Teledyne Microelectronic Technologies and Zephyr Photonics Join Forces to Advance Optical Interconnect Technology

LOS ANGELES, CA and ZEPHYR COVE, NV--(Marketwire - Jan 9, 2012) - Zephyr Photonics and Teledyne Microelectronic Technologies, a business unit of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated, today announced a partnership to develop and market optical interconnect technology solutions to meet the high bandwidth and harsh environment demands of the defense, aerospace, commercial aviation, and oil and gas industries. The partnership combines Zephyr Photonics' proprietary vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) technology with Teledyne Microelectronics Technologies' five decades of experience designing and manufacturing multichip modules and ruggedized fiber optic assemblies for a variety of applications.

This is the first major commercial partnership for Zephyr Photonics, which recently transitioned to a commercial enterprise after more than 25 years as a research and development company. The agreement with Teledyne Microelectronic Technologies includes joint product development to address future market opportunities, provides a collaborative sales channel to reach more customers faster while opening new markets via Teledyne's multiple divisions, and establishes a trusted partnership for government funding proposals for new technology development.

"This is a significant step for Zephyr Photonics as we work to establish our foothold as a trusted resource and partner for optoelectronic technology across a variety of markets and industries," said Tom Steding, CEO of Zephyr Photonics. "Working with Teledyne Microelectronic Technologies provides credibility to our customers via a trusted manufacturing facility and further demonstrates our commitment to the defense OEMs, and ultimately, the warfighter."

This joint manufacturing and product marketing collaboration will provide customers with advanced optical interconnect fiber optic products that can overcome harsh environment data communications obstacles and enable optical interconnect solutions that meet the requirements of national security and commercial applications.

"Together, we will deliver unparalleled and reliable solutions to system designers and improved SWaP for applications and environments where data communications is not just important, it is mission critical and potentially life-saving," said Terry Thomas, Executive Vice President of Business Development for Zephyr Photonics. "Zephyr Photonics' proprietary high temperature VCSELs can withstand temperatures over 155°C and are well suited for unmanned airborne vehicles, in addition to extreme heat conditions in down hole oil drilling applications."

"Teledyne Microelectronic Technologies relationship with Zephyr Photonics expands our range of optoelectronic packaging solutions well beyond the competition's," said Albert Andry, Vice President and General Manager of Teledyne Microelectronic Technologies. "By partnering with Zephyr Photonics, we can take our superior fiber optic packaging capabilities to the Oil & Gas sector, where extreme temperature requirements are driving technology to limits not seen before."

About Zephyr Photonics
Founded in 1987, Zephyr Photonics (formerly OptiComp) is focused on providing solutions to the Department of Defense, and the aerospace, industrial, energy, and intelligence industries. For the past 25 years, Zephyr has worked as a research and development company, creating its unique technology over 60 contracts from U.S. government agencies, communication companies, and defense prime contractors. Zephyr Photonics has independently developed its first commercial solution, a patented VCSEL technology available nowhere else in the country. The innovative technology enables the production of harsh environment, integrated optoelectronic modules for ultra-wide bandwidth data networking and optical interconnect applications. For more information, visit www.zephyrphotonics.com.

About Teledyne Microelectronics Technologies
Teledyne Microelectronics Technologies, a Department of Defense (DoD) Trusted Source for microelectronics, is a leading supplier of multichip modules (MCMs) and custom microelectronics packaging solutions. Teledyne Microelectronics Technologies provides turnkey design, manufacturing, test services and technical expertise to the DoD community, medical, communications and high-end industrial markets and are internationally known for its complex packaging and miniaturization solutions where size and weight are critical parameters and performance must be optimized. For more information on Teledyne Microelectronics Technologies, visit www.teledynemicro.com.

Teledyne Technologies is a leading provider of sophisticated instrumentation, digital imaging products and software, aerospace and defense electronics, and engineered systems. Teledyne Technologies' operations are primarily located in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Mexico. For more information, visit Teledyne Technologies' website at www.teledyne.com.