Thorlabs announces acquisition of Cirtemo

May 2, 2019 – Thorlabs announced that it has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Columbia-based Cirtemo, LLC. The acquisition includes two technologies: Multivariate Optical Elements for spectroscopic chemical analysis and Nanopatterning Tools known as MagAssemble, which were originally developed by MagAssemble, LLC and are used to “3D print” photolithography masks using nanoparticles. MagAssemble, LLC was recently consolidated with Cirtemo, LLC.
Cirtemo’s multivariate optical elements (MOEs), are wide-band optical spectral filters capable of detecting chemical signatures using a simplified optical instrument. MOEs provide sensitivity and specificity for real- time chemical detection of powders, liquids, slurries, and gases with transmission signatures in the 250 nm to 14 µm range.
The MOE-enabled filter photometer configuration, achieved by combining multiple MOEs with a single system, is particularly useful for in-line process monitoring on the factory floor, point-of-care clinical use, and incorporation into field-based instruments. Using multiple MOEs, a focal plane array can be leveraged to create a real- time hyperspectral imager that can be employed to detect hazardous chemicals, explosive materials, and biological samples.
Cirtemo’s MagAssemble technology provides an alternative to the traditional microlithography techniques used to produce 2D patterned structures. Cirtemo’s patented Pattern Transfer Nanomanufacturing (PTNM) platform can be employed to create customized photolithographic masks with features as small as a few nanometers. The masks are “printed” by fusing ferrous nanoparticles (measuring ~30 nm in diameter) that are organized into various unique nanometer to micron scale patterns. These patterns vary from simple lines to complex mixtures of lines, dots, circles, and polygons that can be etched into a range of flat or curved substrates.
Among other things, the PTNM process is designed for producing custom diffractive optical elements for use in the UV to IR spectral range. It can be applied to numerous substrate materials, including polymers, silicon wafers, fused silica, sapphire, and optical fibers.
The Cirtemo team will remain in South Carolina, form a division called Thorlabs Spectral Works (TSW), and operate as an R&D facility reporting to Thorlabs’ Optics Business Unit in Newton, NJ.

Check out our free e-newsletters
to read more great articles.
- Posted in:
- Industry
- Related Portals:
- Sensors & Industrial I/O, Vision, Factory Automation, Process Instruments, Field Devices & IO, Instruments & Sensors, Process Automation
MORE INDUSTRY NEWS
-
Seeq announces achievement of Amazon Web Services (AWS) Industrial Software Competency status
To receive the AWS Industrial Software Competency designation, APN Partners undergo rigorous AWS technical validation related to industry specific...
-
Pepperl+Fuchs Comtrol and Callisto Integration announce strategic partnership
Pepperl+Fuchs Comtrol and Callisto work with each manufacturing customer to deliver initial solutions that have tangible results, and then collect...
-
ST Robotics providing hands-on robotics training to university students
More than 30 other educational institutions have benefited from ST Robotics’ systems. These include: MIT, Cambridge University, Ecole Nationale...
-
Senet announces partnership with Zenseio
Senet has certified the Zenseio LSMP2 - Professional Multi-purpose Telemetry Station, providing the agriculture market with a pre-integrated,...
-
Arena Solutions announces strategic partnership with PRG
This deepened strategic partnership expands PRG’s services for Arena customers that desire assistance or simply have limited internal resources....
RELATED
-
Augmented Intelligence
By Mark Howard, EU Automation
Augmented intelligence is one of the few technologies named on the Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies,... -
PLC Programming Preference Survey: Insights & User Comments
By Bill Lydon, Automation.com
The PLCopen organization and Automation.com conducted a joint survey of PLC programming preferences. Here are some... -
Robots or Cobots: Which to Choose?
By Jonathan Wilkins, EU Automation
Today’s plant managers are faced with a dearth of automation technologies but it’s not always obvious what... -
IDTechEx Report: Autonomous cars could accout for 4 trillion miles of road travel by 2040
IDTechEx has recently seen competitors joining hands and forming some unlikely-sounding alliances to reduce the cost of autonomous driving...
-
How AI is Disrupting the Oil and Gas Industry
By Ripal Vyas, Softweb Solutions
The arrival of new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) is transforming the...