Optoelectronics Report articles from January 2003

Optoelectronics Report archives from January 2003

Veeco and FEI call off merger.
January 15, 2003... WOODBURY, NY and HILLSBORO, OR -- Veeco Instruments and FEI Company have mutually terminated the merger agreement they entered into on July 11, 2002 (see OER, July 15, 2002). Veeco and FEI decided not to proceed with the merger due to the...

Corning seeks 'alternatives' for photonics business.(Brief Article)
January 15, 2003... NEW YORK, NY -- According to reports from Reuters, Corning Chief Financial Officer Jim Flaws told analysts at the Fifth Annual Needham & Company Growth Conference January 9 that the company is looking for strategic alternatives for its...

Blue-violet lasers. (News Briefs).(joint development agreement between Nichia and Sony)(Brief Article)
January 15, 2003... After years of being at odds on this issue, Nichia (Tokyo) and Sony (Tokyo) have reached a basic agreement whereby they will jointly develop blue-violet laser diodes, in mass-production level, for use in optical disc recording and playback by...

Patent agreement. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
January 15, 2003... New Focus (San Jose, CA) has settled the pending patent-infringement lawsuit related to the design of tunable lasers filed against the company by Photonetics in July 2001. In response to this lawsuit, New Focus filed counterclaims against...

RSoft acquires ARTIS assets.(RSoft Design Group)
January 15, 2003... OSSINING, NY -- RSoft Design Group has purchased the intellectual property assets and key employees of its former competitor, ARTIS. ARTIS' assets include OptSim, a software product for the simulation of optical communication systems, and...

Candela acquires Applied Optronics for $1.2 million.(Brief Article)
January 15, 2003... WAYLAND, MA -- In a move that is being characterized as a "tactical investment," Candela Corporation has acquired substantially all of the assets of Applied Optronics (South Plainfield, NJ), the diode division of Schwartz Electro-Optics...

SETI award honors laser Laureate Townes.(Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence Institute awards Charles Townes)(Brief Article)
January 15, 2003... MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- The Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute has awarded the 2002 Frank Drake Award for Innovation in SETI and Life in the Universe Research to Charles Townes, Nobel Laureate and Emeritus Professor of...

Fiber alignment. (News Briefs).(Northrop Grumman Corp. acquires Fibersense Technology Corp. from Audax Group)(Brief Article)
January 15, 2003... Northrop Grumman Corporation (Los Angeles, CA) has acquired Fibersense Technology Corporation from Audax Group. The stock of Fibersense, a designer and manufacturer of fiberoptic gyroscope-based navigation systems, was acquired for $44...

Contract extension. (News Briefs).(Zygo Corp.; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory )(Brief Article)
January 15, 2003... Zygo Corporation (Middlefield, CT) has received a contract extension for laser amplifier slabs, mirrors, and polarizers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) for use in the National Ignition Facility (NIF). The contract...

Fiberoptic merger. (News Briefs).(APA Optics Inc., Computer System Products Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 15, 2003... APA Optics (Minneapolis, MN) today announced that it has signed an exclusive non-binding term sheet with Computer System Products (CSP) to purchase all of the stock of CSP for cash, APA common stock, and common stock warrants, and to assume...

Security conference. (News Briefs).(Optical Society of America's "Optical Sensing for Homeland Security: A User-Driven Forum")(Brief Article)
January 15, 2003... Sponsored by the Optical Society of America (Washington, DC), the upcoming two-day conference, "Optical Sensing for Homeland Security: A User-Driven Forum," will focus on the key role that optical sensing technologies play in protecting...

Merger creates new British Photonics Cluster.(Midlands Photonics Cluster and UK Laser and Electro-Optics Association form The Photonics Cluster )
January 15, 2003... BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND -- The Midlands Photonics Cluster based at Aston Science Park and the UK Laser and Electro-Optics Association (UKLEO) have joined forces. The new organization, which represents some 50 companies, will be known as The...

Laser Technology rejects takeover bids.(Brief Article)
January 15, 2003... ENGLEWOOD, CO -- Laser Technology, a designer, manufacturer, and marketer of pulse laser measuring systems for a variety of commercial and consumer applications, has rejected two acquisition proposals, calling them both "inadequate." In...

SurgiLight refutes Merrill Lynch accusations.(corporate credit)(Brief Article)
January 15, 2003... ORLANDO, FL -- Eye-laser manufacturer SurgiLight plans a "vigorous defense, based on the facts" in a lawsuit filed by Merrill Lynch over a $500,000 credit line previously granted to the company that Merrill Lynch says in default. According to...

Survey finds laser market to grow 12%.(Laser Focus World report)(Brief Article)
January 15, 2003... NASHUA, NH -- The laser market is expected to grow 12% in 2003, reaching total sales of $4.8 billion, according to the latest findings of the annual Laser Focus World marketplace survey (see OER, Jan. 1, 2003). This is a welcome change from...

OLED pact. (News Briefs).(OSRAM Opto Semiconductors GmbH and Three-Five Systems; marketing relationship)(Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED))(Brief Article)
January 15, 2003... OSRAM Opto Semiconductors GmbH (Regensburg, Germany), a wholly owned subsidiary of Osram, one of the world's largest lamp manufacturers, has entered into a relationship with Three-Five Systems (Tempe, AZ) that gives Three-Five the ability to...

FDA denies. (News Briefs).(Food and Drug Administration disapproves CardioGenesis Corp. percutaneous myocardial revascularization system)(Brief Article)
January 15, 2003... Following receipt of a "not approvable" letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, CardioGenesis Corporation (Foothill Ranch, CA) is exploring several strategic options focused on securing clearance of its premarket approval...

Raman spectroscopy enables noninvasive blood test.(Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
January 15, 2003... CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT; Cambridge, MA) have developed a five-minute noninvasive blood test that uses 830-nm diode-laser energy to identify the concentration of nine critical components...

Optoelectronics Report 40.(share prices)
January 15, 2003... Optoelectronics Report 40 52-week Company Ticker Dec. 11 Jan. 9 Low High ADC Telecom ADCT 1.89 2.56 1.02 5.76 Agere...

New VP. (News Briefs).(Philippe Brak joins Gigabit Optics )(Brief Article)
January 15, 2003... Philippe Brak, formerly vice president and general manager of the OEM business unit of Spectra-Physics (Mountain View, CA), has joined Gigabit Optics (Sunnyvale, CA) as vice president, sales and marketing. During his 16-year tenure at...

Changing hands. (News Briefs).(Digital Optics Corp. takes on Zygo TeraOptix customers)(Brief Article)
January 15, 2003... Changing hands: Digital Optics Corporation (DOC; Charlotte, NC) and Zygo TeraOptix (ZTO; Middlefield, CT) have reached an agreement to transfer some of ZTO's customers to DOC as ZTO exits the micro-optics business. This solution allows...

DNA ID patent. (News Briefs).(Virtek Vision International; fiberoptic nucleic acid direct-mode detection device)(Brief Article)
January 15, 2003... Virtek Vision International (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada), a developer of laser, automation and biosensor solutions, has been granted U.S. patent #6,503,711 for its fiberoptic nucleic acid (FONA) direct-mode detection device and methodology....

IP purchase. (News Briefs).(TeraXion acquires intellectual property of Phaethon Communications Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 15, 2003... TeraXion (Quebec City, Canada), a developer of optical components for high-speed optical networks, today announced it has acquired the intellectual property of Phaethon Communications (Fremont, CA) for an undisclosed amount. According to...

ElectroniCast predicts OEIC growth.(Optoelectronic Integrated Circuits)(Brief Article)
January 15, 2003... SAN MATEO, CA -- The latest report from ElectroniCast (San Mateo, CA), "Optoelectronic Integrated Circuits (OEICs) and Related Devices/Parts Rapid Reaction," finds that global consumption of OEICs will rebound from a 2002 low of $320 million...

Review and forecast of the laser markets; Part I: Nondiode lasers.(Industry Overview)
January 1, 2003... All metaphors aside, the last two years have been among the toughest in the laser industry's 40-year history. While a few market segments have remained relatively stable, the downturn in telecommunications and semiconductor manufacturing has...

Spectra-Physics merges laser businesses. (Breaking News).(with six Thermo Electron businesses)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- Spectra-Physics is undergoing a brand integration with six Thermo Electron businesses, uniting its existing laser business with Laser Science, the operations and catalog of Oriel, the specialty components of Corion, Huger...

Non-telecom applications keep European market afloat.
January 1, 2003... LONDON, ENGLAND -- Like its North American counterpart, the European telecom market is still bumping along the bottom. Those companies tied exclusively to the telecom sector are in even worse shape now than in 2001, although some are riding...

China emerges as bright spot in Asian market.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... NASHUA, NH -- According to a 2002 report from TechSearch International (Austin, TX), with packaging now one of the primary cost issues in optoelectronics manufacturing, a growing number of photonics firms are following in the footsteps of...

Industrial-laser turnaround under way.
January 1, 2003... STURBRIDGE, MA -- The irony of recessions is that the early stages of recovery closely resemble conditions prior to bottoming out. The industrial-laser market experienced this phenomenon in the 1992 recession that was 18 months in the making...

Medical market anticipates revenue growth in 2003.(Industry Overview)
January 1, 2003... NASHUA, NH -- Sluggish economic conditions worldwide continue to impact consumer disposable income, which has been the primary driver of medical-laser revenues for the last several years. As a result, following record growth of 18% in 1999...