Lasers & Sources

DARPA awards Lasertel contract to develop laser diode technology for EUCLID program

Oct. 26, 2017

Company will develop lightweight laser diode pump sources for fiber lasers.

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Lasertel, a Leonardo company (Tuscon, AZ), has been awarded a Phase I contract to participate in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Efficient Ultra-Compact Laser Integrated Devices (EUCLID) program. The EUCLID program aims to greatly reduce the size and weight of laser diode pump sources for fiber lasers used in directed energy applications.

The company says that high-energy laser technology has the potential to provide new and enhanced defense capabilities. However, until recently, these systems have been too large and heavy to be widely integrated in military platforms.

With an award of just over $1 million, Lasertel will work over the next 12 months to develop a new laser diode pump source capable of providing high power and low SWaP. The company expects product size and weight to be significantly below that of products currently on the market.

Source: Lasertel

About the Author

Conard Holton | Editor at Large

Conard Holton has 25 years of science and technology editing and writing experience. He was formerly a staff member and consultant for government agencies such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and engineering companies such as Bechtel. He joined Laser Focus World in 1997 as senior editor, becoming editor in chief of WDM Solutions, which he founded in 1999. In 2003 he joined Vision Systems Design as editor in chief, while continuing as contributing editor at Laser Focus World. Conard became editor in chief of Laser Focus World in August 2011, a role in which he served through August 2018. He then served as Editor at Large for Laser Focus World and Co-Chair of the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar from August 2018 through January 2022. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, with additional studies at the Colorado School of Mines and Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.