Nuburu and Essentium to partner on 3D metal printing
Companies start partnership to use Nuburu’s blue lasers and Essentium’s metal additive manufacturing platform
Nuburu, a maker of high power and high brightness industrial blue lasers, and Essentium, an industrial additive manufacturing (AM) company, have announced a partnership to develop and manufacture a blue laser-based metal AM platform. The new Essentium printer will enable manufacturers to create production-grade metal parts with high resolution and fast throughput.
Under the multi-year, multi-million-dollar agreement, Essentium may integrate Nuburu’s proprietary blue laser technology with its High Speed Extrusion (HSE) 3D Printing technology for product development in the first phase, and manufacturing in the second phase. The new AM platform is designed to deliver breakthrough throughput for extremely high part quality and broad-scale use in major industrial markets, including automotive, aerospace, and defense.
As a part of the contract, Nuburu will also license its core 3D printing application patents, based on Nuburu’s foundational patent, “Methods and systems for welding copper using blue laser” US10,940,562B2 and JP2019562226A.
Nuburu’s blue laser is well suited for materials processing applications within AM. Critical materials such as copper, stainless steel, and aluminum reflect much of the infrared wavelengths transmitted by traditional industrial lasers, which leads to lower print speed and quality. Nuburu’s blue laser technology enables printing with 10x the build speed and the ability to print with a very high metal density without any post processes.
“We are excited to work closely with the Essentium team and combine the powers of our existing technologies to develop and manufacture a new transformative platform for additive manufacturing,” said Mark Zediker, co-founder, CEO, and president at Nuburu. “Our high power, high brightness blue laser technology, along with our 3D printing IP will help Essentium build a powerful metal 3D printer with a wide range of applications.”
Essentium’s HSE 3D Printing Platforms have transformed traditional manufacturing, giving its customers an industrial-scale additive manufacturing solution that allows them to generate production floor-ready parts at scale quickly and cost-effectively. This technology, which is supported by eight patents to date, provides energy-efficient deposition, eliminating porosity and minimising warpage during a build. The new platform will produce parts comparable to castings and forgings with minimal post-processing required.
“Nuburu is the leader in blue laser technology, and their expertise will help enable gains in speed and power within our new platform,” said Elisa Teipel, Ph.D., Chief Development Officer and co-founder of Essentium. “We are looking forward to working with their team and leveraging their technology, enabling Essentium to commercialise a new metal 3D printing platform.”
