Optics Industry Report

Nov. 1, 2000
Sandia spins off MEMS company; Next-generation lithographers indicate preferences; New visual scratch-and-dig standard in development ...

Sandia spins off MEMS company
Sandia National Laboratories (Albuquerque, NM) has spun off a private company to commercialize its microelectromechanical-systems (MEMS) technology. The company, MEMX Inc., has a staff consisting of some of Sandia's leading MEMS researchers. Although MEMX will use manufacturing facilities at Sandia's Microelectronics Development Laboratory to produce its first prototype, the company is building its own fabrication facility. An existing design-and-test facility houses the firm's seven full-time employees.

An advanced five-level polysilicon-surface-micromachining MEMS technology (licensed from Sandia) will form the company's technological base. Called Summit V, the ultraplanar technique relies upon a process made up of hundreds of steps, including repetitive deposition, photopatterning, and etching. The company will first pursue the development of next-generation mirror-array optical switches for telecommunications use. Later, the firm will develop MEMS-based biodevices. Eventually, MEMX will become a generic MEMS company.

Next-generation lithographers indicate preferences
A survey of lithographers attending a Next Generation Lithography (NGL) Workshop last month sponsored by International Sematech (Austin, TX) indicates a preference for two technologies, extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and electron projection lithography (EPL) for commercialization. Technologies represented among the more than 150 attendees at the one-day conference in Reston, VA, included EUV, x-ray, EPL, and ion-beam projection lithography. "Today, lithographers from around the world agree that EUV and EPL are the technologies necessary to address the unique application of DRAM (dynamic random access memory) and ASIC (application specific integrated circuit)," said Gerhard Gross, director of lithography at International Sematech. "This decision is particularly important as NGL technology moves out of the R&D arena into the supplier area and [as] the infrastructure needs to be prepared."

New visual scratch-and-dig standard in development
The American National Standards Institute-accredited Committee for Optical and Electro-Optical Instruments (ASC OP) has begun the development of a new optical appearance-imperfection standard for optical components and optical systems. The voluntary consensus standard is intended to replace the old military scratch-and-dig standard now included in MIL-PRF-13830B. The committee is asking all optical companies that have internal visual scratch-and-dig standards to provide copies of those standards to ASC OP so that the new standard can adequately reflect current practice. The documents can be sent to project task-force leader Dave Aikens, 219 E. Angela St., Pleasanton, CA 94566, or e-mail: [email protected]. Anyone interested in participating in the development of this standard should contact Gene Kohlenberg, executive director of the Optics and Electro-Optics Standards Council at POB 705, Rochester, NY 14625-25705, or e-mail: [email protected].

Kymata acquires Total Micro Products
Kymata Ltd. (Livingston, Scotland), a designer and manufacturer of planar optical components and subsystems for the telecommunications and data-communications industries, has acquired Total Micro Products (Enschede, The Netherlands). The acquisition is a microelectromechanical-systems facility that provides design and prototyping manufacturing services for customers in the optoelectronics and industrial instrumentation industries. The product line includes crossconnect and silicon optical-bench components, as well as pressure and flow sensors.

Also in the news . . .
Edmunds Industrial Optics (Barrington, NJ) has attained registration for the ISO 9001 standards for the design, manufacture, and distribution of optics. . . . The board of directors of Corning Inc. (Corning, NY) has approved a nearly $55 million investment in Corning Precision Lens Inc. to increase production of the group's rear-projection TV lens assemblies.

Paula Noaker Powell

For more business news, subscribe to Optoelectronics Report. Contact Jayne Sears-Renfer at [email protected].

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