Gentec Electro-Optics acquires Spectrum Detector

Quebec City, QC, Canada--Gentec Electro-Optics (Gentec-EO), manufacturer of products for the laser-beam-measurements market, acquired laser and terahertz measurement manufacturer Spectrum Detector (Lake Oswego, OR) (www.spectrumdetector.com). Gentec says the acquisition expands its product offering in currently untapped markets, and adds Spectrum Detector’s expertise to the company's long experience in the laser measurement business.

"Spectrum Detector’s products are so remarkably complementary to ours that the decision to acquire the company was simple to make, and both sides are very excited to work together," said Michel Giroux, president and CEO of Gentec Electro-Optics. Spectrum Detector products cover areas left ignored by the other laser measurement players, and that has been the company’s business model from the beginning. "Classic laser measurement products were already out there, so when we founded Spectrum Detector, we decided to aim wider, and pursue applications that were ignored by others," said Don Dooley, president and founder of Spectrum Detector. With this idea in mind, and within just a few years, Spectrum Detector managed to develop an extensive line of sensors and instruments for laser and terahertz measurement, and have provided NIST with many custom instruments used as optical calibration transfer standards.

With the addition of Spectrum Detector products, Gentec Electro-Optics will now have measurement solutions for the new and rapidly expanding terahertz market, ultra-sensitive optical Joulemeters for applications down to femtojoules, instruments for pulse to pulse energy measurements up to 130 kHz and Optical TRAP detectors that act as primary calibration standards, to name a few.

This wide product offering is backed by a highly experienced team. Spectrum Detector’s president and founder, Don Dooley, has been in the laser measurement business for more than 30 years. He was also the founder and CEO of Molectron Detector, bought by Coherent in 2002. He started Spectrum Detector in 2006, with his longtime friend and partner Mark Stout, also of the Molectron Detector team. "My team and I have more than 60 years combined experience in pyroelectric detectors, optical instrumentation, laser power and energy measurement products and NIST traceable optical calibration," said Dooley.

With the acquisition, a new entity has been formed. This new company, named Gentec-EO USA, Inc., employs all the former Spectrum Detector employees, with Don Dooley as general manager. By creating this entity, Gentec Electro-Optics aims to strengthen its presence in the U.S.

SOURCE: Gentec-EO; www.gentec-eo.com/en/news/gentec-electro-optics-acquires-spectrum-detector.26.htm

--Posted by Gail Overton; [email protected]; www.laserfocusworld.com