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Alfalight awarded $4.5 million Army Research contract

Private Equity Fund Of Funds By Eric Kleefeld • 08/03/05 Madison - Alfalight, Inc.,a University of Wisconsin-Madison spin-off developing high-power diode lasers, has received a research and development contract worth $4.5 million from the Army Research Laboratory in Adelphi, Md. The 12-month program will focus on the development of a high-power, high-brightness multimode diode laser source with an output of one kilowatt.

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Curve Equity Exposed Fund Diode lasers are a type of compact and monolithic solid-state laser that use a semiconductor crystal instead of a gas as the active medium to generate a laser beam, miniaturizing the process much as semiconductors replaced vacuum tubes for use as transistors.

The contract is the largest for Iraq's reconstruction so far awarded by USAID, which has also hired companies to piece back together the country's education system and run the Umm Qasr seaport. Although the government may spend $680 million on the contract during the next 18 months, the initial award to Bechtel Thursday was far smaller, totaling $34.6 million.

Equity Income Funds There is still much work to be done, however, in bringing solid-state lasers to a higher level of efficiency and brightness the measurement of the concentration of power in a small space, the company reports.

But the equipment for America's combat troops and that for Iraqi security services is obtained through separate contracting and procurement processes. The first batch of equipment for the Iraqis has been paid for and was to have been delivered under a $327 million contract to a small company, Nour USA Ltd., of Vienna, Va. But the Pentagon canceled that deal this month after protests by several competing companies led to a determination that Army procurement officers in Iraq botched the contract. Army officials found no fault with Nour.

Capital Casebook Equity "The brightness of these multi-mode lasers, typically inherently, just because of the physicswhen you extract a lot of power, the brightness goes down," said Alfalight vice president of Research and Development Manoj Kanskar.

The contract, for a period of four months, is worth $15.3 million, and has two optional extensions worth up to $3.8 million each, for a total value of $23 million. CACI noted that the contract was issued directly by the Army and not through any other government organization. The interrogation support services will continue to be provided under the direction of the U.S. military in Iraq.

Private Investment In Public The lasers to be developed in the program are expected to deliver a kilowatt of power into a 400-micron diameter fiber-optic cable. The fiber itself does not generate any light, but the glass cable is a medium for delivering power received from the diode lasers, called pump lasers for the function they are performing.

ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. - CACI International Inc ( News) announced the award of a contract to extend its interrogation services to the U.S. Army in Iraq (interrogation services are an intelligence information gathering function and personnel interview activity). In a statement the company said, "We are pleased to be asked by the Army to continue our work to support the Army's mission in Iraq. site experience are critical factors to the success of any mission, and the men and women of CACI are proud to have the opportunity to continue to support the ongoing work of the U.S. Army."

Equity Mutual Funds The pump lasers are combined using optics and delivered into the fiber to form a bright beam. "What we're trying to do is make our pumps as bright as we can so we can pack as much energy into the small fibers," Kanskar explained.

Birmingham Contact Equity The program will focus on changing the current structures of the semiconductor crystals, improving solid-state laser efficiency and power per laser as well as developing new techniques for combining power from multiple diodes into smaller spot sizes and fibers. Potential applications are as diverse as direct marking and plastic welding or using the beams to power other kinds of lasers such as fiber lasers and solid-state lasers, the company reports. Proof of concepts and prototypes are expected to be delivered at the end of the 12-month period.

Private Equity Investment Firm Read about Alfalight's other recent funding award.

Complying Deal Equity Funds Eric Kleefeld is a writer for WTN based in Madison. He can be reached at eric@wistechnology.com.

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