Now doing business as Materion Barr Precision Optics and Thin Film Coatings Barr Associates, Inc. and Thin Film Technology, Inc., the precision optics and thin film coatings businesses of Williams Advanced Materials Inc. In October 2009 the firm had been acquired by Williams Advanced Materials (WAM) and operates as a subsidiary of that firm. The world's largest independent manufacturer of precision thin film coatings and optical filters Barr designs and manufactures thin film coatings and optical filters. Materion Barr Precision Optics and Thin Film Coatings brings together Barr Associates and Thin Film Technology and creates on of the worlds largest provider of precision thin films. Materion provide optical filters and customized thin film solutions to a variety of markets including Defense, Commercial, Thermal Imaging, Space and astronomy markets. Its products are and have been used in various applications, including astronomy, space-based telescopes, defense, aerospace, fluorescence spectroscopy, color management, thermal imaging, and telecommunications, manufacturing of high performance, precision thin film coatings and optical filters. Applications enabled by Barr technologies have included high energy lasers, thermal imaging, night vision, environmental sensing, blood analysis, DNA sequencing, surveillance, targeting, and gas and fire detection. The highest profile application has been optical bandpass filters for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Barr provided the majority of these filters for HSTs Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) installed May 2009). In March 2002, 32 filters on HSTs Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) were by Barr. Earlier, and while still SBIR-active, in December 1993, Barr provided most of the 48 filters on HSTs Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) and then in 1997, several ultraviolet filters on HSTs Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph Instrument. The firm was founded in 1971 by the late Edgar Barr (died 1983). Dr. Barr was a pioneer in thin film filters, having started in the industry in the 1940s and involved in set up a thin films lab at Polaroid. The original focus of the firm was to provide band pass filters to the scientific community, which was in need of high performance filters at moderate cost. Materion is the new name for Brush Engineered Materials Inc.,its Williams Advanced Materials Inc. subsidiary and all of the companys businesses worldwide. Materion is among the worlds premier providers of advanced materials solutions and services. Now under the one Materion brand, the firm is better aligned to deliver a broader scope of products, services and expertise needed to drive customers growth and profitability and become a first choice in a partner. Materion Corporation common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MTRN. Materion Businesses include Advanced Chemicals, Precision Optics & Thin Film Coatings, Brush Beryllium & Composites, Brush Performance Alloys, Ceramics Electrofusion, Large Area Coatings ,Microelectronics & Services, and Natural Resources Technical Materials
