News: Optoelectronics
24 April 2023
NUBURU gains patents for blue laser welding and multi-kilowatt blue lasers
NUBURU Inc of Centennial, CO, USA — which conducts research, development, design and manufacturing of high-power, high-brightness industrial blue lasers — has received additional patents that expand its intellectual property portfolio, broadly covering blue lasers for use in welding and other applications.
“These new patents expand our broad patent estate around blue lasers, particularly for welding copper and other metals,” says CEO & co-founder Dr Mark Zediker. “These patents also cover technologies like multi-kilowatt-class blue lasers that have significant advantages compared to infrared lasers available from industry incumbents.”
NUBURU believes that its intellectual property provides strong protection to its blue laser technology and processes. Despite the significant advantages and efficiencies of blue lasers, major incumbents IPG Photonics, Coherent, Lumentum and nLIGHT have not released an industrial blue laser, relying on infrared technology instead, notes the firm.
On 28 March, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted NUBURU’s patent for ‘Methods and systems for welding copper and other metals using blue lasers’ (US Patent 11,612,957), which describes NUBURU’s blue laser technology and processes for welding multiple metal types and alloys including copper, aluminium and stainless steel. The firm believes that this patent provides technology and processes for more efficiently manufacturing batteries for electric vehicles (EV), cell phones, and other electronic devices.
On 14 April, the European Patent Office (EPO) granted NUBURU’s patent for ‘Multi KW Class Blue Laser System” (European Patent EP 3704772). As explained in the patent, “embodiments of the present inventions relate to a multi-kW-class blue fiber-coupled laser systems used for materials processing and laser welding applications, and in particular wavelengths in the wavelength range of about 400nm to about 495nm”. This unique beam combination methodology results in a laser source that is ideal for 3D printing applications as well as welding copper and other materials for building electric vehicles, cell phones, and other electronic products, says NUBURU.
As of end-March, NUBURU has 190+ granted and pending patent applications worldwide. The granted patents and pending applications cover all aspects of the firm’s technology and processes. NUBURU says that it continues to prosecute the pending applications through to granted patents across multiple geographies to further protect its technology and processes for use in what it estimates to be a multi-billion-dollar serviceable addressable market (SAM).
NUBURU bolsters 3D printing IP
NUBURU awarded patent for copper welding with blue light
NUBURU strengthens IP portfolio with patents spanning 3D printing and material processing
