Laser Industry Report

Bandwidth9 inks development agreement with Metro-Optix
Bandwidth9 Inc. (Fremont, CA) announced a joint development agreement with Metro-Optix (Santa Clara, CA), to integrate the Bandwidth9 MetroFlex tunable transmitter, based on both vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) and microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technology, into the Metro-Optix CityStream bandwidth-management platform that supports SONET/SDH, ATM, and IP technologies simultaneously. "We believe adding tunability to our CityStream family of products will extend our leadership in the development of breakthrough approaches to bandwidth management for telecommunications providers," said Arun Bellary, chairman and CEO of Metro-Optix.

ARO acquires five-acre site for a new campus
Alpine Research Optics (ARO; Boulder, CO) has recently completed the purchase of a five-acre site on which it plans to build a state-of-the-art facility. "We believe that the market for high-performance coated optics will continue to grow, particularly in the deep ultraviolet," said ARO president David Collier. "The emerging applications for UV optics will require stringent control of substrate fabrication steps, as well as state-of-the-art coating methods, to deliver the required lifetime."