Pranalytica Selected by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to Continue Development of High Efficiency Mid-Infrared Quantum Cascade Lasers
Company one of only three chosen to continue on project
SANTA MONICA, CA - June 24, 2009 - Pranalytica, Inc. today announces that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) selected Pranalytica to continue its involvement in the Efficient Midinfrared Laser (EMIL) program.
The project was created to fill the need of the Department of Defense (DoD) for directional infrared countermeasures (DIRCM), advanced stand-off chemical sensors, and Laser Radar (LADAR). Potential non-military applications include DIRCM protection of civilian airliners from shoulder-fired missiles, detection of toxic industrial gases, atmospheric pollution monitoring and free-space optical communications.
"Pranalytica is proud to be selected to continue with the project," said Dr. C. Kumar N. Patel, president and CEO of Pranalytica. "We are committed to providing breakthrough technologies and applications to enhance the capabilities and safety of our troops in today's dynamic and high tech wartime environments. The applications of high power quantum cascade lasers, including DIRCM, help produce a safer and more secure environment for our nation's war fighters. Furthermore, the numerous civilian applications enabled by these lasers will help make our world safer, cleaner, and more connected."
The goal of Phase 1B of the EMIL program is to reach wall plug efficiency (WPE) of 50% for QCLs operating at 4.6 µm and producing a minimum of one watt of continuous wave power at room temperature. Of the six institutions awarded participation in Phase 1 of the EMIL program, only Pranalytica and two others were selected to work on Phase 1B. Pranalytica is the only industrial institution as a prime contractor in the EMIL program.
In order to both improve WPE and produce useful, single-ended output lasers, Pranalytica has succeeded in developing high performance high reflectance (HR) laser facet coatings. Optical power density at the facets of high power QCLs can reach tens of megawatts per square centimeter - a remarkably high value made even more formidable by the fact that coatings are deposited directly onto the active medium of QCLs. Pranalytica has overcome significant obstacles related to materials and deposition technology of such coatings for MWIR wavelengths, demonstrating reliable operation of 2W QCLs over hundreds of hours. This achievement enabled Pranalytica to offer its turn-key CW/RT QCL systems as a standard product at the 2W output power level.
In the area of QCL thermal management, Pranalytica has adapted its proven, industrial-quality packaging solutions, enabling sustainable high power operation of leading-edge QCLs in CW regime at room temperature with only simple air cooling.
"These advances position Pranalytica very well for successful performance under Phase 1B of the DARPA EMIL program," commented Patel. "They also pave the way for commercial acceptance of very high power QCL systems that is already happening today."
Pranalytica is the world's only supplier of complete, fully packaged, turn-key high power QCL systems. Being an integrated laser designer and manufacturer, the company offers significant in-house capabilites to improve and modify the standard systems to meet diverse customer requirements, starting with the fundamental design of the quantum cascade laser and all the way through system-level issues.
About Pranalytica, Inc.
Pranalytica is a leading manufacturer of quantum cascade lasers and laser-based trace gas detection equipment for industrial, environmental, military, and security applications. More than forty trace gas sensors manufactured by Pranalytica have been deployed in multiple customer locations in the U. S., Europe and the Far East for a variety of industrial and environmental applications. The Founder, President and CEO of Pranalytica, Dr. C. Kumar N. Patel, led all of the Physics and Materials Science Research effort at AT&T Bell Laboratories from 1981 to 1993. He has intimate knowledge of the laser needs of many of defense-related systems through his extensive involvement in a number of Washington-based committees. Dr. Patel has been a member of the Board of Directors of Newport Corporation for over twenty years.
For more information, visit www.pranalytica.com.
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