Here are some blue-laser thoughts for you to munch on, O Great Alpaca:
Cree and Philips Awarded $5.2 Million DARPA Contract for Blue Laser
Development
The move further strengthens Cree's SiC wafer development for power and high temperature applications
On 26 June, Cree Research of Durham, NC USA (Nasdaq: CREE), the leading supplier of commercial SiC wafers for power and high temperature applications, and Philips Research Briarcliff (Briarcliff Manor, NY USA), a Division of Philips Electronics North America
Corporation (PENAC), jointly announced the addition of key funding from the DoD's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to further develop blue laser diodes based on nitride materials grown on SiC wafers. The DARPA contract, which runs for three years, amounts
to $5.2 million and will be monitored by the US Air Force. The contract will include $4.3 million in DARPA funding, with Cree and Philips cost sharing of approximately $1 million.
The contract comes on the heels of an $8 million program begun by Cree
and Philips to develop a GaN based blue laser which began in April of 1995 and included $4 million in DARPA funding. This additional funding should greatly increase the probability of success in achieving a robust blue laser prototype for commercial and military applications. This program will build on the substrate and GaN thin film work that has been the focus of the initial program. The new award will enable
the team to work on the actual fabrication of laser devices leading to
the stated goal of an operational blue laser. This additional funding will strengthen the Philips/Cree program aimed at the demonstration of a nitride based blue laser on SiC substrates. The combination of GaN on SiC is envisaged to lead to a viable industrial process for blue lasers.
This newest funding boost further strengthens Cree's overall status as a worldwide merchant supplier of SiC wafers and devices for various applications, as Cree owns outright, or licenses exclusively, 38 patents related to its SiC based process and device technology.
Contact:
Alan Robertson
CFO at Cree
Tel: +1 (919) 361-5709
Fax: +1 (919) 361-4630
E-mail: alan_robertson@cree.com
Later, GOOFI kids. The Fred |
