February 22, 2008, Columbus, OH--Battelle announced that it has recently acquired the intellectual property and other assets of Optimer Photonics, including 14 U.S. patents, several international patents, and an additional 12 pending applications. Optimer Photonics was formed in 2001 to commercialize the electro-optic waveguide components developed at Battelle for the telecommunications industry.
Over its five-year history, Optimer Photonics evolved from a company focused on optical switching and modulation to a company using electro-optic materials and components to generate, modulate, and detect millimeter-waves (30 GHz to 300 GHz). Optimer Photonics has also developed and patented over 100 new materials that can be used in both conventional optical and nonlinear optical applications. Several polymer systems were developed that have refractive index values between 1.3 and 1.6 and can be used as optical adhesives or host nonlinear optical chromophores such as liquid crystals or Pockel type chromophores. Both the polymers and the nonlinear optical chromophores were used to create variable optical attenuators (VOA's) and high speed modulators that operate in the infrared and visible regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
"We intend to pursue research and development opportunities in millimeter-wave photonics technology including potential applications in wireless data transmission, highly linear analog links, millimeter-wave spectroscopy, and stand-off detection," said Richard W. Ridgway, Ph.D., who served as the CTO of Optimer Photonics, and is currently a senior research leader in Battelle's Electronics and Avionics Systems product line.
Battelle is a research and development organization with four global businesses: Laboratory Management, National Security, Energy Technology, and Health and Life Sciences. It conducts $4 billion in global R&D annually through contract research, laboratory management, and technology commercialization. Headquartered in Columbus, OH, Battelle oversees 20,400 employees in more than 120 locations worldwide.
For more information, visit www.battelle.org.