Raydiance, a developer of software-controlled ultrashort pulse lasers, on Wednesday announced it has raised $20 million in a fourth round of funding.
The round was led by Greenstreet Partners and had the participation of Draper Fisher Jurvetson.
Petaluma, California, Raydiance will use the funding toward scaling up the company’s marketing for Discovery 2.0, the startup’s next ultrashort pulse laser platform.
Raydiance hopes to be profitable by late next year.
Unlike traditional lasers, ultrashort pulse lasers emit femtosecond pulses – or around a trillionth of a second long – and can cut through materials that would normally reflect lasers, such as glass. The lasers are so fast that they cut through materials without generating enough heat to cause thermal damage, which results in a cleaner cut.
The clean cut gives the laser a wide range of applications in fields such as dermatology, surgery, military, and clean tech.
“Currently, most of the solar cells are produced with an etching process,” Raydiance President Scott Davison said. “With an ultrashort pulse laser, we can actually focus through and beneath the surface of materials.”
The laser works well in the production of thin film solar cells, but also has other applications within clean tech. Mr. Davison adds that by turning down the power, companies can potentially create new ways to introduce genetic material into plant genomes for synthetic fuels and biofuels.
Raydiance previously raised $25 million in funding and was a 2008 Red Herring 100 North America winner.