Aculight Corp., of Bothell, Wash., has won a $70,000 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research contract from NASA to develop an ultraviolet (UV) fiber laser system for space-based UV-Raman spectrometers. NASA will use the spectrometer for space-based applications such as detecting potential signs of life elsewhere in the solar system. The light source, which will produce frequency-quadrupled UV light at 245 nm, could ultimately be integrated into spectrometers with applications including medical imaging, homeland security and industrial sensing, Aculight said. . . . An excimer laser is among equipment being turned over to Emory University by the Air Force Research Laboratory's Directed Energy Directorate, at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., as part of a recent research agreement intended to advance the understanding of the kinetics of chemical oxygen-iodine lasers for the development of new energy sources for iodine lasers. The laser and other equipment, including an optical parameter converter for studies of molecular energy transfer, will be used by graduate students at the Atlanta-based university. . . . Mantis Deposition, an Oxford, England, manufacturer of ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) nanodeposition equipment, announced it has taken on the responsibilities of sales/marketing Crestec electron beam lithography (EBL) equipment in the US. Crestec, a Japanese corporation, makes advanced high-resolution EBL systems for industrial and university applications, including optical communications, MEMS, sensors, microelectronics, optoelectronics and nanotechnology.