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{{Short description|American technology company}}
{{Hatnote|Coherent, Inc. was acquired in 2022. For the combined company, see [[Coherent Corp.]]}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Coherent, Inc.
| logo = File:
| logo_alt = Coherent, Inc. logo
| logo_caption =
| image =
| image_size =
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| former_name =
| type = [[Subsidiary]] <!-- [[Public company]] -->
| traded_as = {{NASDAQ was|COHR}} <
| industry =
| predecessor = <!-- or: | predecessors = -->
| successor = <!-- or: | successors = -->
| founded = {{Start date and age|1966}}, in [[Palo Alto, California]]
| founder = James Hobart
| defunct = <!-- {{End date|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| hq_location = {{nowrap|[[Santa Clara, California]], U.S.}}
| num_locations =
| num_locations_year = <!-- Year of num_locations data (if known) -->
| area_served = <!-- or: | areas_served = -->
| key_people = Andreas W. Mattes ([[Chief executive officer|CEO]])
| products =
| production =
| production_year = <!-- Year of production data (if known) -->
| brands =
| services =
| revenue = {{US$|1.23 billion|link=yes}}
| revenue_year = 2020
| operating_income = US$411 million
| income_year = 2020
| net_income =
| net_income_year = 2020
| assets = US$1.83 billion▼
▲| assets = $1.83 billion
| assets_year = 2020
| equity = US$927 million
| equity_year = 2020
| owner = <!-- or: | owners = -->
| num_employees = 4,875
| num_employees_year = 2020
| parent = [[II-VI Incorporated]]
| divisions =
| subsid =
| website =
| footnotes = <ref>{{citation|url=http://app.quotemedia.com/data/downloadFiling?webmasterId=101533&ref=115474778&type=PDF&symbol=COHR&companyName=Coherent+Inc.&formType=10-K&dateFiled=2020-12-01&CK=21510|title=Coherent, Inc. 10-K For the Fiscal Year Ended October 3, 2020|publisher=Coherent, Inc.}}</ref>
}}
'''Coherent, Inc.'''
==Corporate history==
===Origins and early funding===
Coherent, Inc. was founded in May 1966 by six engineers in [[Palo Alto, California]]<ref name="international">{{cite book|volume=31|pages=122–126|first=Tina|last=Grant|publisher=St. James Press|date=2000|title=Coherent, Inc.|work=International Directory of Company Histories|url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/coherent-inc-history/}}</ref>{{efn|Sources conflict on the number of founders.<ref name="Bromberg 1991 p. 176">{{cite book | last=Bromberg | first=J.L. | title=The Laser in America, 1950-1970 | publisher=MIT Press | year=1991 | isbn=978-0-262-02318-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P6Ta1MPiOM8C&pg=PA176 | access-date=December 4, 2020 | page=176}}</ref>}} under the name Coherent Radiation.<ref name="Hitz 2015 p. ">{{cite book | last=Hitz | first=C | title=LEOMA and the US laser industry : the good and bad moves for trade associations in emerging high-tech industries | publisher=Hoboken, New Jersey IEEE Press, John Wiley & Sons | publication-place=Piscataway, NJ | year=2015 | isbn=978-1-118-01024-2 | oclc=893974550 | page=}}</ref>{{RP|1}} Coherent was initially funded by the founders with $10,000 from their personal savings.<ref name="international" /><ref name="oralhistory">{{citation|url=https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/4676|title=James Hobart|work=Oral History Interviews|publisher=American Institute of Physics|first=Joan|last=Bromberg|date=January 20, 1984}}</ref> They released the first commercially
[[Rockefeller family|The Rockefellers]] invested $250,000 in 1967 and other private investors put in an additional $250,000 the next year.<ref name="international" /><ref name="oralhistory" /> Then, Coherent filed an initial public offering in 1970.<ref name="international" /><ref name="oralhistory" />
===1970s
Over time, Coherent expanded into lasers for consumer, medical, scientific, industrial, and other applications.<ref name="international" /><ref name="photonics1983">{{cite news|newspaper=Photonics spectra|title=Tangents: Coherent: Taking Command on Many Fronts|date=February 1983|pages=91–92|first=Robert|last=Clark}}</ref> In 1981, Coherent acquired the scientific division of Germany-based Lambda Physik, a manufacturer of [[excimer laser]]s.<ref name="photonics1983" /> The following year, it acquired Germany-based Laser-Optronic GmbH and created a joint venture with Miyama and Co. in Japan.<ref name="photonics1983" />
Coherent became the largest laser equipment and parts manufacturer in the world, but its operations were still unprofitable.<ref name="international" /> After founder James Hobart delegated management of the company, Coherent experienced numerous problems with defective products, delayed deliveries, and poor manufacturing efficiency.<ref name="international" /> As a result of these problems, Hobart returned to the CEO position in 1988.<ref name="international" /> He restructured the company and trained staff in manufacturing processes that were popularized in Japan, such as [[just-in-time manufacturing]] and [[continual improvement process]].<ref name="international" /> As a result of these changes, Coherent's productivity improved 60 percent, while its costs decreased 58 percent.<ref name="international" />
By the 1990s, medical lasers accounted for half of Coherent's revenues.<ref name="international" /> In the mid-1990s, Coherent acquired Applied Laser Systems, ATx Telecom Systems, Inc., Uniphase Corporation, and 80 percent of Tutcore Oy, LTD. These acquired businesses formed Coherent's new semiconductor division.<ref name="international" /> In July 1996, Bernard Couillaud was appointed
===2000s===
In 2003, Coherent acquired Lambda Physik, which created ultraviolet lasers used in [[Annealing (glass)|annealing]] in manufacturing flat-panel televisions.<ref name="Ltd" /> John Ambroseo became the CEO of Coherent in 2004.<ref name="Ltd" /> During his tenure, Coherent made a series of acquisitions that grew the company from $400 million to almost $2 billion in annual revenues.<ref name="Ltd">{{cite web | last= | first= | title=Coherent CEO Ambroseo retiring by 2021 | website=Optics.org - The Business of Photonics | url=https://optics.org/news/10/4/24 | access-date=December 9, 2020|date=April 15, 2019}}</ref>
Coherent purchased the German-based pulse laser company Lumera in 2012 for $52 million.<ref name="lumera">{{cite web | last= | first= | title=Coherent extends ultrafast expansion with $52M Lumera Laser buy-out | website=optics.org - The Business of Photonics | url=https://optics.org/news/3/12/35 | access-date=December 9, 2020|date=December 21, 2012}}</ref> Their lasers were primarily used in micromachining in industrial processes that use lasers to add very slight amounts of heat.<ref name="lumera" /> In 2015, Coherent purchased Raydiance, who made lasers used in automotive and medical manufacturing, for $9.3 million.<ref name="The North Bay Business Journal 2015">{{cite web | title=Raydiance acquired by Coherent | website=The North Bay Business Journal | date=July 31, 2015 | first=Jeff|last=Quackenbush|url=https://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/article/industry-news/petalumas-raydiance-acquired-by-coherent/ | access-date=December 9, 2020}}</ref>{{efn|A different source claims $5 million rather than $9.3.<ref name="Photonics.com 2015">{{cite web | title=Coherent Increases Profits, Acquires 2 Firms in 2015 | website=Photonics.com | date=November 5, 2015 |url=https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Coherent_Increases_Profits_Acquires_2_Firms_in/a57912 | access-date=December 3, 2020}}</ref>}} In early 2016, Coherent agreed to acquire the Germany-based [[Materials science#Processing|materials processing]] competitor Rofin-Sinar for $942 million.<ref name="Beckerman 20162">{{cite news | last=Beckerman | first=Josh | title=Coherent to Buy Rofin-Sinar for $942 Million | newspaper=The Wall Street Journal | date=March 16, 2016 | url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/coherent-to-buy-rofin-sinar-for-942-million-1458164739 | access-date=December 9, 2020}}</ref> Three years later, Coherent acquired Germany-based O.R. Lasertechnologie, which produced lasers for [[additive manufacturing]].<ref name="laserfocusworldone">{{cite web | title=Coherent buys OR Laser for AM systems, expands in Lübeck | website=Laser Focus World | url=https://www.laserfocusworld.com/lasers-sources/article/16571791/coherent-buys-or-laser-for-am-systems-expands-in-lbeck | access-date=December 9, 2020|first=Conard|last=Holton|date=May 29, 2018}}</ref>
Andreas W. Mattes was appointed CEO in April 2020.<ref name="Ltd" />
In July 2022, [[II-VI Incorporated]] completed the acquisition of Coherent Inc., with the combined company named Coherent Corp.<ref name="ii-vi" />
==Products and services==
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== The Bernard J. Couillaud Prize ==
The [[The Optical Society|OSA Foundation]] and Coherent Inc. partnered in 2017 to offer the annual Bernard J. Couillaud Prize,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.osa.org/en-us/foundation/competitions_prizes/the_bernard_j_couillaud_prize/ |title=Bernard J. Couillaud Prize |publisher=The Optical Society}}</ref> in honor of the former CEO of Coherent, who died in 2017. Couillaud, in collaboration with [[Nobel Prize]] Laureate [[Theodor W. Hänsch]], developed the Hansch-Couillaud technique for laser frequency stabilization,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hansch |first1=T. W. |last2=Couillaud |first2=B. |title=Laser frequency stabilization by polarization spectroscopy of a reflecting reference cavity |journal=Optics Communications |date=1 December 1980 |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=441–444 |doi=10.1016/0030-4018(80)90069-3 |bibcode=1980OptCo..35..441H |doi-access=free }}</ref> and was instrumental in the development of dye, [[diode-pumped solid-state laser]]s, and [[Ti-sapphire laser]]s in his roles at Coherent. The Couillaud Prize is awarded to early-career professionals pursuing ultrafast laser research with an emphasis on solving real-world problems. The prize is a merit award of $20,500 with up to $5,000 in travel expense reimbursement to attend OSA scientific conferences.
==Notes==
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==External links==
*{{Official
{{Finance links historical
| name = Coherent, Inc.
| sec_cik = 21510
}}
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:Electronics companies established in 1966]]
[[Category:1966 establishments in California]]
[[Category:2022 mergers and acquisitions]]
[[Category:Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq]]
[[Category:American corporate subsidiaries]]
[[Category:1970s initial public offerings]]
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