Nuburu and Essentium to develop blue laser-based wire feed metal 3D printers

04 May 2022

Speedier part fabrication based on combination of high power blue laser tech and metal additive manufacturing platform.

Nuburu, a developer of high power and high brightness industrial blue lasers, and Essentium, which makes industrial additive manufacturing systems 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 plans to 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 partners say that the new AM platform is designed to deliver breakthrough throughput for extremely high part quality and broad-scale use in industrial markets, including automotive, aerospace, and defense.

Patented processes

As a part of the contract, Nuburu will also license its core 3D printing application patents, based on its foundational patent, “Methods and systems for welding copper using blue laser”.

The firm’s blue laser is well suited for materials processing applications within AM. 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.

Mark Zediker Ph.D., Nuburu’s co-founder, CEO, and President, said, “We are excited to work with Essentium to combine the powers of our technologies to develop a new platform for additive manufacturing. Our blue laser technology and 3D printing IP will help Essentium build a powerful metal 3D printer with a wide range of applications.”

Essentium’s HSE 3D Printing Platforms, which are supported by eight patents, provide energy-efficient deposition, eliminating porosity and minimizing warpage during a build. The new platform will produce parts comparable to castings and forgings with minimal post-processing required.

Elisa Teipel, Ph.D., Chief Development Officer and co-founder of Essentium, said “We are looking forward to working with the Nuburu team and leveraging their technology, enabling us to commercialize a new metal 3D printing platform.”