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News

27 April 2007

 

QPC Lasers awarded Navy contracts; closes private financing

Quintessence Photonics Corporation (QPC) Lasers Inc of Sylmar, CA, USA has won two concurrent nine-month contracts worth a total of $1m from the United States Navy to deliver high-energy laser engine prototypes.

The laser prototypes will be used to develop naval aviation directed energy weapons, and utilize semiconductor laser technologies that the company says achieve a 10x reduction in cost, size, and weight when compared to conventional lasers.

"Having successfully completed earlier-stage naval aviation laser technology development contracts whose objective was single-unit laboratory demonstration, we are excited that the new contracts advance this QPC technology to the production prototype stage," said George Lintz, QPC’s chief operating officer. "There is no more demanding customer or application for QPC's Brightlase and surface-emitting lasers technologies than the U.S. military, and we are confident in our ability to cost effectively deliver superior performance."

QPC adds that the new contracts build on the company’s previous high-brightness chip-based laser development for the U.S. Navy, DARPA, and other military organizations.

The latest contracts involve three of QPC's proprietary and patented technologies:

• High-power surface-emitting laser (HPSEL) technology, which the company says allows it to place hundreds of high-brightness lasers onto a single chip.
• Fiber coupled modules, designed for operation in demanding military applications.
• BrightLase high-power, high-brightness lasers, which the company says produce laser beams more than ten times brighter than conventional semiconductor lasers used in industrial and medical applications.

Founded in 2000, QPC develops high-brightness, high-power semiconductor lasers for the defense, homeland security, industrial, and medical markets. A vertically integrated company, it performs all critical fabrication processes, from epitaxy through to packaging.

Earlier this month, the company closed a private financing through the sale of $8.2m in principal amount of convertible debentures and warrants. QPC will use the cash proceeds of the investment for expanding marketing, operations, and general corporate purposes. 

"Having met or exceeded all of our key milestones in 2006, this financing positions QPC to continue to move aggressively forward on its business plan,” said Lintz. "With recently announced new customers, new contracts, increasing orders and ongoing introduction of new laser technologies, QPC strongly believes its future holds great promise."

Visit: http://www.qpclasers.com