Daily News Briefs

Cree Inc. has granted a license to Cotco International, a Hong Kong-based developer of LED products, to manufacture white LEDs under US Patent No. 6,600,175, involving its InGaN nitride LED and phosphor conversion technology. Cotco is one of the first Asian companies to obtain a license under the patent. The agreement enables buyers to acquire Cotco white LEDs that incorporate Cree dice (chips); they will be labeled with the patent number and will read "Powered by Cree(R)." . . . Konarka Technologies Inc., a Lowell, Mass., developer of photovoltaic light-activated polymer fibers and plastic sheets for integration into systems for lighting, sensing, communicating and computing, and Solaris Nanosciences, of Providence, R.I., a maker of nanoscale materials for the solar energy, display and vision markets, today announced a joint development agreement to evaluate the performance and efficiency of solar cells made with Konarka's light-activated power plastic and Solaris's nanoscale metallic structures, which act as "nano-antennas" for light-sensitive molecules. The structures enhance the absorption of the solar spectrum, much like a conventional antenna enhances the reception of a radio receiver. . . . Melles Griot, a Carlsbad, Calif.-based supplier of photonics products including optical components and systems, lasers, motion-control systems, laser measurement instrumentation, optomechanical hardware and vibration-isolated optical tables and workstations, has released its tenth "Catalog X" product and technology guide, a 1148-page catalog of more than 25,000 parts and 1100 new items, with expanded tutorial sections and a variety of features designed to simplify the photonics component selection process. For more information, visit: www.mellesgriot.com . . . Riber, of Rueil-Malmaison, France, announced it has received orders for two molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) machines from a research institute for use in optoelectronic applications. The Epineat and Compact 21T MBE machines are used for research and small-scale production of new compound semiconductor-based devices for various applications, such as wireless telecommunications, fiber optic networks and consumer products.