September 19, 2005, Southampton, England--Fiber-laser manufacturer SPI Lasers, shortly to become the new holding company of the Southampton Photonics Group, intends to seek admission of its shares to the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange.
Southampton Photonics was founded in 2000 to commercialize technology developed by the Optoelectronics Research Centre at the University of Southampton producing optical components for telecommunication systems. Under the guidance of a new management team appointed in 2002, the company shifted its focus to producing lasers for a wide variety of market sectors and applications.
Southampton Photonics won its first laser development contract in 2002 and released its first commercial product set in 2004. The company manufactures continuous-wave, modulated and pulsed-fiber lasers with a wide range of pulse durations, repetition rates, and peak powers. Based on this technology, SPI has introduced a range of laser sources to meet the needs of the micro-manufacturing market. The redPOWER series provides customers with continuous output powers ranging from two to two hundred watts. These are available in different types of chassis, from systems to OEM units, each designed to meet a customer's integration needs.
In the fourth quarter of 2005, Southampton Photonics intends to introduce its redENERGY series of products. This series will provide customers with a short-pulsed laser source ranging from five to 15 kW of peak power and is targeted at the laser-marking segment. This laser is currently undertaking trials with a number of customers.
Southampton Photonics' head office and manufacturing facility is located in Southampton. The company also has sales presence in San Jose, Detroit, Paris, and Munich and an applications center in Los Gatos, CA.