Business briefs

14 Oct 2005

Including news from Quantel, LG Philips LCD, Princeton Lightwave, Kopin and more.

General company news:

• WAHL optoparts of Germany, a subsidiary of Jenoptik specialising in custom-made optical components, has established a department dealing with packaging and interconnect technologies. WAHL says it now has all the necessary know-how in-house for the production of complex optoelectronic systems, which will significantly shorten its delivery chain.

• Princeton Lightwave, US, has licensed IBM's single-photon detection (SPD) technology. Princeton now plans to combine IBM's work with its own research on avalanche photodiodes with the aim of developing a new breed of detectors for practical quantum cryptography systems.

• Lumenis of Israel has gained FDA clearance to market its Selecta range of ophthalmic lasers. The firm will introduce the eight products at the American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting, which takes place on October 15.

• Solomon Systech is to market Kopin's binocular display module products in China. "Solomon Systech's established customer base in the mobile display IC market will enable us to accelerate penetration of our microdisplay solutions for mobile video eyewear into this fast growing market," said Kopin's CEO, John C. C. Fan.

• The 1000th line replaceable unit has been installed at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), which is being built at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, US. Each LRU contains optics and instrumentation through which all 192 beams must pass on their way to the target chamber. The completed facility will have 5760 LRUs, each weighing between 500 and 1000 kg.

Financial results:

• Quantel of France has posted a revenue of EURO 15.9 million ($19.1 million) for the six months ended 30 June 2005. This compares with a revenue of EURO 16.7 million for the same period in 2004, although this result included an exceptional gain of EURO 1.1 million thanks to a financial reimbursement. The company is optimistic about the remainder of 2005 and says it is working on new products and expanding its US market presence.

• LG Philips LCD has announced third quarter sales of USD 2,630 million, an increase of 46% compared with the same period last year. According to the firm, sales were led by the growing demand for large and wide LCD TV panels and a stronger pricing environment for notebook panels. "As we predicted, large and wide LCD TVs are becoming mainstream. Our strategic investment in a new module plant in Poland will enable us to better serve the fast-growing European market." said LG.Philips LCD's CEO, Bon Joon Koo.

Funding:

• Nanosight of the UK has secured £500,000 in its third round of funding. Nanosight develops a range of instruments for optical detection and real-time analysis in the sub-500 nm region.

• NP Photonics, a US supplier of fiber lasers, has received an additional $2 million in A2 series funding. The firm plans to exploit the growing optical sensing market across oil and gas, security, and R&D sectors. Financing was led by California-based venture capital firm Shepherd Ventures.

Awards:

• Hidetoshi Katori of the University of Tokyo, Japan, has been awarded this year's Julius Springer prize for his pioneering work on optical clocks. Katori's optical lattice design could enable timekeeping that is accurate toward the 10^-18 level. He will receive the award and $5000 at the OSA's annual meeting in Tucsan, Arizona next week.