Modulight wins $1.1 M contract for high-brightness pump laser
Modulight (Tampere, Finland, and San Jose, CA) continues its close cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA) by signing a contract to develop high-brightness pump laser technology for Earth observation. The program is scheduled for two years and has a total value of over US$1.1 million. The project aims to improve brightness and reliability of high-power laser arrays that are generally used for pumping solid-state lasers in industrial and space applications.
The project target is to design and engineer models of space-qualifiable high-brightness and high-reliability quasi-continuous-wave (QCW) laser arrays with greater than 200 W output power and stackable modules up to 1 kW.
"We are excited to launch this program which comes as a continuation of our efforts to develop lasers in 800 nm bandwidth range for space, defense, and industrial markets. We have already supplied space-qualified communications lasers to ESA for the SMOS mission in 2004 and worked together with ESA on several laser development programs thereon. This new contract helps us to further exploit our product offering in space applications, and also opens interesting new business opportunities in commercial markets where higher brightness and more reliable pump lasers are continuously needed. Modulight is proud to have the opportunity to improve competitiveness of Europe in this strategically important technology area," says Petteri Uusimaa, president & CEO of Modulight.
For more information on Modulight, see this Laser Focus World article:
Laser system monitors slipperiness of roadways
or visit Modulight.
Valerie Coffey-Rosich | Contributing Editor
Valerie Coffey-Rosich is a freelance science and technology writer and editor and a contributing editor for Laser Focus World; she previously served as an Associate Technical Editor (2000-2003) and a Senior Technical Editor (2007-2008) for Laser Focus World.
Valerie holds a BS in physics from the University of Nevada, Reno, and an MA in astronomy from Boston University. She specializes in editing and writing about optics, photonics, astronomy, and physics in academic, reference, and business-to-business publications. In addition to Laser Focus World, her work has appeared online and in print for clients such as the American Institute of Physics, American Heritage Dictionary, BioPhotonics, Encyclopedia Britannica, EuroPhotonics, the Optical Society of America, Photonics Focus, Photonics Spectra, Sky & Telescope, and many others. She is based in Palm Springs, California.