POPSUD-OPTITEC REPRESENTS PHOTONICS IN SOUTHERN FRANCE AT PHOTONICS WEST 2009 IN SAN JOSE, CALIF., THIS JANUARY

Chicago, January 12, 2009 (word count: 302)
The competitiveness cluster OPTITEC, led by the association POPsud, links together more than 160 members in the South of France: 60% of companies and 40% of research and education institutions. Focused on the monitoring of leading edge technology, it is well placed to make the South of France into a pole of attraction for photonics and optics on a European scale. The cluster will be exhibiting at Photonics West 2009 in San Jose, Calif., from Jan. 27 to 29, on the French Pavilion at booth 6241.

POPsud bridges fundamental research and industry by pooling together technological tools that companies and laboratories can utilize. The purpose of the OPTITEC project is to increase the pool of available expertise and to promote photonics-related activities, by developing an internationally recognized center that includes platforms for large-scale facilities based on key projects, a business center, Technoptic, and a center for higher and specialized education and training.

The cluster is based on cutting-edge research and a dynamic industry that use optical and imaging technologies, in eight major industrial sectors, including three that are linked to work in hostile environments:

1. Space and astronomy, aerospace and observation
2. Energy: the ITER project and associated optical and photonic diagnostic technologies (imaging, measurement, instrumentation)
3. Sea: subsea imaging (image processing, processing, digital cameras, LED lighting)
4. Medical: biophotonics, medical imaging
5. Microelectronics: optical methods for characterization, ellipsometry, light diffusion,  surface control
6. Telecommunications: optical thin film coating, MOEMS
7. Environment: Earth observation, remote sensing, image processing
8. Industrial processes: metrology, imaging, detection and surveillance by optical methods, surface treatment

POPsud-OPTITEC also has partnerships all other the world in Brazil, Canada, Germany, and the United States. In 2008, it hosted the second international conference on Optical Complex Systems (OCS) in Cannes. POPsud plans to hold the OCS conference every two years.

For more information, please contact:

POPSUD
Katia Mirochnitchenko
Director
Technopôle de Château Gombert
38 avenue Joliot Curie
13388 Marseille Cedex 13
FRANCE
Tel.: +33 (0)4 91 05 69 73
E-mail: katia.mirochni@popsud.org
Web: www.popsud.org

or:

FRENCH TECHNOLOGY PRESS OFFICE
205 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 3740
Chicago, IL 60601
Fax: (312) 327-5261
E-mail: contact.ftpo@ubifrance.fr

Note to Editors:
Please advise us of publication of this press release and continue to send reader responses to FTPO.  This is the only way we can ensure the follow-up is done efficiently.

FRENCH PAVILIONS AT PHOTONICS WEST 2009 EXHIBITION SHOWCASE
HI-TECH LASER SYSTEMS, SENSORS AND OTHER OPTICAL COMPONENTS

Chicago, january 9, 2009 (word count: 601)
With the largest participation to date, the French Pavilion at the Photonics West 2009 exhibition, is bringing 18 of the best and brightest French companies and trade associations in the industry to show new products and technologies. From January 27 to 29, the participants will be exhibiting at two pavilions, one located in Hall 3 and one located in South Hall 1, in the San Jose Convention Center in San Jose, Calif.

The participating companies include:

ALPAO is the specialist of adaptive optics (from deformable mirror up to complex adaptive optics systems). Its breakthrough technologies come from years of research and development in the most demanding applications. (Booth 6142)

Amplitude Technologies produces ultra-intense femtosecond laser systems with top-performing pulse duration, temporal contrast, and spatial beam quality. (Booth 6138)

The Bordeaux – Route des Lasers cluster presents Cordouan Technologies‘s MIROMA analyzer has a high sampling resolution to accurately measure high-frequency wavefront distortions for laser amplification line experiments and ultrashort pulse-generation applications. (Booth 1714)

The leading high power fiber laser company, EOLITE Systems, is entering in a new era with the introduction of its third generation of BOREAS high power fiber laser. (Booth 1617)

Fastlite manufactures state of the art femtosecond lasers pulse shaping and measurement systems operating at UV, visible and near IR wavelengths. (Booth 6239)

Fibercryst produces laser thin crystal rods with a unique geometry — very thin and very long. It offers Nd:YAG or Yb:YAG thin rods with diameters of 0.3 mm to 2 mm, and lengths up to 500 mm. (Booth 6144)

FOGALE nanotech, an engineering company created in 1983, is now a worldwide reference in the field of high-accuracy dimensional metrology, presenting its LISE system for distance and thickness metrology. (Booth 1613)

For over 60 years, Gaggione has offered comprehensive design, development, and manufacturing capabilities for the production of thermoplastic-based products and components for clients worldwide. (Booth 1716)

IXFiber develops and produces specialty fibers and components based on fiber Bragg grating technology including active or passive double-clad fiber, doped fibers, co-doped fibers, polarization-maintaining fibers, and FBG mirrors. (Booth 1708)

Microcertec S.A.S combines precision-grinding, thin-film metallizing ,and laser micromachining to offer customized carriers or packaging solutions for such applications as infrared detectors, high-power laser diodes, semiconductor lasers or LEDs. (Booth 6140)

PhaseView‘s Digital Wavefront Sensors® (DWS®) are smart and cost-effective optical instruments providing the highest resolution and dynamic range available on the marketplace for wavefront analysis and laser beam profiling. (Booth 6247)

PHASICS manufactures high-resolution wavefront sensors and associated devices and software for laser characterization and optical metrology. (Booth 1611)

The POPSUD association manages the OPTITEC competitiveness cluster that links together more than 160 members in the south of France: 60% are companies and 40% are R&D institutions. It focuses on monitoring and promoting cutting-edge technology. (Booth 6241)

SAVIMEX designs and manufactures optical components in thermoplastic polymer materials (PC, PMMA, COC, COP, PEI) by injection, for optical thin film coatings and for optomechanical subsystem assemblies. (Booth 1615)

SEDI Fibres Optiques offers a unique range of optical components as well as custom designed products for applications including biocompatibility, radiation resistance, power lasers, vacuum chambers, and other severe environments. (Booth 1710)

SESO is specialized in optical and mechanical design (ZEMAX, Pro-Engineer, FEM analysis with Nastran) and complete manufacturing, including AIT activities, of any kind of customized optics and fully integrated optomechanical systems. (Booth 6146)

SILIOS Technologies’s mini-spectrometers (combining SILIOS microchip, detector, and board) are suitable for a broad range of chemical analysis and process control applications such as water treatment, agrifood, medical, oil, or microelectronics. (Booth 6249)

Teem Photonics is the leader in passively Q-switched microlasers for applications including biophotonics, instrumentation, remote sensing, as well as micromachining and marking. (Booth 1609)

For more information, please contact:

UBIFRANCE
Mr. Romain Belvèze
Project Manager
77, boulevard Saint Jacques
75014 Paris
France
Tel.: +33 (0)1 40 73 33 29
Fax: +33 (0)1 40 73 32 04
E-mail: romain.belveze@ubifrance.fr
Web:  www.ubifrance.fr

or:

FRENCH TECHNOLOGY PRESS OFFICE
205 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 3740
Chicago, IL 60601
Fax: (312) 327-5261
E-mail: contact.ftpo@ubifrance.fr

Note to Editors:
Please advise us of publication of this press release and continue to send reader responses to FTPO.  This is the only way we can ensure the follow-up is done efficiently.

EOLITE PRESENTS NEW POWER LASER AT PHOTONICS WEST EXPO IN SAN JOSE, CALIF., THIS JANUARY

Chicago, January 6, 2008 (word count: 358)
The leading high power fiber laser company, EOLITE Systems, is entering in a new era with the introduction of its third generation of BOREAS high power fiber laser. EOLITE Systems jumps to its next development phase by offering a fully industrial oriented laser design to a demanding industry. The company will present the BOREAS at Photonics West 2009 in San Jose, Calif., from Jan. 27 to 29, on the French Pavilion at booth 1617.

EOLITE Systems team is proud to present the new BOREAS family with BOREAS HE and BOREAS HF, featuring hermetically sealed rock solid single-piece aluminum block, which strengthens key advantages of “rod-type” fiber technology: short pulse duration, very high repetition rates, beam quality, beam pointing stability, power stability.

BOREAS lasers includes the high energy family HE and high frequency family HF. BOREAS HE is available in two different models: HE40 (1030 nm, 40W, 7 ns pulse duration, 2 mJ pulse energy) and HE80 (1030 nm, 80W, 7 ns, 2 mJ pulse energy) designed for high-peak power micromachining applications: deep-engraving, high-speed marking, precision drilling, and more.

BOREAS HF is available in five different models depending on wavelength (1030 nm, 515 nm or 343 nm) and average power (from 7W at 343 nm to 50W at 515 nm). The new solid block design offers unequaled performances at 515 nm or 343 nm with the possibility to produce pulses at repetition rates up to 500 kHz. Applications include semiconductor, micro-electronics, glass-marking, thin film processing, and both silicon and thin-film photovoltaic industries.

The unique properties of rod-type fibers provide shorter pulses and higher average power than classical DPSS lasers even at very high repetition rates.

Single-mode propagation in the fiber ensures a polarized, diffraction limited beam. A patented resonator design produces sub-10 nanosecond pulses and pulse repetition frequencies up to 500 kHz. The laser head is conductively cooled and temperature stabilized by a closed loop chiller allowing a real sealed environment for long lifetime operation. Fiber coupled diodes located in the 19-in. electronic rack can be easily serviced with no adjustment of the laser head. The system comes with an RS-232 interface for easy integration in high-volume manufacturing environments.

For more information, please contact:

EOLITE SYSTEMS
David Horain
International Sales Manager
11 avenue Canteranne
33600 Pessac
FRANCE
Tel.: +33 (0)5 56 46 45 58
Fax: +33 (0)5 56 46 24 35
Cell: +33 (0)6 32 83 53 77
E-mail: david.horain@eolite.com
Web: www.eolite.com

or:

FRENCH TECHNOLOGY PRESS OFFICE
205 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 3740
Chicago, IL 60601
Fax: (312) 327-5261
E-mail: contact.ftpo@ubifrance.fr

FOGALE NANOTECH AT PHOTONICS WEST EXPO IN SAN JOSE, CALIF., THIS JANUARY

Chicago, January 6, 2008 (word count: 421)
FOGALE nanotech, an engineering company created in 1983, is now a worldwide reference in the field of high-accuracy dimensional metrology. Its product line and engineering know-how with expertise in capacitive, optical, inductive and ultrasonic metrology, are acknowledged in the most demanding fields of industry and laboratories (e.g. automotive, defense, aeronautics, nuclear industry). FOGALE will present its LENSCAN system for non-contact thickness and positioning measurement at Photonics West 2009 in San Jose, Calif., from Jan. 27 to 29, on the French Pavilion at booth 1613.

The LENSCAN system is a non-contact thickness and positioning measurement in optical assemblies. It allows for direct measurement of the position and the center thickness of all optical elements and air gaps of an assembly along the optical axis. It works for all kinds of elements such as lenses, optical cubes and flats, and also measures distances between them (air gaps). Whether in production, quality control, or R&D mode, it can be used with large benefits in term of time saving and quality assessment at all steps of the optical design and manufacturing process.

Based on the principle of a low-coherence infrared interferometer technique, the system operates as a comparator of optical group delays. It can be used to measure positions and thicknesses of transparent materials at the near infrared wavelength.

While the standard LENSCAN system achieves an absolute accuracy of ±1 μm for position and distance measurements, the new generation, LENSCAN +600, reaches an accuracy level of ±200 nm for distance measurements while maintaining the ±1 μm for position measurements. The system, including its software, has been specifically optimized as a metrology tool dedicated to the optical industry. The focus position of the collimator is adjustable to the position of the sample. The signal treatment performs specific analysis in order to eliminate many parasitic contributions due to multiple reflections. The software allows the measurement of air gaps and lenses thicknesses inside an objective to check if the system meets the tolerance specification. The large measurement range (up to 600 mm), the long working distance (up to several meters), and the possibility to use a long measurement fiber (several tens of meters) between the system and the collimator give perfect solution for a wide range of applications.

FOGALE nanotech has also strong engineering capabilities to develop specific applications, and has participated to numerous research projects involving academic and industrial partners. It provides many OEM modules for various partners worldwide. It has recently opened a new subsidiary in Los Angeles to bring a better support to its U.S. customers:

FOGALE nanotech Inc.
5757 W. Century Boulevard, suite 700
Los Angeles, CA 90045
Tel. (310) 348 2974
Fax (310) 348 2975

For more information, please contact:

FOGALE NANOTECH
William Panciroli
Sales Manager
125, Rue de l’Hostellerie Acti Plus Bat. A
Ville Active
30900 Nimes
FRANCE
Tel.: +33 (0)4 66 62 05 55
Fax:+33 (0)4 66 62 71 60
Cell: +33 (0)6 07 65 76 94
E-mail: w.panciroli@fogale.fr
Web: www.fogale.fr

or:

FRENCH TECHNOLOGY PRESS OFFICE
205 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 3740
Chicago, IL 60601
Fax: (312) 327-5261
E-mail: contact.ftpo@ubifrance.fr