Palomar automates assembly processes for Bookham

Vista, CA—Palomar Technologies announced Oct. 14 that Bookham Technology has purchased Palomar's Laser Diode Assembly (LDA) Cell to complement automated equipment that Bookham uses for precision volume manufacturing and new product development at its facility in Paignton, South Devon, U.K.

By Control Engineering Staff October 16, 2003

Vista, CA— Palomar Technologies announced Oct. 14 that Bookham Technology has purchased Palomar’s Laser Diode Assembly (LDA) Cell to complement automated equipment that Bookham uses for precision volume manufacturing and new product development at its facility in Paignton, South Devon, U.K. Palomar manufactures high-precision assembly systems.

Bookham designs and manufactures optical and RF components, modules and subsystems. The company’s components and subsystems are used in various applications and industries, including telecommunications, aerospace, industrial, and military. Bookham is using Palomar’s LDA Cell to manufacture its chip-on-carrier tunable laser devices.

‘Bookham excels at product design, process control and automation to build and deliver high performance products,’ says Gwen Briens, engineering manager at Bookham’s chip on carrier and Wave operations. ‘The automation equipment from Palomar is a part of our overall commitment to provide cost-effective optical functionality for our customers. It also allows us to design new components with automation in mind from the start.’

The LDA is a high-precision assembly system that fully automates complex laser diode component assembly. This flexible, computer-controlled assembly machine performs very high-accuracy, pulse-heat eutectic die attach. With high-accuracy automatic placement of components, the LDA improves yield, which also improves the quality of sub-assembly for downstream module assembly processes.

Control Engineering Daily News Desk
Jim Montague, news editor
jmontague@reedbusiness.com