Applications Open for SPIE Startup Challenge; Luxinar, Menhir Debut Facilities: Week In Brief: 9/5/25

Photonics.com
Sep 2025BELLINGHAM, Wash., Sept. 5, 2025 — Applications are now open for the 2026 SPIE Startup Challenge. The challenge is an annual entrepreneurial pitch competition held by SPIE, as part of Photonics West.

Jenoptik’s Ralf Kuschnereit, 2025 SPIE Startup Challenge winner Max-IR Lab's Trey Daunis, and 2025 SPIE president Peter de Groot. Courtesy of SPIE.

Jenoptik’s Ralf Kuschnereit, 2025 SPIE Startup Challenge winner Max-IR Lab's Trey Daunis, and 2025 SPIE president Peter de Groot. Courtesy of SPIE.

SPIE Photonics West will be held from Jan. 17-22, with the Startup Challenge finals on Jan. 20. Cash prizes of $10,000, $5000, and $2500, provided by startup challenge founding partner Jenoptik, will be awarded to the top three finalists. The SPIE Startup Challenge application deadline is Oct. 7.

AACHEN, Germany — The STARFIRE Hub, an initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to develop fusion energy solutions under the leadership of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), added five members to its Diode Technology Working Group. The newly appointed members will define technical requirements, assess feasibility, and drive innovation toward high-power diode technology. Paul Crump, head of the High-Power Diode Laser Lab at the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut (FBH), will lead the group together with Will Fenwick from LLNL. FBH and the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen will join the Diode Technology Working Group. Industry players Coherent, Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., and Lumibird have also joined.

SEOUL, South Korea — SK Hynix, a semiconductor supplier offering dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips and flash memory chips, assembled what it said is the industry’s first high numerical aperture (NA) extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography system for mass production at the M16 fabrication plant in Icheon, South Korea. The equipment will be used to produce next-generation DRAM. The TWINSCAN EXE:5200B, the first model for volume production of ASML’s High NA EUV product line, enables printing transistors 1.7× smaller, and achieving transistor densities 2.9× higher compared with the previous EUV system, with a 40% improvement in the NA to 0.55 from 0.33. With the adoption of the new system, SK Hynix plans to simplify the existing EUV process and accelerate the development of the next-generation memory to advance product performance and cost competitiveness.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Metaspectral, a remote sensing software company specializing in deep learning and hyperspectral imagery, received roughly $1 million CAD (approximately $723,300) from Environment and Climate Change Canada and CleanBC. The funding will support Metaspectral’s AI-driven recycling technology designed to improve the sorting of hard-to-recycle plastics.

SCD scientists in a cleanroom. Courtesy of SCD.

SCD scientists in a cleanroom. Courtesy of SCD.

MISGAV, Israel — Infrared sensor company SCD signed a multi-year strategic contract with the Israel Ministry of Defense. The contract is valued at $115 million and focuses on SCD’s cleanroom facilities and manufacturing infrastructure to produce infrared sensors. Through this initiative, SCD will double its production capacity, focusing on cooled and uncooled IR detectors. Using its expanded production capabilities, SCD plans to serve major defense manufacturers worldwide within applications of area dominance, airborne payloads, space systems, and large-scale defense platforms. The agreement was signed under the Israeli government's “Blue & White” initiative, which plans to strengthen domestic defense industries and technological advancements.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — POET Technologies, a designer and developer of data-center light sources, partnered with telecom company NTT Innovative Devices Corporation to develop optical engines to power networks capable of supporting AI applications on mobile devices. POET developed a 100G bidirectional optical engine for mobile front-haul networks using its optical interposer platform and NTT Innovative Devices’ optical components. A 100G bidirectional optical engine would provide 4× more bandwidth efficiency than current devices, according to the companies. POET will begin development work this year and expects to have prototypes ready in 2026. High-volume production is anticipated for 2027.

Laboratory leader Myrna Reyes at the new facility. Courtesy of Luxinar.

Laboratory leader Myrna Reyes at the newly established Luxinar-Iradion facility. Courtesy of Luxinar.

UXBRIDGE, Mass. — Luxinar, a developer and manufacturer of industrial laser sources, collaborated with Iradion Laser to open an applications laboratory in Massachusetts. The facility will be led by Myrna Reyes, who has 16 years of experience in laser processing.

MUNICH — cosine, a space instrumentation company, and Siltronic AG, a semiconductor manufacturer, are collaborating to supply technology for the European Space Agency's observatory for high-energy astrophysics, the NewAthena. The NewAthena will be the largest x-ray telescope ever built and is designed to explore the hot and energetic universe. It will rely on cosine’s silicon pore optics (SPO) technology.

WALTHAM, Mass. — Siemens Healthineers and Evident collaborated to deliver a digital pathology workflow to Klinikum der Stadt Ludwigshafen am Rhein, in Germany. The goal of the digital pathology workflow is to expand access to advanced diagnostics, streamline processes, and support improved patient care. Klinikum Ludwigshafen is a major non-profit teaching hospital and regional diagnostic hub with a high-volume pathology lab that handles more than 25,000 histological cases annually.

ORLANDO, Fla. — LightPath Technologies secured a $18.2 million purchase order with a customer related to the supply of advanced infrared camera systems in calendar year (CY) 2026. Additionally, the company signed an agreement with the customer to receive future purchase orders totaling up to $22 million for a second tranche of products to be delivered in CY 2027.

Menhir Photonics unveils Swiss production facility. Courtesy of Menhir Photonics.

Menhir Photonics unveiled it Swiss production facility. Courtesy of Menhir Photonics.

ZURICH — Menhir Photonics opened its production facility, in Zurich. The facility is features advanced assembly lines designed for robotics and automation that are built to produce tens of thousands of ultrafast laser units annually by 2028. The opening of the facility is part of the company’s transition from a specialized R&D firm to a high-volume manufacturer, Menhir said. The facility will further support the company's planned efforts in 6G and telecommunications, quantum computing, space-based systems, and industrial applications.

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