Corning Inc. of Corning, N.Y., has agreed to purchase the remaining equity in NZ Applied Technologies Corp. of Woburn, Mass., for up to $150 million in Corning common stock, contingent on the latter meeting development milestones. In 1999, Corning assumed 20 percent ownership in the company.

The move continues Corning's vertical integration. NZ Applied Technologies produces solid-state variable optical attenuators and other components for dense wavelength division multiplexing systems. Corning plans to incorporate the company's research experience into its own component development efforts.