Enterprise Ireland client Eblana Photonics has won a European Space Agency (ESA) contract to develop lasers for the most precise atomic clocks ever conceived.
The satellite-born clocks, used for global positioning, need to be highly accurate as a deviation of just one nanosecond will lead to a positional error of 30cm on the ground.
Eblana Photonics will take advantage of its patented high-performance laser diode technology platform which also has applications in optical communications and high-tech sensors - to develop the clock.
"This is an opportunity for Eblana Photonics' high performance lasers to help improve the accuracy of global positioning systems and satellite navigation as well as have an impact on the accuracy of terrestrial applications," commented Dr James O'Gorman, founder of Eblana Photonics.
The firm recently announced the introduction of a 1550nm, 200 kHz emission linewidth laser, which provides a 50 per cent reduction in guaranteed linewidth over Eblana's existing narrow linewidth products.