Stockholm, Sweden, June 22, 2004--Comlase has completed a new round of venture funding, providing the company with an additional 12 million Swedish krona in capital (approximately $1.6 million). More than half this total was supplied by new investor Teknoinvest, while the balance was raised from existing shareholders.
"We've had a tremendously positive response to our technology for increasing performance, reliability and yield in high-power semiconductor lasers," states Comlase CEO Alfred Feitisch. "This funding will give us additional resources to capitalize on this interest and convert it into revenue."
"We are excited about Comlase's technology and impressed with the dedication, experience and competence of the Comlase team, as well," notes Björn Bjorå, partner and managing director at Teknoinvest. "We envision the Comlase technology eventually having an impact in everything from high-power, kilowatt-output solid-state lasers to blue lasers for next-generation DVD drives and players."
Comlase develops process technology and equipment for the production of high-reliability semiconductor lasers and optoelectronic devices (see Laser Focus World, November 2003, p. 69). The company has developed a method of stabilizing laser-diode facets--the native-nitride ion-beam-epitaxy process--that terminates dangling bonds, enabling more-reliable high-power devices. The process can raise the threshold of laser-diode catastrophic optical mirror damage by severalfold.