Jenoptik Expands in Berlin, China

Laser and optical systems manufacturer !%Jenoptik%! of Jena, Germany, is doubling its semiconductor laser capacity with a €10 million (about $13.2 million) expansion of its Berlin-Adlershof site. The larger facility is expected to be available for production in 2013. Jenoptik said the expansion is the result of increasing demand, particularly from Asia. The new building will be automated and equipped with state-of-the-art production technology and cleanroom facilities. Gallium-arsenide wafers will be processed to create high-power laser bars.

In other news, Jenoptik officially opened a 100 percent-owned subsidiary in China called Jenoptik (Shanghai) Precision Instruments and Equipment Co. Ltd. Three of the company’s five divisions – Lasers & Material Processing, Optical Systems, and Industrial Metrology – will have a local presence at the new location. Jenoptik’s other two divisions are Traffic Solutions and Defense & Civil Systems. Jenoptik currently employs more than 60 people in China, with the majority at the Shanghai location in the Pudong Industrial Zone. It also has facilities in Beijing, Chongqing and Wuhan.

Also, the Lasers & Material Processing Div. will supply US plants with laser processing systems used in a new application to fabricate high-tech glass for smart windows that can be electronically adjusted to external lighting conditions to save on energy consumption. Jenoptik has supplied the laser processing systems for thin-film solar cell manufacturing since 2007. The company partnered with Bystronic glass, a provider of glass processing services, machinery, plants and systems, to develop the new application.