The US Air Force Research Laboratory in Albuquerque, N.M., has awarded Aculight Corp. of Bothell, Wash., a three-year, $3 million contract for the development of semiconductor lasers for aircraft defense systems. Aculight will incorporate its optical-mechanical design technology into a semiconductor laser that is being jointly developed at the Air Force laboratory and at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington. The advanced laser is intended for use in the large aircraft infrared countermeasures laser-based missile defense system, which can autonomously detect, track and jam shoulder-fired, heat-seeking missiles. The technology, which enables the generation of laser wavelengths that previously had been difficult to produce, also has potential applications in medical diagnostics and environmental sensing.