Thorlabs Acquires VCSEL Developer, Longtime Partner Praevium Research

Thorlabs has acquired longtime collaborator Praevium Research, a developer of high-speed tunable VCSELs. As a division of Thorlabs, Praevium will continue to operate out of its current location in California under the Praevium Research name, and will retain its current leadership with Christopher Burgner as its general manager and founder Vijay Jayaraman as a senior scientist. The company will additionally maintain its focus on the development of novel semiconductor lasers and detectors in partnership with the Thorlabs team in Jessup, Md.

Praevium Research has collaborated with Thorlabs since joining the Thorlabs Strategic Partner Program in 2008. Over the past 17 years, the companies have partnered on the development and commercialization of several technologies, notably for optical coherence tomography applications. Praevium’s core competencies are in the design and fabrication of semiconductor lasers, detectors, and photonic integrated circuits, and their application in medicine, spectroscopy, sensors, and communications.

For Thorlabs, the acquisition comes two years after acquiring Rochester, N.Y.-based JML Optical in January 2023.