Dilas opens laser-diode facility in China
The diode-laser company Dilas (Mainz, Germany), opened its first manufacturing facility in China. With a sales office currently located in Shanghai, the new facility will be located in Nanjing, China, and will offer customer support, product development, and technical services. “Dilas is proud to be making a sizable investment in China to support our growing local and global customer base with superb quality and reliable high-power diode lasers,” said Marcel Marchiano, president and CEO. “Our new manufacturing facility is a strategic move toward globalization necessitated by our growing customer base seeking high-power diode-laser solutions in China, Asia, and around the world.”
Patent complaint targets major manufacturers
The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC; New York, NY) agreed to investigate a patent complaint that seeks to block the importation of a wide array of LEDs, lasers, and consumer electronics products into the USA. The complaint alleges that 30 major electronics manufacturers in Asia and Europe have violated a patent for producing gallium-nitride-based LEDs and laser diodes used in products such as Sony Blu-ray players, Motorola Razr phones, and Hitachi camcorders. The complainant (and patent owner) is Gertrude Rothschild, professor emeritus at Columbia University. The complaint targets Avago, Everlight, Seoul Semiconductor, and Stanley, as well as consumer electronics giants including Nokia, Sharp, and Toshiba. The purpose is to seek some form of licensing agreement from LED makers that use the patented process.
Grant funds production of nanomaterials
Scientists at the Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) of the University of Surrey (Surrey, England) and at the School of Chemistry in the University of Bristol (Bristol, England) were awarded funding of nearly $1.36 million from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to investigate techniques using high-power, short-pulsed lasers for the production of important nanomaterials, including nanoclusters, nanotubes and nanorods of carbon and zinc oxide, with controllable electrical and optical properties.
Medical-laser company files for bankruptcy
Diomed Holdings, developer and marketer of minimally invasive medical technologies including its patented EVLT laser treatment for varicose veins, announced that, together with its wholly owned subsidiary Diomed (Andover, MA), it filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.
The petition contemplates that Diomed will sell certain of its operating assets to Biolitec AG (Jena, Germany), a manufacturer of medical lasers, optical fibers and other products, enabling Biolitec to continue to operate Diomed’s business in the U.S. Diomed and Biolitec have entered into a non-binding letter of intent for the sale of specified assets for a purchase price of between $6 million and $7 million.
LaserLight Magic wins ILDA Artistic Award
The International Laser Display Association (ILDA; Orlando, FL) announced its 2007 Artistic Award winners, with LaserLight Magic (Arvada, CO) being honored with the Artistic Award for its entry “Reflection” in the Best Laser Photography category. There were a total of 100 entries from 21 companies from around the world. The international panel of judges unanimously selected Manick Sorcar’s “Reflection” for the first place award (see www.laserfocusworld.com/articles/324418). Second place went to Laser Entertainment Srl of Italy, and third to Lightwave International of the U.S. This is Sorcar’s second ILDA Award. The first was for his “Enlightenment of Buddha,” which won the ILDA 2005 Artistic Award.
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Also in the news . . .
The Laser Division of GSI Group (Rugby, England) opened a new laser applications lab in Suzhou, China, and formed a partnership in which Chutian Laser Group (Wuhan, China) will act as GSI’s distributor in China. . . . Novaled (Dresden, Germany), organic LED (OLED) developer, opened a Japanese branch office in Tokyo. . . . LED solutions company DDP (El Segundo, CA) embedded its LED color-wash lighting system into eight architectural columns throughout Rubensteins, a New Orleans-based fashion boutique. . . . LED manufacturer Seoul Semiconductor’s (Seoul, Korea) flash LED was named “Product of the Year for 2008” by Germany electronics magazine Elektronik . . . . Luminus Devices (Billerica, MA), the developer and manufacturer of PhlatLight (photonic lattice) LED products, closed a new round of financing of over $72 million . . . . The Israeli Defense Ministry rejected Skyguard, an antimissile laser-based system developed by Northrop Grumman, based on poor test performance in which Skyguard intercepted only eight out of 36 short-range missiles.