QPC Lasers completes DoD contract; demonstrates first high-power surface-emitting eye-safe lasers

September 12, 2008--QPC Lasers (Sylmar, CA), developer of high-brightness, high-power semiconductor chip-based lasers, successfully completed its initial Department of Defense (DoD) contract to develop and deliver high-power eye-safe surface-emitting diode pumps for directed-energy weapons applications. The Company has been invited to submit a proposal for a much larger follow on contract.

"QPC is proud to be the first laser company in the world to demonstrate this new laser technology, which marries QPC's unique surface-emitting laser design with our leading capabilities in high power long-wavelength 'eye-safe' diode arrays. Battlefield lasers using conventional diode pump technologies are prohibitively expensive and present hazards to the eyes of friendly personnel, severely limiting their utility," said Jeffrey Ungar, co-founder and CEO of QPC. "QPC's demonstration points the way to a new generation of laser weaponry which combines the low cost of 'wafer-scale' manufacturing with beams that are 100,000 to 1,000,000 times less hazardous to our soldiers. Besides directed energy weapons, these chip-based lasers have great promise for other defense applications including rangefinding, covert/active illumination for surveillance, and remote sensing," continued Ungar.

"Going beyond these military applications, we are already shipping our eye-safe wavelength lasers to medical customers for various dermatological and vein treatment applications (see QPC Lasers receives $1.3 million in orders for cancer and medical therapeutic applications), and see great promise for eye-safe lasers in commercial applications such as welding and cutting, by eliminating the safety concerns and costs associated with existing industrial lasers such as YAG and fiber lasers," Ungar said.

For more information, visit www.qpclasers.com.