Laser Industry Report

Nobel prize awarded for Bose condensate
Eric A. Cornell, a senior scientist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (Boulder, CO), Carl E. Wieman, a distinguished professor of physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and Wolfgang Ketterle, a professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA), have won the 2001 Nobel Prize in physics. The three will share the $943,000 prize for research leading to the 1995 creation of the Bose-Einstein condensate and early studies of its properties. The 2001 Nobel laureates will receive their awards Dec. 10 in Stockholm, Sweden.

Isonics and Cermet announce joint program for isotopically pure zinc oxide
Isonics Corp. (Golden, CO) and Cermet Inc. (Atlanta, GA) have announced a joint development program to evaluate isotopically pure zinc-64 oxide (ZnO) as a substrate for manufacturing blue LEDs and blue laser diodes for next-generation optical storage and telecommunications. Cermet is developing single-crystal ZnO as a replacement for aluminum oxide and silicon carbide substrates for the manufacture of gallium nitride optoelectronic devices. The partners are interested in evaluating the possible improved thermal conductivity of isotopically pure ZnO. The program is expected to take about 12 to 18 months to complete.

Rofin-Sinar completes sale of medical-laser business
Rofin-Sinar Technologies Inc. (Plymouth, MI and Hamburg, Germany) has completed the sale of the medical-laser business segment of laser systems for aesthetic surgical applications of Carl Baasel Lasertechnik GmbH & Co. KG (Starnberg, Germany), a majority-owned subsidiary of Rofin-Sinar, to WaveLight Laser Technologie AG (Erlangen, Germany). Micro applications such as fine cutting and welding or laser marking of surgical components are not part of this agreement. The integration of the medical laser business into WaveLight's corporate structure is expected to be fully accomplished by the end of this year. The location of the medical-laser business will remain in Starnberg.

Northrup Grumman wins $66-million contract for IR countermeasures
Northrup Grumman Electronic Systems (Baltimore, MD) has obtained a $66-million contract, with production options of another $112 million, to develop and produce a laser-based Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) system for the US Air Force. The system is intended to protect large military aircraft from sophisticated heat-seeking missiles. The Air Force plans to install the equipment on 20 of its C-130 and C-117 transport aircraft. "Inexpensive, yet lethal, surface-to-air missiles have proliferated around the globe and unfortunately are in the hands of our potential adversaries," said Arnold Welch, Grumman's vice president for infrared countermeasures systems.

Also in the news . . .
Cymer Inc. (San Diego, CA) has installed its 200th deep ultraviolet (DUV) excimer light source in Europe and its 100th DUV excimer light source in the Singapore/Malaysia region. The total Cymer installed base was about 1553 light sources as of June 30 . . . . The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) has placed an order valued at $47.3 million for an integration system from Saab (Stockholm, Sweden) that will enable Sweden's JAS 39 Gripen that will enable the JAS 39 Gripen to deliver laser-guided weapons. . . . E2O Communications (Calabasas, CA) has opened an optoelectronics R&D center in Camarillo, CA, focused on long-wavelength VCSEL development, that includes a 7000-sq-ft cleanroom with Class 1000 processing area and Class 100 photolithography area. . . . Novalux (Sunnyvale, CA) has begun to target its extended-cavity surface-emitting laser technology at the metro market with the recent introduction of 980-nm pump lasers. . . . Bandwidth9 (Fremont, CA) and Movaz Networks (Atlanta, GA) have entered into a development and production agreement based on Bandwidth9's MetroFlex product line, which will be integrated into the Movaz RAY product portfolio for device architectures to remotely tune wavelengths in optical networks.

Hassaun A. Jones-Bey