From name changes to mergers, there have been several significant developments in the optoelectronics industry over the past few weeks. Here is a preview of a few of them.
• Munich, Germany-based TuiOptics GmBH, a supplier of customized diode laser solutions, has changed its name to TOPTICA Photonics AG to reflect the firm's growing independence from its mother company TuiLaser. The firm offers tunable high-power research laser products from the ultraviolet to the near infrared, as well as test equipment for optical disk storage and laser sources (including blue laser diode techology) for the graphic arts and repro business.
• Coherent (Santa Clara, CA) has acquired DeMaria ElectroOptic Systems Inc. (Bloomfield, CT) for $22.5 million in cash. The firm, newly named Coherent/DEOS, designs and manufactures carbon-dioxide lasers for materials processing, electronics packaging, and research applications. According to company management, Coherent is now the only laser manufacturer to offer a line of sealed carbon-dioxide lasers ranging in power from 25 to 500 W.
• Lambda Physik AG and Jenoptik AG have formed a joint venture to develop and produce radiation sources in the extreme ultraviolet range. With sites in Gottingen and Jena, Germany, the new company XTREME Technologies GmbH will develop electrically excited discharge plasmas and laser-produced plasma sources. The firm will be co-managed by Uwe Stamm, the former head of Lambda Physik's science and medicine division, and Henry Birner, the former head of business development at Jenoptik Laser Optik Systeme.
• DuPont Displays, a business unit of DuPont Corp., and Three-Five Systems Inc. have formed Three-D OLED LLC, a new display-module joint venture that will design, assemble, and market organic-light-emitting-diode (OLED) display modules. The venture, which will have a home base in Tempe, AZ within Three-Five's existing corporate headquarters, will focus on glass-substrate passive-matrix polymer OLED displays developed by DuPont Displays and Uniax Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of DuPont. Three-D OLED LLC may also market and sell glass-substrate passive-matrix small-molecule OLED modules.
• PerkinElmer Inc. (Boston, MA) has acquired Sonoran Scanners, which specializes in UV laser direct imaging and computer-to-plate technologies. This acquisition marks Fremont, CA-based PerkinElmer Optoelectronics' entry into the graphic arts market.
• Multiplex Inc. (South Plainfield, NJ), which manufactures high-end optoelectronic components and subsystems, has obtained more than $105 million in third-round funding to continue expanding its product offerings and to ramp up manufacturing capacity. With this funding round, investments in Multiplex since its founding in 1998 now exceed $130 million .
• MEMSCAP SA (Grenoble France and Oakland, CA), which provides MEMS-based products for the fiberoptic and wireless communications markets, has established MEMSCAP Oy. The wholly-owned subsidiary in Finland will focus on the development, commercialization, and sale of active optical components for the metroploitan and access layers of the optical network. The new company, thorugh a licencing and development relationship with Finland's Optoelectronics Research Centre, will lead to MEMSCAP supplying resonant-cavity light-emitting diodes and high-performance VCSEL technology. The firm will also work with the research center to develop 1.3-m VCSELs and tunable VCSELs.
•Unitek Miyachi Lasers (Monrovia, CA) has expanded its facilities to include a process development labory focused on optoelectronic device manufacturing.
•Melcor Corp. (Trenton, NJ) has completed a phase one expansion of its plant and R&D lab. Included is a 160% increase in the company's OptoTEC production area, which serves telecom and optoelectronic markets.