Business briefs

01 Dec 2008

Featuring news from Applied Materials, Intevac, Crystal IS, Renishaw and more.

• Applied Materials, a developer of nanomanufacturing technology for displays and solar applications, has joined the Flexible Display Center (FDC) based at Arizona State University, US. The FDC is a government/industry/academia partnership intended to support the growing market for flexible electronic displays, formed through an agreement between the University and the US Army. The Display Business Group of Applied Materials will join the existing FDC members, which include LG Display, E Ink and Universal Display Corporation, among others.

• Intevac, the semiconductor equipment supplier which also manufactures the Intevac Photonics brand of imaging products and vision systems, has announced a global cost reduction plan and a reduction of its workforce by over 15% worldwide before than end of the calendar year. The company's stated strategy is to reduce its revenue breakeven level through aggressive cash management and a decrease in expenses. Several new products are still expected to come to market in 2009, according to the company.

• Crystal IS, a manufacturer of UV LEDs based on aluminium nitride (AlN) substrate technology, has received $800,000 from the US Department of Defence to advance the development of large AlN crystals. The company will partner with the Army Research Laboratory and the Electro-Optics Center at Penn State University on the development of large single-crystal AlN substrates for use in sources of deep ultraviolet light, as well as other high power, high temperature applications of importance in military applications.

• Elliot Scientific, a UK distributor of optics and photonics equipment, has signed an agreement with Solus Technologies to distribute Solus' semiconductor disk lasers. The Solus sources include tunable 2 micron lasers claimed to provide a customizable range of wavelengths from 1.9 to 2.5 µm traditionally difficult to reach in the mid-infrared.

• A new OEM agreement between Renishaw of the UK and Russia's NT-MDT will see NT-MDT sell, install, and support specially designed Raman systems for integration with its own NTEGRA AFM technology. Renishaw Raman systems are used in a range of industries including semiconductor equipment manufacture, and the deal will allow nano-scale visualisation and analysis to be used by researchers in several new fields, according to a joint statement. The companies claim that the integrated Renishaw/NT-MDT Raman-AFM can set new performance levels for nanoengineering.

People

• Frank Averdung will become a member of the management board of SUSS MicroTec and assume the role of chief executive officer by June 2009 at the latest. He will focus on sales growth and strategic direction for the German-based supplier of test technologies for the semiconductor and related markets. Averdung joins from Carl Zeiss.

• Solterra Renewable Technologies, a US solar technology and quantum dot manufacturing company, has appointed Ghassen Jabbour to the position of chief science officer. He will lead the development and characterization of Solterra's thin-film quantum dot solar cell products.

• Frederic Belanger has been appointed vice president of finance by ImmerVision, a developer of panoramic imaging technology for video devices. Belanger joins from GE Capital.

• Yuto Tomita has joined the sales team at LayTec, a developer of sensors for the LED and thin-film sectors headquartered in Germany. He will be in charge of sales to Japan and Korea as part of the company's intention to grow in those territories, according to a statement.