Ortel, a Photonics Foundries enterprise, has successfully transferred its C-band continuous wave laser module platform to the Canadian Photonics Fabrication Centre, a pure-play III-V semiconductor wafer foundry. The transfer assures uninterrupted wafer supply and a smooth transition to markets including lidar, fiber optic sensing, and test and measurement, the company said. Initial customer samples of the laser will be available in February, with fully qualified production device availability expected in Q2 2025. IOTA chair Mark Deakes. Courtesy of IOTA. HEXHAM, England — International trade body for optics-based anti-counterfeiting technologies the International Hologram Manufacturers Association (IHMA) has rebranded as the International Optical Technologies Association (IOTA). The rebrand is in line with the organization's believe that recent advancements in optical technologies have exceeded the importance holography once held in the anti-counterfeiting industry. IOTA membership will allow developers and suppliers of security features based on technologies that include holography, micro-lens arrays, micro-mirrors, plasmonics, nano-gratings, color change, caustics, polarization, photonic crystals, special print-generated effects, or a combination of these. NLM’s electro-optic modulation technology. Courtesy of NLM Photonics. SEATTLE — NLM Photonics, a developer of organic electro-optic modulation technology, has received an investment from Emerald Technology Ventures and Oregon Venture Fund. The company plans to use the funding to deliver energy-efficient, high performance electro-optic modulation technology to AI, data centers, and quantum computing, among other applications. According to NLM, the investment is part of its next phase of development to scale and commercialize their technology. NLM remains in discussions with further investors to expand the current investment round. The value of the investment was not disclosed. The Modbox-FE turnkey system. Courtesy of Exail. SAINT-GERMAIN-EN-LAYE, France — Industrial robotics company Exail has signed a contract with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to provide several of its ModBox-FEs as sub-nanosecond pulse generation systems to equip the Jupiter Laser Facility (JLF). JLF hosts three target areas, combining kilojoule-class long pulses and short pulses, that will all be equipped with Exail integrated solutions. SANTA CLARA, Calif. — OpenLight, a photonic ASIC chip designer, has entered into a strategic partnership with DoplayDo, creators of open-source chip design tool GDSFactory, to establish support for Tower Semiconductor's PH18DA process in GDSFactory+. GDSFactory+ is a platform designed for end-to-end chip design using UI tools, advanced verification capabilities, and professional support. The collaboration will enable engineers to use GDSFactory to create designs using OpenLight's photonic process design kit (PDK) to support the fabrication of photonic integrated circuits using the PH18DA fabrication process. OpenLight's PDK will be one of the first fully supported PDKs on GDSFactory+. WARRINGTON, England — Infrared quantum dot technology developer Quantum Science is in the process of expanding into a new manufacturing facility in an effort to meet growing demand from its international customer base. The new lab is co-located with Quantum Science’s existing R&D center and product development lab at Sci-Tech Daresbury in Warrington, England and will feature increased storage capacity for consumables and inventory. TØNSBERG, Norway — poLight ASA, a tunable optics technology company, has entered into a collaboration with Inuitive, a developer of vision-on-chip processors, to combine its NU4100 vision processor with poLight’s TLens tunable lens, achieving high resolution foveated video streaming capabilities of greater than 50 pupils per degree for mixed reality (MR) head-worn devices. The device was demonstrated at the 2025 SPIE AR|VR|MR conference. (From left) NUS department of electrical and computer engineering PhD student Zifeng Yuan, associated professor Aaron Danner, and PhD student Yuan Gao. Courtesy of SPIE. BELLINGHAM, Wash. — SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, and the National University of Singapore (NUS) have established the SPIE-CDE Fellowship in Optical Science and Engineering during SPIE Photonics West 2025. The $500,000 gift from SPIE is matched by an equivalent $500,000 contribution from the College of Design and Engineering (CDE) at NUS to form a $1 million endowed fund. Concurrently, SPIE established the SPIE-Boston University Scholarship in Photonics with Boston University (BU), also worth $1 million through a $500,000 gift from SPIE that will be matched by BU. The SPIE-CDE Fellowship will support a PhD student working in the field of optics and photonics at NUS CDE, while the SPIE-Boston University Scholarship will be available for up to two graduate students or one postdoctoral researcher at the Boston University Photonics Center. NESS ZIONA, Israel — Quantum Source, a photonic quantum computer company, has entered into a pilot engagement with fault-tolerant quantum computing company QC Design’s Plaquette, a software tool for designing and optimizing fault-tolerant quantum computing architectures. According to the companies, the collaboration will boost Quantum Source’s capabilities to simulate, analyze, and refine the photonic fault-tolerance architectures integral to its large-scale quantum computing platform. PARIS — Laser systems developer Quanta System has entered into an exclusive partnership with advanced aesthetic device distributor Celliance to become the exclusive distributor of Quanta System’s aesthetic lasers in France. The partnership will help offer local professionals, doctors, and patients access to the company’s technology.