June 13, 2006 – Fuji Photo Film Co. Ltd. has agreed to acquire Dimatix Inc., a developer and manufacturer of industrial inkjet printheads, precision micropumps, and specialized print systems, for an undisclosed amount.
The transaction, expected to close by the end of July, involves all of Dimatix’s businesses, including its Spectra Printing Division in New Hampshire, and its materials deposition division and MEMS fabrication facility in Santa Clara, CA.
Dimatix’s Materials Deposition Division innovates and manufactures systems for the development and jetting of functional fluids, including nanoparticle-based metallic and organic materials. Applications include microelectronic packaging substrates and flexible or rigid displays to DNA arrays, optical microlenses and a wide array of electronics.
“For over 20 years, Dimatix has been leading the way in piezoelectric drop-on-demand ink jet technology, and this acquisition represents the next phase in accelerating our growth,” stated Dimatix CEO John Batterton. “We are pleased to have such a significant role in Fuji’s VISION75 strategy, which establishes new growth platforms in digital imaging.”
Last September the company unveiled a cartridge-based materials printer system that can deposit 10pL-sized microdroplets of functional fluids, including nanoparticle-based metallic and organic materials, to print down to 50-micron feature sizes or linewidths on surfaces including plastic, metal sheets, silicon, and paper.
Dimatix, formerly known as Spectra Inc., was renamed in May 2005, formally opening new facilities in Silicon Valley with headquarters, R&D center, and a 33,000 sq. ft silicon MEMS fab, and a renewed focus on insourcing all critical processes to maintain tighter control. The company makes its own SOI wafers, for example, because they can’t be purchased commercially to thickness variation and leadtime requirements — reportedly 4x better than available alternatives, and orders of magnitude faster lead times. (For more on Dimatix, see WaferNews, V12n20, May 23, 2005.)