Lumus and Schott Expand Collaboration; STEMMER Rebrands Subsidiaries: Week in Brief: 2/2/24

STEMMER IMAGING AG, a machine vision technology developer, has rebranded its INFAIMON subsidiaries in Spain, Brazil, Mexico, and Portugal as STEMMER IMAGING. According to the company, customers will continue to have the same contacts and will gain access to an expanded product portfolio following rebranding, which came into effect Feb. 1.

BRUSSELS — Semiconductor deep tech startup VoxelSensors has completed a seed round with an additional €3 million ($3.3 million) in tail investment. The funding, led by new investor Qbic Fund, will go toward the company’s international growth and customer engagement for its spatial and empathic computing solution for mobile and XR devices. The investment is an extension of the company's €5.5 million (approximately $6 million) seed round, which now totals €9.5 million ($10.3 million).

Lumus’ Z-lens reflective waveguide architecture being used in AR glasses. Courtesy of SCHOTT.

SAN FRANCISCO — Lumus, a developer of reflective waveguide technology, is expanding its five-year long manufacturing partnership with SCHOTT, a manufacturer of high-tech materials and optics, to produce optical AR glasses. To support the partnership, SCHOTT is expanding its production facility in Malaysia to support the processing of waveguides. The Malaysia Advanced Optics will support the partnership in achieving all phases of product development, including proof-of-concept prototyping, engineering samples, and mass-market scale manufacturing.

NEWTON, N.J. — Photonics products manufacturer Thorlabs has entered into a license and technology transfer agreement for quantum cascade laser (QCL)-based dual-frequency-comb spectroscopy equipment developed by digital microsensors manufacturer Sensirion at its IRsweep subsidiary. Thorlabs intends to rapidly commercialize a MIR spectroscopic sensing platform based on the IRsweep technology, and will expand its laser and instrumentation group at its Maryland facility in support of the technology's development and commercialization. The technology will be targeted to address the needs of the environmental and industrial sensing markets within the molecular fingerprint region.

CAMBRIDGE, England — Nu Quantum, a Cambridge-based quantum networking company, has won a contract from the U.K. government with a gross value of £2.3 million ($2.9 million) to deliver a modular, rack-mount, and scalable quantum data center prototype under the SBRI: Quantum Networks, Enabling Components & Systems competition. The company plans to collaborate with Cisco as a prospective end user for the project, named LYRA. LYRA delivers discrete 19-in. rack-mount modules for control-plane and optical interfacing, allowing for in-field upgrades to support different quantum computer modalities and alternative wavelengths.

The 6G-EWOC project will use photonics-based technology automotive sensing. Courtesy of LIGENTEC.

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — PICs supplier LIGENTEC has become a part of the European Union Smart Networks and Services 6G-EWOC project to support photonic design and integration of novel component technology. The project's mission is to provide the enabling photonics technology to accommodate vehicular awareness through optical sensing, vehicle-to-vehicle connectivity, and connectivity to road infrastructure through optical wireless communication. The 6G-EWOC consortium builds on 11 partners from eight European countries to address the multidisciplinary research agenda. It is led by the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (BarcelonaTech) as the project coordinator and the Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya as the technical manager.

An artist’s interpretation of the Hellas Sat 5 telecommunications satellite using its payload to communicate with ground stations and the LEO HydRON satellite. Courtesy of Thales Alenia Space.

ATHENS, Greece — Hellas Sat, a satellite services provider, and Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales and Leonardo, have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on the development of an optical communications payload for the Hellas Sat 5 telecommunications satellite. The partnership aims to provide communication services with high data rates from geostationary orbit with the payload aiming to connect with the Optical Ground Station of the National Athens Observatory in Greece, the Optical Ground Stations in France, the Optical Ground Stations of ESA, and Thales Alenia Space's LEO HydRON telecommunications satellite.

An architect’s rendering of the new Shrewsbury facility. Courtesy of PI.

AUBURN, Mass. — Physik Instrumente (PI) GmbH subsidiary PI USA has signed a construction contract for the production of a new facility in Shrewsbury, Mass. PI plans for the facility to have a total of 119,575 sq ft of usable space, which is 3× the space of the company's three other U.S. locations combined, the company said. PI plans to manufacture components and systems solutions for motion, precision positioning, and piezo applications for its North American market from this site starting in 2025.

MARKHAM, Ontario — World Star Tech, a laser systems designer and manufacturer, has acquired volume holographic gratings company TIGA Photonics, a spinoff of the University of Waterloo. The acquisition strengthens World Star Tech's capabilities in laser technology. World Star plans to integrate TIGA’s products into its own portfolio. The technology has applications in imaging spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, hyperspectral imaging, filter, reflector, flow cytometry, and confocal microscopy.

PITTSBURGH — Software company Ansys has entered into a partnership with French technology company DXOMARK to provide an end-to-end camera solution that bridges the gap between physical measurements and simulation by improving the optical performance of virtual camera models. The solution will create a workflow between Ansys’ Lumerical, Zemax OpticStudio, and Speos software that produces a raw image that can be evaluated by DXOMARK’s Analyzer software.