Red MicroLED Developer Secures Funding; Hesai Collaborates with NVIDIA: Week in Brief: 08/04/23

Lidar developer Hesai Technology collaborated with NVIDIA to integrate Hesai’s AT128 automotive-grade, ultrahigh-resolution long-range lidar into the NVIDIA DRIVE and NVIDIA Omniverse ecosystems. Hesai’s AT128 lidar comprises128 independent VCSEL laser transmitters, achieving 1.53 million data points per second and a detection range of 200 m. NVIDIA DRIVE and Omniverse comprise AI, simulation, and software development platforms relevant to the autonomous driving industry and its development.

CAMBRIDGE, England — Kubos Semiconductors, a microLED material technology company, won a £700,000 ($889,171) Future Economy Investor Partnerships grant from Innovate UK. The grant is for a 24-month project to achieve 5% efficiency for red microLEDs by developing the company’s proprietary cubic gallium nitride process called KubosLED. According to the company, achieving this goal will make microLEDs viable for AR/VR applications, as their current efficiency has served as a hindrance to the market. The fabless semiconductor company will open a development office in Wales and continue collaboration with the South Wales Compound Semiconductor Cluster.

BOTHELL, Wash. — Lockheed Martin will develop a 500-kW-class laser as part of a contract awarded by the Department of Defense’s Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. The 500-kW laser is the second phase of the High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative, whose first phase yielded Lockheed Martin’s 300-kW-class laser.

Lockheed Martin's 500-kW-class laser conceptual rendering for the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense’s High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative (HELSI). The laser will be tactically configured and ready to support military platforms. Courtesy of Lockheed Martin.

BRISBANE, Australia — Deep-tech mining company Plotlogic raised $28 million in a series B financing round. The company plans to use the funds to bolster commercialization, conduct R&D, and propel its expansion into North America. Its proprietary OreSense technology combines a sensor stack and AI to scan core samples, chips, and terrain in real-time, generating highly accurate ore characterization predictions that enable miners to increase extraction of critical minerals and metals.

CLINTON, Tenn. — Polymer materials design company Techmer PM signed an agreement to acquire color and additive compounder Advanced Color Technologies. The combined technology and capabilities of the two organizations will expand Techmer’s position in colorants and additives in the synthetic fibers segment. The deal is expected to close by Aug. 31. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of Energy’s Office of Science announced $28.5 million for LaserNetUS to advance discovery science and inertial fusion energy. Projects funded in this announcement will explore astrophysics and planetary science, laser-produced plasmas, laser wakefield acceleration, EUV lithography, cancer radiotherapy with laser-driven radiation, radiography and tomography, materials science, and inertial confinement fusion. The projects will last up to three years, with total funding of $11.4 million in fiscal year 2023 and $17.1 million in outyear funding contingent on congressional appropriations.

ALISO VIEJO, Calif. — Indie Semiconductor and silicon photonics company SiLC Technologies entered into a partnership to deliver fully integrated vision system platforms deploying frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) lidar detection. The FMCW lidar platform integrates indie’s Surya system on a chip and SiLC’s Eyeonic Vision Sensor to enable coherent detection-based lidar platforms for next-generation sensing applications, including driver assistance, autonomous mobility, robotics, and industrial automation.

BRNO, Czech Republic — TESCAN ORSAY merged with TESCAN BRNO and two dormant companies to form TESCAN GROUP. The move serves to simplify ownership, organizational, and tax structures, following TESCAN’s acquisition by investment firm Carlyle earlier this year. TESCAN is a provider of microscope and imaging technologies for the materials, geosciences, life sciences, and semiconductor industries.

MENLO PARK, Calif. — PacBio, a developer of sequencing solutions, entered into an agreement to acquire Apton Biosystems, a company developing a high-throughput short-read sequencer using optics and image processing paired with novel clustering and chemistry. The system is designed to enable the sequencing of billions of clusters of DNA on one flow cell. PacBio plans to integrate its “Sequencing by Binding” short-read chemistry into Apton’s high-throughput instrument to offer a differentiated high-throughput sequencer.

HACKENSACK, N.J. — Fiber optics and connectivity products supplier Vitex LLC moved its operation to Hackensack, N.J., from the township of Englewood Cliffs, N.J.