LONDON, ENGLAND-DPSS technology developed at Imperial College is being commercialized through a spin-out company, Midaz Lasers. The new company is based in an incubator unit at Imperial College, and in its £300,000 seed funding round has received £150,000 backing from Imperial Innovations Group. Imperial Innovations is a leading UK technology transfer and commercialization company also based at Imperial College that has established equity holdings in over 60 spin-out companies, including three now listed on the Alternative Investment Market. Other funding has come from Paul Atherton, company chairman.
“This is an enormous step forward in laser technology,” said Mike Damzen, Midaz founder and CTO. “We are confident that Midaz has a significant lead over competitors because of our ability to provide simultaneously Q-switched very high power, high beam quality and a wide range of pulse repetition rate in small laser packaging. We are now very close to launching our products after several years’ research in my Laser Group at Imperial College London.”
Midaz lasers are based on specially designed slab gain modules in a side-pumped bounce amplifier geometry. This design is highly efficient, can overcome thermal problems, and provide good beam quality. The company is offering infrared (1064-nm) lasers with more than 100 W average power, 100 kW peak power, M squared better than 1.2, and Q-switching to beyond 1 MHz. 50 W green lasers and 20 W UV lasers are future options that will become available as markets demand. New developments are expected to include mode-locked picosecond operation at up to 100 W and multiwatt red, blue, and mid-IR lasers.
Company strategists believe that low build costs, using standard components, will enable Midaz to compete with traditional laser manufacturers in industrial applications. In addition, Midaz is aiming to develop new business by offering OEM laser modules as alternatives to industrial inkjet printers. A company spokesman claims that several major systems integrators and OEMs are talking to the company with a view to securing early sales. Prototypes are currently being tested for final manufacture.
Business Development Manager, Dennis Camilleri, is optimistic about the future;
“Midaz lasers offer laser systems integrators the possibility of high-speed, high-resolution coding and marking and at a price that is starting to encroach on traditional industrial inkjet pricing,” said Dennis Camilleri, business development manager. “We can compete favorably with fiber lasers and YAGs, and that bodes well for our future market share and business growth.”