San Francisco, CA--A National Science Foundation (NSF; Arlington, VA) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant entitled: "Coilable Single Crystal Fibers of Doped YAG for High Power Laser Applications" was awarded to Shasta Crystals. The grants awards the company $150,000 to perform research into the feasibility of growing doped yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) optical fibers of sufficient quality to improve the performance of high-power fiber lasers.
Shasta's CEO Gisele Maxwell said, "We greatly appreciate the support of the NSF in this area of materials science. Single-crystal fibers can act as an intermediate between laser crystals and doped glass fibers, to guide laser light with the efficiencies found in bulk crystals. Our goal is to make a cladded flexible fiber with a core of dopant that will exhibit good waveguiding properties."
Shasta Crystals is a crystal growth company making advanced materials that are critical components in laser systems for a variety of markets including industrial, medical, scientific, military, and consumer electronics. Shasta specializes in the use of the Laser Heated Pedestal Growth (LHPG) technology that allows rapid growth of crystal fibers with a variety of dopants.
SOURCE: Shasta Crystals via PR Newswire; www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/shasta-crystals-receives-nsf-phase-i-grant-award-185451112.html