Carl Zeiss signs deal on thin-film coatings

Carl Zeiss Inc. North America (Thornwood, NY) has formed a strategic alliance with Nanofilm Ltd. (Valley View, OH). Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Under the deal, Zeiss will act as a development partner for some Nanofilm products, using a Nanofilm precision coating in designing optical lenses. The coating is a thin polymeric film that provides plastic lenses with the performance qualities of glass. At first, the coated lenses will be available only in the consumer-eyewear market through Carl Zeiss Optical (Chester, VA), but eventually the technology is expected to be used in many of the company's business units, which include optics for semiconductor manufacturing, microscopy and imaging systems, astronomy, medical uses, and cameras.