Hopefully Thorlabs will enter the large format high resolution line scan/macro lens market wth the acquisition of JML. Currently Thorlabs only offers low-end small sensor, 1/2", 2/3", 1", and 4/3" sensor format lenses for machine vision.
Thorlabs Acquisition of JML Optical
Newton, NJ and Rochester, NY – January 16, 2023
“Over the last five decades, the JML Optical team has repeatedly set benchmarks for lens component and lens assembly development,” said Bob Bicksler, President & CEO of JML Optical. “We take pride in being a leader in providing optical solutions. We see this combination as an excellent opportunity to increase exposure to our products through the extensive global reach of Thorlabs."
The JML Optical team will remain in Rochester, New York and form a new Thorlabs entity called Thorlabs Lens Systems, Inc. (TLS). Operating as an R&D and production facility, TLS will add to Thorlabs’ existing optics manufacturing footprint, which currently occupies 120,000 square feet of vertically integrated production space within Thorlabs’ campus of buildings in Newton, NJ and another 24,000 square feet within its facilities in South Carolina and California.
JML Optical is a precision-engineered custom optical solution provider. We offer optical and optomechanical design, rapid prototype, glass and metal fabrication, thin-film coating, metrology, environmental testing, and full assembly for a one-stop solution. JML Optical Industries, LLC is a privately owned company.
Thorlabs, a vertically integrated photonics products manufacturer, was founded in 1989 to serve the laser and electro-optics research market. As that market has spawned a multitude of technical innovations, Thorlabs has extended its core competencies in an effort to play an ever-increasing role to serve the Photonics Industry at the research end, as well as the industrial, life science, medical, and defense segments.