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Plymouth firm developing more efficient lasers
The Fraunhofer Center for Laser Technology in Plymouth plans to use its $1 million grant to develop lasers that are less expensive and more compact than those currently used in manufacturing.

Diode lasers, as these new lasers are called, can be applied to small and large tasks, from making computer chips to building ships, said Stefan Heinemann, the center's director.

"They're very small, they're very light and they're very efficient," he said.

Depending on their size and strength, traditional commercial lasers can range in price from about $15,000 to $500,000. Diode lasers are about 30 percent cheaper.

Cost and complexity of the equipment have hindered the use of lasers in manufacturing, Heinemann said. But there are great benefits to their use.

In the automotive industry, for example, using lasers to bond materials instead of more traditional resistance spot welding can more quickly produce stiffer and lighter car bodies, Heinemann said.

The center conducts applied research, which means that it figures out how to make an infant technology applicable to industry. It is partnering with Plymouth-based laser manufacturer Visotek to make the diode lasers.

Fraunhofer, a German company, has five sites in the United States, and two in Michigan. The center in Plymouth opened on the University of Michigan campus in 1994, about 10 years after German automakers began using laser technology in production, and moved to Plymouth in 2000.

It partners with the University of Michigan and Wayne State University. Fraunhofer's other facility in Michigan is the Center for Coatings and Laser Applications in East Lansing.

"They're very small, they're very light and they're very efficient," says Stefan Heinemann, director of the Fraunhofer Center for Laser Technology, of diode lasers. The Plymouth site plans to use its $1 million grant to develop these lasers, which are less expensive and more compact than those used in manufacturing.

You can reach Sofia Kosmetatos at (313) 222-2401 or skosmetatos@detnews.com.