September 5, 2001 – Beverly, MA – Clare Inc. designer and manufacturer of high-voltage ICs, has entered into a product licensing and services agreement with Linear Dimensions Inc. to design, develop and market high-voltage linear amplifier products.

These products provide the critical high-voltage drive and control required for the electrostatic actuation of MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems) based all-optical switches.

Under the terms of the agreement, Clare has licensed existing Linear Dimensions’ IP and the two companies will collaborate on future designs and products. The products will be manufactured using Clare’s proprietary, high-voltage, Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) technology and marketed under the Clare name. Together, Clare and Linear Dimensions will provide solutions to optical switch equipment manufacturers and MEMS development engineers.

These solutions will save board space by integrating bulky discrete components, reduce costs and most importantly provide time-to-market advantages by replacing time-consuming custom ASIC designs, according to the companies.

“Clare has been very responsive over the past year to the fast change in process requirements for the MEMS driver market. Their expertise in high-voltage process development and wafer fabrication has enhanced our analog IC design capabilities and will foster growth in optical switching,” said Mike Ward, CTO of Linear Dimensions.

“The combination of Clare’s unique high-voltage technology and experienced global sales and marketing channels makes them the ideal choice for a partner.”