Daily News Briefs

AMI Semiconductor Inc. of Pocatello, Idaho, announced its intention to consolidate its European wafer fabrication operations. The company intends to close its 4-in. wafer fabrication facility in Oudenaarde, Belgium, and consolidate operations into its existing 6-in. wafer fabrication facility, also located in Oudenaarde. The consolidation and closure of the 4-in. facility is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2007; the company said the action could eventually save it as much as $6 million a year. . . . Micro Photon Devices of Bolzano, Italy, a developer and manufacturer of solid-state photon counting detector modules, has entered into exclusive distribution agreements with Picoquant GmbH of Berlin, Germany, for the European market; Optoelectronic Components of Montreal for the North American market and Pitotech of Chang Hua City, Taiwan, for the Taiwanese market. The detector modules have single molecule applications, such as fluorescence correlation spectroscopy or fluorescence lifetime imaging. . . . Creative Technology Lasers of Walnut Creek, Calif., a distributor of laser diodes, diode laser modules and DPSS (diode-pumped solid-state) laser systems for OEM and research applications, has been selected as US distributor for the full line of products from laser manufacturer Snake Creek Lasers LLC of Hallstead, Pa. . . . Oxford, Mass.-based IPG Photonics Corp. announced that it was awarded a contract by the US Navy for its 10 kW continuous-wave ytterbium fiber laser system. The commercial procurement contract was awarded by the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, Ind. IPG is a manufacturer of fiber and diode lasers, fiber amplifiers and Raman pump lasers for materials processing, aerospace, telecommunications, test and measurement, biomedical and other commercial applications.