Published on: Sunday, 11 January 2015

Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) and the Tyndall National Institute have entered into an exclusive, worldwide license agreement with ProPhotonix Limited, a leading designer and manufacturer of LED illumination systems and laser diode modules. The unique laser module technology has applications in the food, industrial, medical and security sectors. This worldwide licensing agreement between the company, CIT and the Tyndall National Institute, will extend ProPhotonix’s laser module solutions offering.

The license agreement covers and includes high power fiber laser module technology that was developed through Enterprise Ireland’s Innovation Partnership Program in collaboration with the Centre for Advanced Photonics & Process Analysis (CAPPA) at Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) and the Photonics Packaging Group at the Tyndall National Institute (Tyndall) in Cork Ireland. These new capabilities build on ProPhotonix’s existing laser module capabilities with high output power stabilities and high quality beam profiles by utilizing fiber optic arrays.

Due to their compact size, laser diode and fiber technologies are suitable for large-scale integration into high-density arrays, tight spaces or compact/handheld systems. With fiber core diameters as small as 2.5 microns and scalable power levels, these fiber-coupled modules offer high brightness and power at all wavelengths, for all applications. Using premium laser diodes, these laser systems reduce energy requirements and operating costs due to low power operation of the diodes. These modules are easily installed, replaced or removed and can be designed for Plug & Play functionality. The modules are offered with individual drivers, a single master driver board for laser arrays or can be designed to plug directly into our customer’s own driver boards.

Simon Stanley, Managing Director, ProPhotonix Ireland, stated, “We are delighted with the success of our collaboration with Tyndall and CAPPA and look forward to working together in the future to expand photonics technologies. These new capabilities provide a platform to develop a range of innovative product solutions for our customers in the industrial, security and medical markets for a diverse range of applications including food and pharmaceutical product sorting and semiconductor and biomedical inspection systems. The technology was developed to be “production ready” and will launch this new capability at Photonics West, from 10-12 February 2015 in San Francisco, California; booth 1100.”

Dr Liam Lewis, Centre Manager for CAPPA, commented: “The relationship with ProPhotonix has grown steadily over the last year culminating in the development of a successful product. We are already looking at new projects and look forward to increasing our interaction with ProPhotonix in the future.”

Professor Paul Townsend, Head of Photonics at Tyndall and Director of the Irish Photonic Integration Centre, said: “This is an exciting example of how Tyndall’s world-class photonics research capabilities can be harnessed to help our industry partners develop high value technology ready for market deployment, with immediate impact on product portfolios and sales.