The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) awarded Global Foundries (GF) a 10-year, $3.1 billion contract for a supply of securely manufactured, U.S.-made semiconductors for use across a range of aerospace and defense applications. In addition to secure chip manufacturing for DOD systems, the contract provides the department and its contractors access to GF’s robust design ecosystem, intellectual property libraries, new technologies in development, prototyping, and full-scale volume manufacturing. MIKGDAL HAMEK, Israel — Inspection and metrology equipment manufacturer Camtek Ltd. will acquire test and measurement technologies provider FormFactor Inc.'s FRT metrology business in a purchase valued at $100 million. FRT, headquartered in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, is a supplier of high-precision metrology solutions for the advanced packaging and silicon carbide markets. The acquisition is expected to leverage the companies' respective technologies for inspection and metrology steps in the semiconductor manufacturing processes, supporting applications spanning co-packaged optics and generative AI. The Matrix Vision headquarters in Oppenweiler, Germany. Courtesy of Balluff. FLORENCE, Ky. — Matrix Vision GmbH is rebranding as Balluff MV GmbH starting Oct. 16. Founded in 1986 Matrix Vision was acquired by the Balluff Group in 2017. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Plasma-Therm, a manufacturer of plasma-process equipment for the semiconductor industry, acquired Thin Film Equipment srl (TFE), a supplier of sputtering equipment for semiconductor R&D and production. According to Abdul Lateef, CEO of Plasma-Therm, the acquisition reinforces Plasma-Therm’s expanding footprint in Europe and helps to significantly expand Plasma-Therm’s portfolio in the power device market with TFE’s suite of physical vapor deposition tools tailored for micro-electrochemical systems, power, radio frequency identification, and other semiconductor applications. TFE will continue to operate independently. Project scientist Carmen Constantin in the UCLA Phoenix laser facility. Courtesy of UCLA. LOS ANGELES — The UCLA Phoenix laser facility joined LaserNetUS, a consortium of large laser facilities in the U.S. and Canada. The consortium was established by the Department of Energy to advance and promote laser-plasma science and provide students and researchers with broad access to unique facilities. UCLA joins institutions including the Berkley Lab Laser Accelerator, the Center for High Energy Density Science at the University of Texas Austin, and the Jupiter Laser Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. WALTHAM, Mass. — Microscope manufacturer Evident allied with Corista, Sakura Finetek USA, and Visionpharm to deliver an automated, end-to-end workflow solution for pathology in the U.S. The four entities will combine their technologies to streamline the workflow of staining, imaging, and analyzing whole slide images with the collaboration and management needed in high-volume laboratories. RENA’s ACE inception wafer processing tool. Courtesy of RENA. GÜTENBACH, Germany — Circular materials technology company Umicore Electro-Optic Materials and RENA Technologies established a partnership aimed at integrating RENA’s ACE inception wafer processing solution into the development of germanium wafers. Umicore identified the partnership as a basis for perpetual technology enhancement in the space solar cell industry. BOSTON — QuEra Computing, a neutral-atom quantum computers developer, and Wolfram Research, the creators of Mathematica, Wolfram|Alpha, and the Wolfram Language, partnered to make QuEra's quantum computing capabilities available directly within the Mathematica environment for a range of users. These will include educators, researchers, engineers, and data analysts, among others. Users will be able to write and execute quantum algorithms using QuEra’s quantum computing resources, available through a major public cloud. WESTBOROUGH, Mass. — Kopin Corp., a provider of optical systems and micro-displays for defense, enterprise, consumer, and medical products, received a $3.4 million follow-on order for its high-brightness liquid crystal display for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. With the F-35 scheduled for production through 2030, Kopin said it expects additional orders over the life of the program. LEESBURG, Va. — Quantum optics and nanophotonics technology company Quantum Computing Inc. chose ASU (Arizona State University) Research Park in Tempe, Ariz., as the location for its new quantum photonic chips manufacturing facility. The facility will specialize in producing Quantum’s thin-film lithium niobate chips.