NUBURU has delivered its first unit for laser metal 3D printing in blue to Essentium

NUBURU, a specialist in high-power and high-brightness industrial blue laser technology, announced that it has delivered a number of units to Essentium. NUBURU and Essentium jointly announced a multi-year, multi-million dollar agreement in May 2022 to develop and manufacture blue laser-based 3D printing platforms.

The delivery already announced marks the execution of the agreement, the companies said. Essentium said it expects strong growth in new applications and markets as a result of this technology integration.

Essentium has now begun to combine NUBURU's proprietary blue laser technology with its high-speed extrusion (HSE) 3D printing technology. According to NUBURU, the new platform is designed to deliver breakthrough throughput for "extremely high parts quality" and is widely used in major industrial markets such as automotive, aerospace and defense.

"We are excited to be able to deliver the first batch of devices to Essentium, and we look forward to delivering more devices in 2023 and in the years to come," said Dr. Mark Zediker, CEO and co-founder of NUBURU.

Essentium launched Essentium Parts on Demand (EPOD), an in-house production service using its HSE 3D printing technology, in March 2023. According to the company, the service provides fast and cost-effective mass parts production with access to Essentium's open AM ecosystem solution.

Dr Elisa Teipel, Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Essentium, added: "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 AM industry."

Essentium also leverages NUBURU's intellectual property-related blue laser technology, including patents granted in the United States, Japan, China and South Korea.

NUBURU also announced the signing of a joint development agreement with GE Additive to explore the speed, accuracy and commercial benefits of blue laser-based metal 3D printing.

Zediker commented, "As we continue to advance our proprietary blue laser technology, we further increase the power and brightness to open up new applications. We have achieved key performance milestones that open up new possibilities for significant advances in metal 3D printing. Working with GE Additive, leveraging their expertise in metal additive manufacturing, will enable us to quickly optimize innovative regional printing methods. This will accelerate the further expansion of our pioneering blue laser into innovative metal 3D printing solutions that have the potential to change the landscape in military logistics, aerospace manufacturing, medical device manufacturing and more."

Chris Schuppe, General Manager of Engineering and Technology at GE Additive, said, "As an industry leader in metal 3D printing and a consistent leader in qualified parts for regulated industries, we are pleased to evaluate the NUBURU Blue Industrial Laser technology and its benefits."

This joint development agreement is in addition to NUBURU's agreement with GE Additive to support the company's previously announced AFWERX Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 2 contract, which will be awarded to NUBURU in 2022.

NUBURU's new 3D printing method is based on metals absorbing blue light, a fundamental physical advantage that the company describes as providing the most efficient laser melting for a range of industrially important metals.

According to the company, the NUBURU optical engine is at the heart of expected performance improvements by combining a blue laser module with an innovative optical conditioning system. GE Additive will provide expertise in powder bed systems as well as next generation prototype optical engine integration and characterization to quantify performance improvements over existing technologies.

Source: Laser Net