News: Optoelectronics
24 April 2026
Aeluma secures over $4m in contracts for quantum materials and lasers
Aeluma Inc of Goleta, CA, USA — which develops compound semiconductor materials on large-diameter substrates — has been awarded more than $4m in contracts from the US Government to accelerate scaling of its semiconductor heterogeneous integration platform for quantum and high-speed datacom applications.
The awards directly support Aeluma’s commercialization strategy while deepening relationships with government stakeholders and manufacturing partners. The firm reckons that scaling wafer production and fabrication with Tower Semiconductor and Sumitomo Chemical Advanced Technology further positions it at the forefront of high-growth markets across AI infrastructure, defense, and quantum.
“Traction in our target markets continues to grow,” notes Aeluma’s founder & CEO Jonathan Klamkin Ph.D. “Programs like these are important for both our near-term commercialization strategy as well as long-term diversification. These contracts provide non-dilutive funding to accelerate commercialization, and to strengthen our relationship with key government partners in making manufacturing of next-generation photonic systems more viable.”
Accelerating scalable quantum and AI infrastructure
Aeluma’s technology combines the performance of compound semiconductors with the scale of mainstream microelectronics manufacturing. The new contracts will accelerate the development and transition of the firm’s heterogeneous integration platform for quantum dot lasers and quantum nonlinear materials.
Quantum dot lasers
Quantum dot laser technology offers superior performance including high power handling, reliability, and low noise — key requirements for quantum applications and AI data-center interconnects, including co-packaged optics (CPO). Aeluma leverages high-throughput metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), a proven approach for mass-market applications such as vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) for facial identification in mobile phones. The firm’s MOCVD quantum dot technology will be leveraged to build multi-channel photonic integrated circuits for quantum applications.
Quantum nonlinear photonics
Aeluma is advancing a scalable aluminium gallium arsenide (AlGaAs) nonlinear materials platform for generation and manipulation of photons for quantum communication, computing, and sensing. Compared to other materials such as lithium niobate (LN), aluminium nitride (AlN), or barium titanate (BTO), Aeluma’s AlGaAs offers what is claimed to be superior efficiency and versatility, characteristics important for practical quantum systems. The firm previously unveiled a successful demonstration of AlGaAs integration on CMOS standard 200mm silicon. The ability to manufacture with 200mm and 300mm silicon provides a path to integrate with low-loss silicon nitride waveguides commonly used for quantum photonic circuits.
The new contracts aim to advance the quantum dot and quantum nonlinear photonic platforms through targeted demonstrations and scaling efforts. This includes development at Aeluma’s facility in Goleta, California, as well as activities with supply chain partners including Tower Semiconductor and Sumitomo Chemical Advanced Technology.
“With the broad adoption of our silicon photonics (SiPho) platforms, we see great value in the laser market as a new, large, untapped opportunity for Tower,” says Dr Edward Preisler, VP & general manager of Tower’s RF business unit. “Aeluma’s technology helps promote a more responsive and resilient ecosystem, by providing a path to laser manufacturing on larger-dimension silicon wafers,” he adds.
“The market demand for lasers and detectors has grown significantly and we view Aeluma’s technology as a promising solution to address supply chain constraints,” says Dr Ken Campman, president & executive officer of Sumitomo Chemical Advanced Technologies. “We look forward to further developing our relationship to help address the requirements for datacom, sensing and other markets.”
Aeluma receives NASA award for integrated QD lasers
