Allegro MicroSystems Acquires Voxtel to Enhance LiDAR portfolio

Allegro's experience, scale, and design for quality uniquely position the company to enhance the Voxtel LiDAR portfolio, aiming to make LiDAR systems safer, cost-effective, and widely adopted function in the cars of the future.

FREMONT, CA: Allegro MicroSystems, a global leader in sensing and power semiconductor technology, acquires Voxtel, a privately held firm specializing in advanced photonic and 3D imaging technology like long-range, eye-safe Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR). This acquisition brings together Voxtels significant laser and imaging technology with Allegro's automotive leadership and scales to develop the next generation of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). 

Voxtel is pioneering in photonics since 1999, offering cutting-edge solutions for military, automotive, and surveillance, space applications. Its ultra-miniature lasers,  near-infrared (NIR), read-out integrated circuits (ROICs), and short-wavelength infrared (SWIR) photodetectors represent the broadest LADAR/LiDAR photonic technology suites available. Allegro's innovative portfolio of motor drivers, regulators, position sensors, and current sensors, when coupled with photonics, delivers most of the key semiconductor components in the transmit and receive blocks of automotive LiDAR systems. This firm's Allegros foothold in the car of the future.

LiDAR usually uses lasers, photodetectors, and read-out integrated circuits (ROICs) with time-of-flight (TOF) ability to gauge distance by illuminating an object and analyzing the reflected light. LiDAR technology offers high-resolution, 3D information about the surroundings necessary to make fully autonomous driving a reality. It also helps in adaptive cruise control, adds value to car cameras and radar, and compliments situational awareness.

Besides the portfolio of advanced electro-optical solutions, the acquisition includes Voxtels' business addressing a broad range of applications, such as robotics, heavy equipment, drones,  mapping/surveying, defense, environmental monitoring, IP portfolio, space exploration, and an experienced team of engineers and scientists. As a result, the Allegro's photonics portfolio now have devices made in silicon and InGaAs, offering components for eye-safe, long-range 1D or 2D scanned front-facing LiDAR and side- or rear-facing FLASH LiDAR. Voxtel's President and Chief Executive Officer, George M. Williams Jr., will become Allegro MicroSystems Photonics Fellow after the acquisition.

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