Founded 24 years ago to produce gratings for analytical instrumentation, AH currently has 26 employees and resides in a 20,000-sq ft facility that includes a 3000-sq ft clean room. Although the company mostly produces original holographic diffraction gratings, it also designs and makes OEM modules that contain gratings, according to Tom Mikes, the company's founder, president, and chief executive officer. The modules include spectrometers and spectrographs. All gratings produced by AH are intended for use either in telecom devices or in analytical instruments, says Mikes.—John Wallace