Power sensor, the DPSS laser manufacturer received £2.34 million investment

Edinburgh-based photonics company Skylark Lasers has announced that it has secured a £2.34 million investment from UK Innovation to help develop the next generation of quantum navigation and timing systems. It is reported that the company has successfully secured nearly 10% of the total £25 million funding from the Innovative UK Quantum Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Small Business Research Programme (SBRI) Competition Fund.

The funding will be used to build and scale up production of quantum gravity sensors to accelerate advances in ship autonomous navigation and help high-seas tankers with poor GPS and satellite navigation capabilities achieve next-generation quality navigation accuracy. This complements the progress the team has made over the past two years in developing and bringing to market high-power lasers for scientific, industrial applications.

Skylark Lasers specialises in the design and manufacture of ultra-reliable, high-performance, single-frequency DPSS lasers and is currently leading the UK's efforts to commercialise quantum technology inventions. In this development, the photonics company has secured the largest single amount of investment in the quantum sector in Scotland to date. The company's contribution to the SBRI project is to provide a portable laser system (NX Micro COTS laser system for quantum gravity gradient measurement) with a frequency universal switch based on DPSS technology. The system has 4 channels with a tuning range of 780 to 785 nm and a detuning range of 15 GHz, making it ideal for rubidium interferometry applications.

A study by Innovate UK has revealed that failures in the Global Navigation satellite system could cost the UK more than £500 million a day. The fund and subsequent innovations sought to address this problem. The global quantum sensor market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 29.8%.

Dr. Ben Szutor, who recently took over as CEO of Skylark Lasers, said: "We are excited to continue to push the boundaries in the development of quantum technology. This is a landmark moment for Skylark Lasers as this new funding will allow us to fully commercialise our quantum product portfolio. These innovations have the potential to revolutionize the fields of ship and rail navigation, civil engineering and underground resource exploration, which will have a significant impact on global supply chain efficiency."

He added: "Scotland is at the forefront of global laser innovation and this funding will further enable Skylark Lasers to surpass itself as a pioneer in the development of quantum technology and enable us to further grow our business in the years ahead."

Professor Derryck T Reid from Heriot-Watt University, UK, commented: "We look forward to working with Skylark Lasers to explore this exciting opportunity and apply our new diode-pumped Ti: Sapphire ultrafast laser technology makes the next generation of quantum sensors possible.

Roger McKinlay, Director of Quantum Technology Challenges at Innovate UK, said: "We are delighted to be helping Skylark Lasers build a portfolio of high-performance quantum products to meet growing customer demand. There is evidence that the UK's technological leadership is translating into real industrial capabilities. Innovate UK will support their portable laser system, which will help bring substantial navigational accuracy improvements to ship navigation, rail navigation, civil engineering and underground resource exploration."

Kerry Sharp, Director of Entrepreneurship and Investment at Scottish Enterprise, said: "Scotland has a growing reputation in photonics and Skylark Lasers is a company with a leading position in the sector, which is why Scottish Enterprise has invested in and continues to support the company since 2017.

Source: OFweek