Finland invests in diffractive optics

Finland invests in diffractive optics

The Finnish National Fund for Research and Development (Helsinki, Finland) has become a minority shareholder in Heptagon Oy, which designs and manufactures diffractive optics. Heptagon, based near Helsinki, was founded in 1993 by members of the diffractive-optics group in the Materials Physics Laboratory at Helsinki University of Technology. Heptagon Oy is also a shareholder in Oy Nanocomp Ltd., formed to commercialize the fabrication of nano- and microstructures with lithography equipment owned by the University of Joensuu (Joensuu, Finland). Jyrki Saarinen, a founder of the company and vice chairman of the Finnish Optical Society, was named president of Heptagon Oy in October.