Nuburu ships blue lasers for industrial additive projects

Blue industrial laser pioneer Nuburu, which listed on the NYSE US Stock Market earlier this year, says it has delivered its first lasers for a new additive manufacturing (AM) system designed to produce metal components.

The lasers were procured by Essentium, a Nuburu partner, under a "multi-year, multi-million dollar" contract agreed a year ago between the two US companies.

Texas-based Essentium plans to integrate blue lasers into its "High Speed Extrusion" (HSE) system to create wire-fed metal 3D printing solutions -- initially for product development and expected later for manufacturing applications.

When they announced the agreement last year, Nuburu and Essentium said the new additive platform would aim to combine high production volumes with extremely high part quality. They envision widespread use in the automotive, aerospace and defense markets.

Blue advantages

The shipping news comes on the heels of Essentium's launch of its "Parts on Demand" service in March, said Elisa Teipel, the company's chief technology officer and co-founder:

"Nuburu's unmatched expertise and leadership in blue laser technology has been instrumental in advancing our cutting-edge 3D printing platform. The arrival of the latest devices this year and our partnership with Nuburu will help us continue to drive innovation in the additive manufacturing industry."

Blue wavelengths are more easily absorbed by metals - particularly non-ferrous materials such as gold, copper and related alloys - which means that the near-infrared conversion generated from conventional sources should significantly increase speed and efficiency. Other advantages include smaller spot size and high brightness emission.

In their recent investor presentation, Nuburu's executive team, led by CEO Mark Zediker, suggested that a blue laser-based additive manufacturing system would be able to print much larger parts and produce them seven times faster than traditional systems, with much lower energy consumption.

Source: Laser Net