Gemfire Acquires NovaCrystals for Photo Diode Technology

Gemfire Corporation has acquired NovaCrystals, a start-up in San Jose, California, for its Avalanche Photo Diode (APD) technology that can be manufactured using planar silicon processes.. Gemfire said the acquisition enhances its ability to provide integrated planar WDM solutions to the optical networking systems market in addition to supporting several immediate space and defense related opportunities. The NovaCrystals wafer bonding technology combines the speed and low noise advantages of silicon with the high detection sensitivity of InGaAs to achieve PIN and APD detectors at telecom wavelengths. The APD technology can also be designed to operate in Geiger Mode, with state-of-the-art noise and sensitivity performance for single photon counting applications.



Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.gemfire.com