In Germany, Plan Optik AG of Elsoff, a wafer manufacturer, has signed an agreement with Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology in Itzehoe for the exclusive use of patented production processes, specifically the optimized manufacture of high-quality glass microlenses and the hermetic glass encapsulation of microelectromechanical systems with simultaneous electrical vertical interconnect access. Under terms of the agreement, Plan Optik will use borosilicate glass with a refractive index of 1.474 at 589 nm.