Optics Industry Report

Dec. 1, 2000
Edmund Optics to acquire Plummer Precision Optics; IBM and Kymata team to develop optical chips for high-speed networks; EXFO acquires Burleigh Instruments; Satis Vacuum acquires UK-based optical-coating firm ...

Edmund Optics to acquire Plummer Precision Optics
Optical-component manufacturer Edmund Optics Inc. (Barrington, NJ) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of Plummer Precision Optics Inc. (Pennsburg, PA) by the end of the year. The business will become a wholly owned division of Edmund Optics under the name Plummer Precision Manufacturing Division. Plummer provides custom manufacturing of precision optical components, optomechanical assemblies, and advanced coatings for a variety of defense and industrial applications. The acquisition will expand Edmund Optics' optical-manufacturing and coating capabilities and allow the company to leverage Plummer's skills to better serve the telecommunications, semiconductor, and biomedical markets.

IBM and Kymata team to develop optical chips for high-speed networks
IBM (East Fishkill, NY) and Kymata Ltd. (Livingston, Scotland) have signed a multiyear agreement to produce next-generation optical-networking chips for high-speed e-business applications. IBM also has acquired a minority equity stake in the firm. Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will jointly develop optical chips to help drive data and information at high speeds across optical networks. Planned products include modules to enhance the filtering of light wavelengths sent simultaneously through a fiber, filters to balance light intensity at different wavelengths, and optical switches. Devices will be designed around IBM's siliconoxynitride-process technology, which applies high-volume semiconductor-manufacturing techniques to optical-chip production. IBM expects sample products to be available in the first half of 2001.

EXFO acquires Burleigh Instruments
EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering Inc. (Quebec, Canada), which builds test, measurement, and monitoring instruments for the telecommunications and optical-components industries, has entered a definitive agreement to acquire Burleigh Instruments (Fishers, NY) for $235 million in EXFO stock and $40 million in cash. The acquisition is designed to accelerate growth in EXFO's Industrial and Scientific Division, which focuses on the growing optical-component and dense-wavelength-division-multiplexing transmission system market. EXFO expects to retain Burleigh personnel, management, and facilities. The purchase is expected to be accretive on a cash-earnings-per-share basis in FY2002.

Satis Vacuum acquires UK-based optical-coating firm
Satis Vacuum Group of Switzerland, an optical-coating manufacturer, has taken over RTC Systems (Biggleswade, England), which specializes in coatings for applications such as dense wavelength-division-multiplexing filters and antireflectance and high-reflectance coatings for laser-diode facets. The new company, which will be called Satis RTC, will continue to target both telecom and precision-optics markets.

HP to integrate Sony optical disc in next-generation storage system
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP; Palo Alto, CA) has announced plans to integrate the Ultra Density Optical disc technology from Sony (Tokyo, Japan) into HP optical-jukebox products. Potential capacities of the archival storage devices are expected to approach 10 Tbyte per cabinet within the next 30 months. The technology currently in development at Sony still relies on the ISO-standard 5.25-in. cartridge used by the optical industry for the past 10 years. The initial capacity of 40 Gbyte per cartridge will be achieved through the use of a violet-emitting laser and advanced optics and will be available in both rewriteable and write-once, read-many formats.

Also in the news . . .
Santec Corp. (Komaki, Japan) has established new R&D centers in both North America and Europe to strengthen its R&D activities in optical components for next-generation optical networks. . . . Precision-Optical Engineering (P-OE; Hertfordshire, England) has appointed Armstrong Optical Ltd. (Northampton, England) to handle UK sales of P-OE infrared interferometers and accessories.

Paula Noaker Powell

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

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