Panasonic completed the acquisition of TeraDiode, an American diode laser technology provider

On February 9, Panasonic Corporation, a Japanese electronics giant, announced that it had completed the acquisition of TeraDiode, a global supplier of high-brightness direct diode laser (DDL) technology for industrial use.

It is reported that the merger transaction originally signed by the two parties on January 2, 2017 has been completed. Panasonic, headquartered in Osaka, Japan, will acquire 100% of the shares of TeraDiode.

After the completion of the transaction, TeraDiode will become a 100% subsidiary of Panasonic. Panasonic can accelerate the growth of its laser processing B2B business by integrating TeraDiode's proprietary wavelength beam combination direct diode laser (DDL) technology with Panasonic's capabilities and global business in the future.

Panasonic and TeraDiode will jointly promote the rapid expansion of ultra-bright direct diode laser (DDL) technology, and strengthen the laser processing business as a new core business of Panasonic in the field of factory solutions.

In recent years, in order to meet the requirements of light weight, high rigidity, high design flexibility and high productivity in automobile and other industries, high-precision and high-quality laser processing technology has become increasingly important. TeraDiode's high brightness direct diode laser (DDL) and its proprietary wavelength beam combination (WBC) technology, as the next generation laser to meet the needs of a wide range of industrial markets, have attracted a lot of attention.

(Image source: TeraDiode)

It is reported that TeraDiode utilizes the wavelength beam combination (WBC) technology developed by MIT Lincoln Laboratory, which can achieve brightness scaling of the transmitter array. In the whole process, a large number of independent semiconductor lasers are combined to emit a high power and high quality laser beam, so that it can reach the power and beam quality level of traditional chemical solid laser, and can obtain high electro-optical efficiency and controllable heat output.

In order to quickly meet this market demand, Panasonic has carried out relevant long-term cooperation with TeraDiode:
In 2013, the two sides formed a strategic alliance and began to cooperate in the development of wavelength beam combination (WBC) technology, which can combine multiple different wavelengths into a single combined beam.

In 2014, Panasonic launched the world's first laser welding robot system "LAPRISS" with WBC technology and infrared DDL. In the same year, Panasonic obtained the exclusive sales right of direct diode laser (DDL) technology for welding in major countries in Asia from TeraDiode. The two companies cooperated closely in product development, manufacturing, sales and service to expand the use of DDL technology in the world.

In 2017, Panasonic officially announced the acquisition of TeraDiode as a wholly-owned subsidiary, and began to develop output-power optimization and wavelength reduction based on wavelength beam combination (WBC) technology. Based on this measure, Panasonic can promote the further growth of the laser processing business of the two companies by integrating TeraDiode's cutting-edge DDL technology and know-how.

On January 29, 2020, Panasonic announced that it had successfully verified the world's highest brightness blue laser, which was achieved by using wavelength beam combination (WBC) technology on the direct diode laser (DDL) to produce high-quality output beams. With this technology, the power can be adjusted, and the beam quality can be maintained only by increasing the number of laser sources.

About TeraDiode
TeraDiode, headquartered in Massachusetts, is a global laser supplier that designs and manufactures high-brightness direct diode lasers for industrial applications. The company has developed the first ultra-high brightness direct diode laser, whose brightness is enough to cut and weld metal, and its performance is equivalent to or even better than that of fiber laser. At present, the company's high-brightness direct diode laser products have a maximum power of 8kW, which can meet the needs of a series of market applications.

Source: OFweek