Co-Creation (Founders Message)

Photonic Lattice, Inc. was founded to develop new photonic crystal products with the goal of expanding the functionalities of optical systems in a broad number of industries. Our core strength is in our process technology which enables formation of arbitrarily shaped micro-polarizers and micro-waveplates onto inorganic substrates. It is our desire to deliver integrated optical devices which can be used to advance the performance of current optical systems.

The first significant commercialization program of Photonic Lattices was the development and manufacturing of 2D measurement equipment systems. The “eye” of such systems consists of a patterned photonic crystal, a device innovated by Photonic Lattice. As Photonic Lattice wishes to make our core photonic crystal technology available to more industries, we have recently started a new business line: design and fabrication of special-purpose photonic crystal chips. A few industries which already benefit from such innovative chips include optical communications (polarization multiplexing), semiconductor wafer inspection (DUV inspection systems), and laser machining. Our photonic crystal products play essential roles in each of these fields and allow our customers, who are top-tier technology companies, to differentiate their product lines from competition.

In different branches of optics, our customers have ambitions to create new functions in their product offerings. It is our goal to help our customers to achieve their goals by mutually engaging with them in product design and fabrication. To add a few words about our technology, our products are formed by sputtering techniques which are inherently rugged and reliable. By selecting appropriate materials, we can provide products which extend from the DUV through the infrared spectra. Our materials have been confirmed to withstand high power laser light and therefore can be safely used in demanding environments. It is our hope that we can continue to expand our technologies into new application areas and build mutually beneficial relationships with our customers.

Founder, Shojiro KAWAKAMI

Management philosophy

We will continuously develop various capabilities of auto-cloning photonic crystal technology, modify our technology by listening to the voice of customers and provide useful new products for customers. Then, we play a role in Japanese industry by becoming a model for success of high-tech ventures in the optoelectronic industry.

Photonic Lattice History

1996

The Company’s core technology “Technology for preparing photonic crystal by auto-cloning” was invented by S. Kawakami in Research Institute of Electrical Communication of Tohoku university.

2002

Photonic Lattice, Inc. was established. S. Kawakami took up a post as the president and CEO.
The Company started at NICHe of Tohoku university.

2003

The Company realized a capital increase from 3 venture capital investors.

2004

The central office was moved to Aoba Incubation Square (Aoba-ku, Sendai city). The Company kicked off business pursuits.

2006

Polarization imaging camera PI-100 with the photonic crystals was released.

2007

The Company realized a capital increase from two venture capital investors and two companies.

2009

Birefringence measurement system WPA-100 was released.
Photonic crystal optical elements were identified as “Miyagi sugure MONO”.

2011

The Company was affected by The Great East Japan Earthquake. K. Kishida took up a post as the president and CEO. The central office was moved to Minami-Yoshinari, Aoba-ku, Sendai city.

2012

The Company received ISO9001.

2013

Five new products were released.

2014

The Company won the Inoue Harushige Prize.
T. Sato took up a post as the president and CEO.

2015

Birefringence measurement system WPA-200 was identified as “Miyagi sugure MONO”.

2017

Capital decreased to 90 million yen and capital reserve changed to 53 million yen.
The Company received ISO14001.

2019

The name of the building changes to “LABO CITY SENDAI”.