Teledyne Brown to develop optics for industrial laser project
Supported by Advanced Technology Program (ATP) funds, a team composed of Teledyne Brown (Huntsville, AL), Utilase Systems (Detroit, MI), and leader SDL Inc. (San Jose, CA) is developing a high-power diode-laser system for industrial operations. The ATP award for the four-year program is $3.6 million; these funds will be matched by the corporate project members. Diffractive-optics manufacturer Teledyne Brown is responsible for producing a collimating, focusing optical system for the diode-array output. Work is currently in the design phase, but, according to Bruce Peter of Teledyne Brown, the company expects to fabricate a series of multielement stack arrays consisting of diffractive and micro refractive optics. The project is one of 15 funded under the Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Technology category; the program is intended to reduce production costs for US automotive manufacturers.