REPORT: LASER PROCESSING IN LITHUANIA
Lithuanian – was started by the three Vizbaras brothers, Augustinas, Kristijonas and Dominykas. Augustinas Vizbaras told Electro Optics, during a visit to the company’s Vilnius headquarters, that Brolis originally applied for funding in Germany to start the company, but the process took too long. By comparison, seed investment in Lithuania was finalised in six months. Brolis Semiconductors grows
III-V materials for light emitters from near infrared to mid- infrared, covering GaAs, InP and GaSb material platforms. Te company’s expertise in GaSb epitaxy means it can produce laser diodes emitting in the mid-infrared range from 1.8µm to 3.5µm, a traditionally difficult material to produce and one that has potential in sensing and medical technology, such as for sepsis diagnostics. Te photonics value chain in Lithuania
therefore has excellence in research, as well as in optical component, system and service
photonics companies in Lithuania have made that transition where they’re not 10 people anymore, they’re hundreds of people
Several of the
providers, but where it is lacking is in end-users of photonics technology. More than 80 per cent of photonics products from the country are exported, with annual sales of €65 million. Speaking at the EPIC meeting, Jens Biesenbach, CTO at German diode laser company Dilas, said that, in his experience, while there are plenty of Lithuanian engineers or physicists, ‘the problem is to bring business people in to see the market’. He added: ‘Te internal market in Lithuania is very small, so that’s not enough to grow a company. So, this is a question of networking to see the markets,’ although he explained that many Lithuanian photonics companies
are now attending trade shows to display their products. Guozhong Li, deputy chief editor at the
Chinese publication Laser Manufacture News, who was also at the EPIC meeting, said that when travelling to Lithuania, a member of the Chinese delegation was surprised at the mirror
coating and measurement capabilities at one of the companies. ‘No one can do this in China; we found the solution in this Lithuanian laboratory, but they don’t sell it,’ he said. Te laser industry in Lithuania still has
plenty of room for growth, with the majority of laser companies based there consisting of less than 20 staff. ‘Several of the photonics companies in
Lithuania have made that transition now where they’re not 10 people anymore; they’re hundreds of people with a very good business and you see them at international trade shows,’ said Sheehan. ‘With the larger companies, they now have
that infrastructure where you don’t need to come in and help them as much or pull technology out of the research lab. Certainly there’s still a lot of opportunity to pull things out of the Lithuanian organisations, whether they be the small start-ups or the universities.’ According to Sheehan, the required
competitive skill set is present in Lithuania and it will continue to exist there. ‘Te question for every company is: how can I take advantage of that capability?’
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