Partnership Will Bring Blue Laser 3D-Printing Solution to Market

Blue laser developer NUBURU is partnering with industrial additive manufacturing company Essentium Inc. to develop and manufacture a blue laser-based metal additive manufacturing platform. The Essentium printer that the collaborators seek to develop will enable manufacturers to create production-grade metal parts with high resolution and fast throughput.

Under the multiyear, multimillion-dollar agreement, Essentium may integrate NUBURU’s proprietary blue laser technology with its High Speed Extrusion (HSETM) 3D-printing technology for product development in the first phase and manufacturing in the second phase. The platform to be developed is designed to deliver breakthrough throughput for extremely high part quality and broad-scale use in major industrial markets, including automotive, aerospace, and defense.

As a part of the contract, NUBURU will also license its core 3D-printing application patents.

Materials such as copper, stainless steel, and aluminum reflect much of the infrared wavelengths transmitted by traditional industrial lasers, which leads to lower print speed and quality. Materials processing with blue laser technology enables printing with 10× the build speed and the ability to print with a very high metal density without any post-processes.

Essentium’s technology provides energy-efficient deposition, eliminating porosity and minimizing warpage during a build. The new joint platform will produce parts comparable to castings and forgings with minimal post-processing required.