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Date Announced: 19 Nov 2012
Buys cascade laser specialist from Physical Sciences Corp
Newton, NJ and Andover, MA – November 19, 2012 – Thorlabs announced today the acquisition of Maxion Technologies Inc., a world leader in the development and commercialization of mid IR turn-key semiconductor lasers, from Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI).
Located in College Park, MD, Maxion Technologies was founded in 2000 by a team of scientists and engineers from the United States Army Research Laboratory. Their interband cascade (IC) and quantum cascade (QC) laser products, which provide output in the 3 – 12 micron range, are integrated into product solutions aimed at improving chemical sensing, infrared countermeasures, and free-space optical communications.
The Maxion group will join the Thorlabs Quantum Electronics (TQE) team, which is located a short distance away in Jessup, MD. Alex Cable, President and Founder of Thorlabs, said of the new acquisition, “I am pleased to welcome the Maxion team to the Thorlabs family. The addition of IC/QC lasers is a perfect complement to TQE’s existing semiconductor laser technologies, which include InP molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) wafer growth and volume wafer fabrication / optoelectronic packaging infrastructure.”
The move leverages Thorlabs’ already significant investment in expanding TQE’s design and manufacturing capability to include high-power GaAs laser diodes and state-of-the art MEMS-based tunable vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs). With the addition of strong QC/IC laser design expertise and Sb-based MBE growth, Thorlabs will be able to manufacture a comprehensive line of semiconductor lasers with output in the 0.7 – 12 micron wavelength range, providing economies of scale to the research community and a reliable commercial partner for industrial sensing, medical, life science, and telecommunication/instrumentation markets.
PSI’s commitment to and ongoing development of QCL-based systems is strengthened by this partnership with Thorlabs. According to David Green, CEO of PSI, “the acquisition of Maxion by Thorlabs provides the vertically integrated laser fabrication capabilities that are required to introduce QCL-based systems into defense and commercial markets. PSI remains at the forefront of these developments and looks forward to continued close collaboration with the Maxion team."
Source: Thorlabs
E-mail: sales@thorlabs.com
Web Site: www.thorlabs.com
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