September 20, 2012 – CrossFiber, a San Diego, CA maker of photonic switches that incorporate microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technology, has acquired substantially all the assets — patent portfolio, manufacturing know-how, inventory, even lab notebooks — of 2D MEMS switch firm OMM for an undisclosed amount.

OMM was the inventor and pioneering manufacturer of Telcordia-qualified MEMS-based photonics switches. CrossFiber’s LiteSwitch family of photonic switches feature 3D MEMS micromirror technology originally devised at OMM, coupled with beam control techniques developed and licensed by Trex and CrossFiber’s own work in beam control, switch architecture, and precision optics.

"We now own an even stronger IP portfolio and a deeper base of know-how," stated Hus Tigli, CrossFiber’s president & CEO (he also served as the CEO of OMM). "Our core technologies, combined with our innovations in automated manufacturing and testing of precision parts enable us to serve customers demanding performance, economical solutions, and volume manufacturing."

It’s a busy month for CrossFiber — days ago it closed a $13M Series D funding round to help ramp capacity for its LightSwitch technology, which combines 3D MEMS micro-mirrors on silicon, non-invasive beam steering (NIBS), and custom ASICs, for application in data centers and fiber-optic switching. The company says its proprietary methods create precisely positioned fiber and microlens arrays, yielding collimator arrays with good beam shape and low insertion loss.

Visit the MEMS Channel of Solid State Technology, and subscribe to our MEMS Direct e-newsletter!