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04 August 2008
Industry Newsmakers - 2nd Quarter 2008
Industry Newsmakers
Second Quarter 2008
The following is a corporate news roundup from the Optical Society (OSA). This quarterly gathering of industry news is a complimentary service offered by the OSA PR team.
For more information on these or other OSA corporate members making news, please contact Lyndsay Meyer at lmeyer@osa.org or 202.416.1435.
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OSA CORPORATE MEMBERS Finisar Corporation -- Finisar and Optium Agree to Combine in All-Stock Merger Lockheed Martin Corporation -- Lockheed Martin and Rice University Partner on Nanotech Research New Focus, A Division of Bookham -- Bookham Acquires Laser Controller from Precision Photonics Corporation for New Focus™ Product Line Newport Corporation - Newport Announces High-Energy Nd:YAG Laser 50/50 Beamsplitters
nLIGHT Corporation -- nLIGHT Receives 2008 Governor’s Emerging Trader of the Year Award Raydiance, Inc. -- Raydiance Honored by Two Prestigious Industry Awards for Achievements in Business, Technology and Innovation |
Second Quarter 2008 Industry News Summary
The industry’s leading conference on lasers and electro-optics, CLEO/QELS & PhAST, took place in May. More than 350 exhibitors, including several OSA Corporate Member companies, were on hand displaying the latest products and innovations. New Focus, a division of Bookham, announced the addition of the LB1005 High-Speed Servo Controller to its product line. It acquired the LB1005 line from Precision Photonics Corporation. The LB1005 high-speed servo controller is a one-box solution that allows for highly stable frequency and intensity locks on many types of lasers as well as synchronization of pairs of lasers. Quantronix Corp. announced the new Palitra Optical Parametric Amplifier (OPA), which, according to the company, offers the highest conversion efficiency (40 percent at peak) and widest gap-free tuning range (0.175-22 µm) on the market. Newport Corporation unveiled its new line of high-energy Nd:YAG laser 50/50 beamsplitters. The company now offers 16 different versions at four center wavelengths of 266, 355, 532 and 1064 nm, in both one- and two-inch diameters.
OSA Corporate Members continue to win industry accolades for their business and technological accomplishments. Semiconductor laser and fiber manufacturer nLIGHT Corporation received Washington State’s 2008 Governor's Emerging Trader of the Year Award. The award honors a state business that has demonstrated innovation and success in international trade. Raydiance, Inc., the developer of the world’s first compact, cost-effective and fully software-controlled ultrashort pulse laser system, was recognized as a Red Herring 100 North America winner, an award given to the top 100 private technology companies based in North America. The company was also selected as a finalist in the Most Innovative Company category in the 2008 American Business Awards.
To stay on top of an ever-changing industry scene, OSA Corporate Members are developing new business practices and partnerships. Finisar Corporation announced their merger with Optium Corporation in May. The merger will create the world’s largest supplier of optical components, modules and subsystems for the communications industry, and will include 5,000 employees worldwide. Jerry Rawls will remain the executive chairman of Finisar's board, while Eitan Gertel will become president and CEO. Lockheed Martin Corporation is partnering with Rice University to advance nanotechnology research and develop new technologies in such applications as electronics, energy and security. The Lockheed Martin Advanced Nanotechnology Center of Excellence at Rice University, or LANCER, will pair researchers from Lockheed Martin with Rice experts in carbon nanotechnology, photonics, plasmonics and more. Ocean Optics announced in April that they are offering a three-year warranty on their entire line of spectrometers. Company officials say they are the only company in the photonics industry to offer this type of warranty.
