2 August 2002 -- Teem Photonics, Grenoble, France, has acquired the technology of former competitor Northstar Photonics in an undisclosed deal. teem develops compact photonic solutions for high bandwidth optical networks and has pioneered erbium doped waveguide amplifiers (EDWAs).
"The acquisition will accelerate Teem's EDWA development program and significantly reduce time-to-market", says Antoine Kevorkian, Teem Photonics CEO. "Moreover, this move further increases our competitiveness in optical amplifiers."
Northstar, Minneapolis, US, specialised in developing and producing POWRETM lasers and amplifiers. Teem will receive a series of patents and applications, including their derivatives, as well as trademarks and technological know-how in the transfer.
"Northstar's patents substantially broaden our portfolio and reinforce our IP profile," says Teem's CTO Denis Barbier. "The synergies of our technologies, based on an ion-exchange process we share, will bring exciting performance bonuses and greater cost reductions to our amplifier product range."
Both management teams believe the convergence of their respective technologies will allow for devices that neither company, alone, could have produced. "We are pleased that Teem has chosen to leverage our expertise", says Mark Bendett, Northstar founder and CTO. "There is an unprecedented fit between our two technologies".
Teem Photonics
A spin-off from Schneider Electric in 1998, Teem leverages research and development experience going back ten years. Among its achievements are the invention and successful implementation of integrated amplifiers. Teem is the first company to offer erbium amplification on a chip. The company has implemented a highly automated manufacturing process and has been shipping components and modules since 1999. Teem has built a strong list of customers in the optical communications market.
www.teemphotonics.com