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07 Apr 2006
Including news from Coherent, Zygo, Light Blue Optics, Nichia and more.
General company news:
• Zygo, US, is reporting strong growth in flat panel display contracts. Over the past four months, the optical metrology specialist has received orders and commitments worth around $13 million for its "One Shot" inspection system. The process control tool measures color filter and TFT topography, along with critical lateral dimensions.
• Coherent, US, has opened an office in Seoul, Korea, to provide further support to the rapidly growing domestic laser market. Its distributor, Wooyang Trading Company, will continue to sell to universities and research institutions, with the newly formed Coherent Korea now handling industrial sales and servicing.
• IEE of Luxembourg is to establish a new microelectronic design center dubbed "IEE Vision Sensing" to develop optical sensing products. The company manufactures a range of sensing devices, including automotive passenger detection systems, for customers such as BMW and Bang & Olufsen.
• Icuiti of the US has come up with video eyewear suitable for the much hyped mobile TV sector. The wearable unit, which features two 640 x 480 VGA resolution LCD panels, plugs into the cell phone's AV port to give a virtual 42-inch display.
• CVI Technical Optics has upgraded its Isle of Man manufacturing facility to include a 12-inch Zygo interferometer.
Funding:
• Fiberstars, US, has received a $2.1 million award from DARPA to develop and install high-efficiency distributed lighting (HEDLight) systems on three US Navy ships. According to the firm, this is the first time that LEDs will be used as a replacement for the US Navy's 10 W berth lights.
• Light Blue Optics, UK, has received a £75,000 ($131,500) R&D grant from the DTI/EEDA, which it will put towards the development of a prototype miniature color projector. The firm now plans to expand its engineering team and is looking for optical and hardware development engineers for its Cambridge facility.
Patents:
• Lumileds and Toyoda Gosei have agreed to use each other's patents for specific III-V semiconductor LED technologies, such as blue and red emitting devices. The firms believe that the agreement will give each company more freedom to develop new high-brightness products.
• Nichia has reached an agreement with Epistar to amicably settle the current intellectual property litigation between the two firms. No further details of the settlement were disclosed.
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