Acton Laser formed in Australia

Following the success of quantum-well laser research at the Australian National University, a new company, Acton Laser, has already received substantial Australian and international orders for its first product, a 50-mm-diameter, 980-nm laser geared toward the telecom market. The company, run by Chennupati Jagadish and Jim Williams from the department of electronic materials engineering, has a range of photonics expertise, including the ability to make 1.8-W tunable-wavelength semiconductor lasers, detectors, modulators, and vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers.—Jeff Bairstow