Business briefs
17 Jun 2002
Including news from Alcatel, Du Pont, Schott Lithotec, Spectron Lasers, Coherent and more.
Alcatel of France and Russian telecoms company
Svyazinvest plan to jointly manufacture optical fiber in Russia. The venture expects to start shipping products early next year as estimates show Russia may triple its demand for optical fibers by 2005.
Schott Lithotec of Germany has acquired the photoblank business unit of
DuPont Photomasks. In a deal worth up to USD 42 million, Schott Lithotec will pay Du Pont USD 28 million in cash and USD 2 million in stock. Du Pont will also receive up to USD 12 million in stock over the next two years, subject to meeting certain milestones.
UK-based laser manufacturers
Spectron Lasers and
Laser Quantum have joined forces to develop their respective diode-pumped laser technologies. Laser Quantum specializes in low-power diode-pumped solid-state lasers whilst Spectron offer standard and customized lasers for industrial applications such as cutting and micro-machining.
John Ambroseo will be promoted to president and chief executive officer of
Coherent from October. He will succeed Bernard Couillaud, who will take on the role of chairman of Coherent's board of directors.
Canadian laser systems manufacturer
GSI Lumonics plans to restructure both its systems and laser components business units by the end of the fiscal year with a net reduction of 50 to 60 jobs. The systems product lines will transfer to the US-based Wilmington site whilst the laser components product lines will move to the Rugby facility in the UK.
Seiwa Electric Manufacturing of Japan has developed a blue LED that does not infringe on any patents held by Nichia, according to reports in Japan's business newspaper Nikkei. Transparent indium-tin electrodes are said to provide both reliability and a high degree of brightness.
