VCSEL contract awarded

Rebecca C. Jernigan, rebecca.jernigan@laurin.com

Princeton Optronics Inc., a privately held company that develops and manufactures vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) and low-noise solid-state lasers, has been awarded a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research contract by the US Navy. The two-year, $750,000 grant, which follows the completion of a Phase I contract received last year, will fund the company’s research into developing blue laser arrays by frequency doubling of high-power external-cavity VCSEL arrays.

The company’s goal is to create pulsed blue lasers with energy of >10 mJ per pulse and a short pulse duration for use in the Navy’s light detection and ranging applications. Because of seawater’s blue-wavelength transmission band, the lasers will enable longer-range transmission than other wavelengths. VCSEL technology permits the creation of lasers that are much smaller and lighter, weighing only a few pounds, compared with the 100 lb typical with existing solid-state lasers.