News: Optoelectronics
20 February 2025
BluGlass receives AUS$120,000 order for specialized GaN laser bars
BluGlass Ltd of Silverwater, Australia — which develops and manufactures gallium nitride (GaN) blue laser diodes based on its proprietary low-temperature, low-hydrogen remote-plasma chemical vapor deposition (RPCVD) technology — has received an AUS$120,000 order for semi-custom GaN laser diode bar products from a repeat customer, the College of Optics and Photonics (CREOL) at the University of Central Florida.
The order follows the university's demonstration of significant performance improvements using BluGlass’ specialized GaN laser bars in a coherent beam combining (CBC) array. BluGlass says that its semi-custom designs have shown superior coherence and phase locking in high-power blue laser arrays, demonstrating improved performance and precision, compared with commercially available laser bars (ACS Publication, ‘Coherence and Phase-Locking in High-power, Broad-Area, Highly Heterogeneous Blue Diode Arrays’). The CBC configuration merges light emitted from an array of broad-linewidth multi-mode lasers into a high-power single-mode, narrow-linewidth coherent beam.
BluGlass says that this coherent beam combining technique allows the customer to produce powerful, high-quality blue laser beams that maintain superior beam quality, phase stability and narrow linewidths — critical for next-generation technologies, including underwater and aviation LiDAR systems that map the seafloor or monitor clear-air turbulence, advanced space research and communications, and ultra-sensitive quantum sensors.
“This repeat order validates the exceptional performance of our custom GaN laser technology, demonstrating our ability to help customers solve critical challenges and pioneer next-generation visible laser applications,” says CEO Jim Haden. “High-power coherent GaN lasers can transform defence and dual-use capabilities from secure underwater communications and imaging, and clear-air turbulence monitoring in atmospheric LiDAR, to counter-measures and jamming systems that disrupt enemy optics with high-intensity beams,” he adds.
“These performance advantages help position the company for future growth and, building on this success, we will leverage our partnership with this leading university to pursue critical defence applications that require the superior coherence, stability and precision of BluGlass’ GaN lasers.”
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BluGlass receives custom GaN laser order from repeat customer
