Daylight Solutions, Inc. and Thorlabs have announced the formation of a strategic partnership to advance the development of quantum cascade lasers (QCL) to meet the increasing demands of Defense and Security markets.
As part of their relationship, Daylight and Thorlabs will work closely together to enhance QCL performance, expand product and manufacturing capabilities, and capture new business opportunities in Defense and Security markets.
Announced separately, Thorlabs recently acquired Corning Incorporated’s QCL business and associated optical semiconductor technologies research group, which produces industry-leading QCLs for sensing, scientific and defense markets.
The acquisition allows for Daylight to seamlessly transfer their six year collaboration and partnership with Corning to Thorlabs where the joint effort to define and execute on technology roadmaps, develop best-in-class QCL components, and test and qualify QCL sub-systems for commercial and military acquisition programs will continue.
This long-standing collaboration has resulted in a global leadership position in QCL technology with products that set the standard for high power, high efficiency and broad tuning range, as well as reliability and manufacturing maturity.
Thorlabs Quantum Electronics (TQE) will integrate Corning Incorporated’s QCL business and associated optical semiconductor technologies research group into its 60,000 square foot vertically integrated manufacturing facility in Jessup Maryland.
As part of the integration strategy, the current QCL manufacturing equipment, facilities and staff at Corning will remain fully operational as full rate production capacity is brought up at TQE. This strategy ensures a significant period of overlapping production of QCL devices throughout the transition period.
“Consolidating Corning’s QCL technology into Thorlabs’ existing facility will significantly contribute to Thorlabs’ vision of providing a stable portfolio of readily available and low cost QCL devices to the Mid-IR market,” said Alex Cable, President and Founder of Thorlabs. “We are excited about the opportunity to expand our ongoing relationship with Daylight Solutions by providing the QCL technology, products, and US based manufacturing capacity required to serve the US Defense and Security market.”
“Thorlabs is a world-class, leading manufacturer of photonics components,” commented Dr. Timothy Day, CEO of Daylight Solutions. “Daylight has a long standing relationship with Thorlabs as a trusted supplier. We look forward to our exclusive partnership with Thorlabs to deliver best-in-class semiconductor laser components for defense and security markets.”
About Daylight Solutions
Daylight Solutions develops molecular detection and imaging systems for use in scientific research, life sciences, industrial process control, and defense applications. The company is the world leader in mid-infrared laser based solutions, with a line of broadly tunable and fixed wavelength laser sources and sensors that utilize mid-infrared spectroscopy.
www.daylightsolutions.com.