Bruker Acquires Neurescence; VIAVI Opens Arizona Facility: Week in Brief: 11/18/22

Bruker signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of Neurescence, a medical imaging company. Neurescence’s ultralight fiber-bundle multiscopes allow simultaneous multiregion, optical functional neuroimaging. Its flagship product, Chromatone, enables simultaneous imaging and stimulation of three subtypes of neurons in up to four regions for flexible investigation of the central nervous system with single-neuron resolution in naturalistic behavior. The acquisition complements Bruker’s existing multiphoton solutions as well as the portfolio of products obtained through its recent acquisition of Inscopix. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — Meta Materials, a developer of high-performance functional materials and nanocomposites, opened its new global headquarters and Centre of Excellence in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, outside Halifax. The 68,000-sq-ft, 12-cleanroom facility combines advanced packaging for semiconductors, unique materials, and chemistry research, as well as design and manufacturing of holographic and other optical products. The facility becomes the home for the company’s ARfusion platform technology, which caters to the entire smart lens value chain, from optical design and material selection, to mass production and integration. The facility aims to offer customers a one-stop-shop approach in AR, automotive head-up display, electro-optics, and other solutions.

TORONTO — POET Technologies will use high-speed directly modulated laser (DML) technology from Lumentum in its transmit optical engines to enable high-volume, low-power, and cost-efficient 400G, 800G, and 1.6T pluggable transceivers for hyperscale data centers. POET expects to start sampling the 400G FR4 transmit optical engines with integrated drivers in the first half of 2023 and production by the second half of 2023. The 400G FR4 optical engines are architected as photonic chiplets and will be the industry’s first implementation of directly modulated lasers with flip-chip integration on an optical interposer at these data rates.

GARDNER, Mass. — Precision Optics Corp. completed its promotion to the Nasdaq and is approved to list on the capital market. Trading began Nov. 16 under the ticker symbol POCI.

VIAVI’s new production facility in Chandler, Ariz., features VIAVI’s most modern and efficient optical coating capabilities. Courtesy of VIAVI.

CHANDLER, Ariz. — VIAVI Solutions Inc. opened a production facility in Chandler, Ariz. The company has added to U.S. manufacturing capacity as it has grown its presence in the state, including the move of its global headquarters, which is now in Scottsdale, Ariz. The establishment of the facility adds to the company’s growing presence in the region. Since initiating the relocation of its corporate headquarters from California last year, VIAVI President and CEO Oleg Khaykin has been elected to Greater Phoenix Leadership; the company has established a scholarship at the University of Arizona’s Wyant College of Optical Sciences; and the company has contributed to the city of Chandler’s water program.

Microtronics Photomask, a bespoke manufacturing division of Applied Image Inc., focuses on its customers’ unique requirements, supporting photolithography, integrated circuit production, microfluidics, and other photomask applications. Courtesy of Microtronics Photomask.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Applied Image Inc., a global supplier of precision imaged optical components and calibration standards, formed a bespoke manufacturing division to focus on customers’ requirements in photolithography, integrated circuit production, microfluidics, and other photomask applications. Microtronics Photomask will operate within Applied Image’s management system. Glenn Jackling, CEO and president of Applied Image, who purchased the company earlier this year, will lead Microtronics Photomask.

NEW YORK — Advanced Navigation, a developer of AI robotics and navigation technology, secured a $68 million series B funding round. The round was led by global investment firm KKR. The company plans to use the funding to accelerate R&D, innovation, and global expansion. Advanced Navigation sensor products are sold into commercial and defense industries spanning sea, land, air, and space applications. The company acquired Vai Photonics, a spinout from the Australian National University developing patented photonic sensors for precision navigation, in May of this year.

BEAVERTON, Ore. — Coherent digital signal processor provider NTT Electronics closed a strategic investment to formulate a majority-owned subsidiary focusing on differentiated electronics integrated circuits that powers its 100G+ coherent DSP product portfolio. The subsidiary, fJscaler Inc., is a mass-producer of linear drivers and transimpedance amplifier for 100-400G ZR/ZR+ applications. FJscaler will immediately begin executing a roadmap to service the next generation of coherent optics as well as many other growth markets for coherent optical communications, NTT Electronics said.

MUNICH — Plasma-Therm, a manufacturer of plasma-process equipment for the semiconductor and compound semiconductor markets, said that its Grenoble, France, location will serve as regional headquarters to support customers in central Europe, Middle East, and North Africa (EMEA) markets focused on developing power, wireless, memory, sensor and MEMS, and other advanced microelectronic devices. The company cited plans to increase its presence in Europe and said that its European facility is poised to support new application and product development with strategic customers and partners in the region.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Metaspectral, a software company advancing computer vision using deep learning and hyperspectral imagery, completed a $4.7 million seed round. The company plans to use the investment to scale up its team to support the continued development and refinement of its Fusion platform, which the company plans to publicly launch in 2023. The company’s technology is planned for deployment on the International Space Station to demonstrate real-time compression, streaming, and analysis of hyperspectral data from low Earth orbit.

LAS VEGAS, N.V. — Researchers at NuraLogix added the capability to perform metabolic and blood biomarker health risk assessments for various chronic conditions to its Anura platform. As a first for video-based contactless health monitoring, the capabilities add to the existing health and wellness measurements Anura can assess from a 30-sec video selfie, including the ability to accurately measure blood pressure. The platform can now assess HbA1c and monitor fasting glucose, as well as the risk of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and hypertriglyceridemia. Anura uses a conventional video camera to extract facial blood flow information combined with AI model analysis in the cloud that extrapolates health information from the pattern of facial blood flows. The company’s technology delivers contactless health monitoring via its Anura platform that combines data gathered through its transdermal optical imaging technology.

With a mass of 11 kg, LunIR includes two deployable solar panels, three star trackers, three reaction wheels, and the imaging payload and micro-cryocooler from Lockheed Martin. Terran Orbital will guide the spacecraft via a special configuration of the third star tracker, used as a 'moon camera' with commands generated from a novel Lockheed Martin algorithm. LunIR is flying by the moon and collecting surface thermography as a secondary payload on NASA's Artemis 1 mission. Courtesy of Terran Orbital.

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Terran Orbital Corp., a developer of satellite-based solutions primarily serving the aerospace and defense industries, reported the successful launch of LunIR, its moon-mapping satellite, and the second Terran Orbital-developed lunar satellite to launch this year. The company’s CAPSTONE satellite became the first satellite to enter a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the moon with a successful insertion maneuver performed on Nov. 13, after its launch in June. Both satellites support NASA’s Artemis program.

SEOUL, South Korea — TMD LAB and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are starting joint research on the properties of shape memory polymer (SMP) materials. Both sides are expected to build a DNA database for various SMP materials through joint research and develop materials that further reduce the formation of biofilms, thereby enhancing the utility of SMP as implantable medical devices.