Thorlabs Ultrafast Optoelectronics established in Michigan

Photonics products maker Thorlabs (Newton, NJ) has established a new business unit, Thorlabs Ultrafast Optoelectronics (Thorlabs-UFO; Ann Arbor, MI), to focus on the need for high-speed optoelectronic products with bandwidths as high as 100 GHz. These products will be used in applications outside of the traditional telecommunications market and range from basic components to instrumentation.

“Our initial efforts will be in the area of ultrafast optoelectronic components such as lasers, modulators, and subsystems,” says Janis Valdmanis, general manager of Thorlabs-UFO. “Ultimately, our research and development efforts will complement and advance Thorlabs’ other initiatives in ultrafast and high-power lasers, optical and fiber optic instrumentation, and life science products. We hope to promote a strong interaction with the Michigan research community and attract strong talent from those channels in the coming years, contributing to Michigan’s overall job growth.”

Thorlabs has a goal of establishing geographically distributed R&D facilities and located the new venture in Michigan in part because it is home to the state-sponsored photonics cluster Mi-Light (www.mi-light.org), which comprises 30 companies and educational institutions.

Source: www.thorlabs.com