Industrial laser acquisitions: Two acquisition activities by industrial laser giants Trumpf (Ditzingen, Germany) and Rofin-Sinar (Plymouth, MI and Hamburg, Germany) are noteworthy:
Trumpf intends to make an offer to buy the entire share capital of SPI Lasers (Southampton, England). The combination of SPI Lasers’ products, fiber laser technology, engineering, and manufacturing along with Trumpf’s complementary technology and resources will enable Trumpf to quickly establish a leading position in the rapidly growing fiber laser sector. SPI Lasers will operate as a merchant laser business unit within the Laser Technology and Electronics Division of Trumpf and will operate from its existing facilities in Southampton.
Rofin-Sinar Technologies will acquire 80% of the share capital of China-based Nanjing Eastern Laser Company (NELC) in two separate transactions. Jointly established by Nanjing Sanle Group (China) and SIDA Corporation (U.S.) in 1993, NELC has over two decades of experience in the Chinese laser market and has maintained close cooperation with Rofin-Sinar. NELC has been authorized to manufacture CO2 lasers using Rofin-Sinar’s technological know-how since 2004. NELC has approximately 70 employees and is ISO 9001–2000 certified; it will continue to operate as a stand-alone company and market its products through its own sales network to its primarily Chinese customer base.
High-power laser acquisition: nLIGHT Corporation (Vancouver, WA), a supplier of high-power semiconductor lasers and fibers, acquired a majority interest in Optotools GmbH (Heilbronn, Germany). Optotools, established in 2001, is a supplier of high-power semiconductor lasers for industrial customers. The established Optotools product line will remain and new, integrated products will be introduced in the next 12 months. “This acquisition further enhances our portfolio of products for the industrial laser market,” said Scott Keeney, nLIGHT’s president and CEO. “We are pleased to have the Optotools team join nLIGHT and to expand our investment in the German market through operations in Heilbronn.”
Semiconductor acquisition: e2v technologies (Chelmsford, England), developer and manufacturer of imaging components and sub-systems, announced that its subsidiary, e2v Holdings, conditionally agreed to buy QP Semiconductor (Santa Clara, CA), for an initial cash consideration of $65 million dollars. Keith Attwood, chief executive of e2v, said, “We are delighted to announce the proposed acquisition of QP, which represents a significant opportunity for the Group and is an important step in establishing an operational footprint in the USA. This acquisition will significantly enhance our presence in the high-reliability specialist semiconductor market and the board believes that the acquisition of QP will deliver earnings enhancement in the financial year ending March 2009 and material enhancement in the year ending March 2010.”
LED tunnel lighting: Dellux Technologies (Quebec, QC, Canada), a provider of light-emitting diode (LED) lighting products, selected Golden Dragon LEDs from OSRAM Opto Semiconductors (Santa Clara, CA) as the luminaires to be installed in the Thüringer Schmücketunnel on the A71 in the German state of Thüringen. Upon installation of the new LED luminaires in the fall of 2008, it will be the first tunnel in Germany and the longest in Europe to be illuminated by LED light. The Dellux luminaires and the LED light sources from OSRAM combine to provide a virtually maintenance-free light source with a minimum life of 130,000 hours (15 years). The luminaires being installed use 30% less energy than the 70 W high-intensity discharge lamps that have traditionally been used.
LED projector lighting: PhlatLight LEDs from Luminus Devices (Billerica, MA) are now powering two of the newest portable LED-based projectors: the Samsung P400 Pocket Imager and LG Electronics’ HS-102 Ultra-Mobile Projector. Both projectors are lamp-free, weigh less than two pounds, and fit in the palm of a hand. The PhlatLight PT54 LEDs used in both units enable brightness to reach and exceed 150 lumens (enabling easy viewing for a picture projected to a 40-inch size even in a well-lit office). PhlatLight LEDs are free of hazardous materials such as mercury or lead. These projectors consume approximately one-third the power of comparable lamp-based projectors and produce an instant-on image at full brightness without the cost and inconvenience of lamp replacement.
Quantum-dot market forecast: According to a new technical market research report entitled Quantum Dots: Growth, Maturity and Commercial Prospects from BCC Research (Wellesley, MA), the global market for quantum dot (QD) technology is expected to be worth $28.6 million in 2008. This will increase to over $721.1 million in 2013, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 90.7%. The market is broken down into the application segments of stand-alone colloidal QDs, electronics, optoelectronics, optics, and solar energy. Stand-alone colloidal QDs are the only currently active segment, with expected revenues of $28.6 million in 2008. This should increase to over $106.0 million in 2013 for a CAGR of 30.0%. Segments expected to launch in 2009 include electronics and optics.
TPP and 3-D structures: Zugo Photonics and Ilios Systems, two Singapore-based subsidiaries of 3V Holdings, provided strategic and technical support to the startup company Helios Applied Systems in order to develop the HAS1000 system which uses two-photon polymerization (TPP)—a process in which a laser beam is focused onto a volume of bio-compatible photopolymer. After illumination, the arbitrary sub-micron 3-D device is washed to remove the non-illuminated region and the polymerized material remains. According to Kan Shyi Herng, the brain and pillar behind HAS1000 and Helios Applied System, this new system is a great boost to tissue engineering, for MEMS, and the photonics industry.
People in the news: The Broadband Forum (www.broadband-forum.org), a consortium of over 200 international member companies dedicated to the development of broadband access and management technologies, awarded its Circle of Excellence award to Moti Morgenstern of ECI Telecom (Petach Tikva, Israel) for all his efforts and significant achievements in driving industry standards over the years.
Among the recipients of the 2007 National Medal of Science, which honors individuals in a variety of fields for pioneering scientific research that has led to a better understanding of the world around us, was David Wineland of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST; Boulder, CO), awarded for his outstanding leadership in the science of laser cooling and manipulation of ions.
The 2008 Paul F. Forman Engineering Excellence Award for technical achievements in optical engineering will be presented to Michael J. Bechtold, president, OptiPro Systems (Ontario, NY) at OSA’s Frontiers in Optics in Rochester, NY in October. Bechtold will be recognized for his work revolutionizing the process of optical fabrication by producing the first affordable computerized-numerical-control (CNC) machine designed for the optical industry.
More people in the news: Semiconductor company KLA-Tencor Corporation (Milpitas, CA) appointed Mark P. Dentinger CFO, reporting directly to CEO Rick Wallace. From February 2005 to April 2008, Dentinger served as executive VP and CFO for BEA Systems until the company was acquired by Oracle. Prior to BEA, Dentinger served in various financial management positions at Compaq Computer Corporation (now Hewlett-Packard).
Neal R. Stoker joined optical communications component packaging company Avo Photonics (Horsham, PA) as VP of sales and marketing, reporting directly to Joseph Dallas, COO. Stoker has broad experience in optical and laser sales and was most recently marketing director at PD-LD. Prior to this he held sales positions at JDSU, was VP of North American sales for Pirelli Telecom, and sales engineer at Spectra-Physics.
Gooch & Housego (Ilminster, England), manufacturer of optical components and systems, appointed Abdel Ezbiri as product manager for its growing Precision Optics portfolio. Ezbiri, who will be based at the company’s headquarters in Ilminster, held the position of product marketing manager for Solartron Metrology since 2003.
Edmund Optics (Barrington, NJ) appointed Clark Harris manager of marketing for Asia and Vincent Thong as director of sales for Asia. This duo, along with other staff in the region, will be responsible for further development of sales and brand awareness throughout Asia.