News: Optoelectronics
24 April 2026
Aeluma receives NASA award for integrated QD lasers
Aeluma Inc of Goleta, CA, USA — which develops compound semiconductor materials on large-diameter substrates — has received an award from US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to advance its integrated quantum dot laser platform for datacom and sensing applications.
Quantum dot lasers are increasingly being considered for AI data-center interconnect applications due to their potential for high power handling, reliability and low noise. Beyond standalone photonic components, integrating quantum dot lasers directly on silicon addresses one of the fundamental limitations of silicon photonics, on-chip optical gain, while preserving the cost, scale and integration advantages of CMOS manufacturing. Aeluma says that its large-diameter wafer heterogeneous integration platform provides a viable path to integrated quantum dot laser solutions for high-growth markets across AI infrastructure, consumer sensing, defense & aerospace, and quantum.
Aeluma leverages high-throughput metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), which is proven for mass-market applications such as vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) used for facial identification in mobile phones. The MOCVD quantum dot technology will be leveraged to build high-performance integrated lasers for next generation silicon photonics.
“Interest in quantum dot lasers for datacom and sensing continues to grow,” says Aeluma’s founder & CEO Jonathan Klamkin Ph.D. “We are pleased to continue our collaboration with NASA to advance our integrated quantum dot laser platform. This award provides non-dilutive funding to accelerate commercialization efforts and to strengthen our relationships with NASA and key manufacturing partners.”
Aeluma secures new contracts from NASA and US Navy
Aeluma wins NASA contract to advance quantum dot photonic integrated circuits for aerospace and AI
