Luna Innovations Acquires Rights To Tunable Laser From Coherent

Roanoke, VA -- Luna Innovations Incorporated has entered into a technology transfer and licensing agreement with Coherent, Inc. giving Luna the right to manufacture and sell the former Iolon "Apollo" line of swept tunable lasers.

The Iolon laser is a miniaturized, external-cavity laser offering high performance in a compact footprint. Such lasers were designed with systems integration in mind and are applicable to a range of fiber optic test and measurement, instrumentation, and sensing applications.

Under the agreement, Luna acquired manufacturing equipment and inventory previously used by Coherent to manufacture the lasers, as well as non-exclusive licenses to Coherent's patents and other intellectual property rights related to the transferred technology.

Kent Murphy, Luna Innovations' Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We entered into this agreement with Coherent to allow us to compete more effectively in Luna's existing fiber optic test and measurement markets by providing our customers with fast, flexible and cost-effective test and measurement products. Acquiring this laser technology also allows us to aggressively pursue business opportunities in new markets such as industrial and medical sensing."

Tunable laser technology is a key element in Luna's existing fiber optic test, measurement and sensing products lines. These products employ frequency-tuned lasers to measure various aspects of the transmission properties of telecommunications fiber optic components and systems.

Lasers are also used in fiber optic sensing applications such as distributed strain and temperature mapping, and distributed measurement of shape. The former Iolon laser was also designed for high-volume manufacturing, which is a critical factor in Luna's growth strategy.

"The Iolon laser comes in a highly reliable, miniaturized package that we believe will improve the scalability, ruggedness and speed of Luna's existing line of fiber optic test products," said Brian Soller, General Manager of Luna Technologies, the test and measurement division of Luna Innovations. "The functionality of this laser allows faster, more flexible solutions for our customers, which ultimately gives them the ability to make better products at lower costs."

SOURCE: Luna Innovations Incorporated