High technology tools and systems company Oxford Instruments plc and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) machine maker Riber SA announced Monday that Riber has bought the MBE business currently owned by Oxford's Bristol-based Plasma Technology business group. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology (OIPT) business provides process solutions such as plasma etch and deposition, atomic layer deposition, nanoscale growth systems and ion beam etch and deposition for the micro- and nanometer engineering of materials for semiconductor, optoelectronics, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), high-quality optical coating, among other applications.

Selling the MBE part of OIPT will allow it to focus on enhancing existing product lines and expanding into new markets, Oxford Instruments said, part of an aggressive product development plan to double the size of the business and increase return on sales by 10 percent. As part of that strategy, Oxford acquired Technology and Devices International Inc., a maker of high-brightness LEDs (HB-LEDS) in April; and in May acquired Oxford Instruments Nordiska AB from Link Analytical AB, a distributor of analytical instrumentation in the Nordic countries.

The transfer to Bezon-based Riber will take place before OIPT relocates to a new facility, Oxford said.

Riber said the acquisition will strongly reinforce its share of the MBE market in Europe, North America and Asia, raising the number of its MBE systems from 500 to 800. The MBE machines, effusion cells and dedicated radio frequency sources Riber makes are used in the manufacture of compound semiconductors and new materials for applications such as information technology, organic LED flat-panel displays and new solar cells.

For more information, visit: www.oxinst.com or www.riber.com