News Briefs (Feb. 27, 2006)

Aixtron AG of Aachen, Germany, said Northrop Grumman Corp. has achieved "quality and uniformity" for AlGaN/GaN (aluminum/gallium nitride) on silicon carbide high-electron mobility transistor devices on its Thomas Swan close-coupled showerhead (CCS) epitaxial growth production system. The 7x3" CCS MOCVD (metalorganic chemical vapor deposition) system was installed at Northrop Grumman's Linthicum, Md., facility. . . . Kailight Photonics, a maker of optical modules for the telecommunications industry, has hired Stuart Foladare as vice president of sales, Roni Dadon as vice president of research and development and Motti Caspi as a senior technical staff member. Foladare has held sales and development positions at Optovation, Nortel Networks and Versacom/Ameriss; Dadon was a founder and a vice president at TeraSea Ltd. of Rehovot, Israel, where he managed development of advanced 10-Gb/s transponders; and Caspi was a founder and CTO at TeraSea, where he worked on the design of advanced 10-Gb/s transponders. Kailight has offices in Dallas, Texas, and in Rehovot, Israel. . . . Ondax Inc., a Monrovia, Calif., maker of volume holographic gratings, said it has reached an agreement with T.E.M. of Japan to distribute its PowerLocker VHGs for laser stabilization.