JENOPTIK

What they do

JENOPTIK is a technology group working in photonics. It develops and makes optical systems and microoptics, lasers, cameras and imaging modules, measurement and inspection equipment, and LiDAR and traffic enforcement systems. Its main customer industries include semiconductors, medical technology, metrology and smart mobility.

The company is headquartered in Jena in Thuringia. It emerged from the reorganisation of the East German Carl Zeiss Jena combine: JENOPTIK Carl Zeiss Jena GmbH was formed in 1990, and a year later JENOPTIK GmbH emerged as a state-owned company. JENOPTIK AG is now listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and included in the MDAX and TecDAX.

Why it matters

Photonics, the science of generating and controlling light, sits behind chipmaking, medical imaging and quality control. Jenoptik supplies optical components for semiconductor equipment, where precision is measured in nanometres, and imaging modules for medical devices.

Its road safety business makes speed and red-light cameras used by authorities in many countries, and its metrology tools inspect parts in automotive and other factories. The breadth reflects how optical know-how can be applied across very different markets.

Products to know

• Optics and microoptics: precision components for semiconductor and other high-tech equipment.
• Lasers: laser sources and systems for industrial processes.
• Metrology and inspection systems: measurement tools for manufacturing.
• TraffiStar: traffic enforcement camera systems.

The German angle

Jena is one of the birthplaces of modern optics. Carl Zeiss, Ernst Abbe and Otto Schott established the city's optical industry in the 19th century, and the Friedrich Schiller University and several Fraunhofer and Leibniz institutes continue that tradition today.

Jenoptik's story is also one of German reunification. Turning part of a state-owned East German combine into a listed international group was among the more successful industrial transformations of the 1990s, and it helped keep high-tech jobs in Thuringia.