Altechna

In today’s advanced optical systems, from industrial lasers and aerospace platforms to semiconductor, medical, and scientific applications, performance depends on more than just a high-quality optic. It depends on how that optic is designed, fabricated, coated, mounted, aligned, and validated as part of a complete assembly. That’s why at Altechna, both in the US and the EU facilities, vertical integration (or in simple terms, handling everything in-house) matters. We deliver everything from optical system design and raw material sourcing to precision fabrication, thin-film coating, mechanical integration, assembly, final metrology, and QA. What you get in practice is simple: 🔵 Quality controlled at every step 🔵 Full traceability from raw materials to final assembly 🔵 Fewer alignment and tolerance mismatches between parts 🔵 Faster delivery without coordinating multiple suppliers 🔵 One responsible partner for overall system performance Read more about our technological capabilities here: https://lnkd.in/gR8UAC9

From multi-target drone interceptions at sea to 100 kW-class naval trials and planned deployment across European fleets, it’s clear that laser defense is no longer a future concept. We’ve prepared a snapshot of the latest news from around the world, reflecting how laser systems are moving beyond experimentation and into real operational environments. Take a look below!

2026 is already in full motion, and it’s becoming clear which areas will keep trending in the optics world. 1️⃣ Defense. Defense systems are becoming more optical. Not just for sensing and targeting, but increasingly for laser-based capabilities and tougher EO/IR requirements. The demand trend is clear: we’re talking about more power, harsher environments, tighter tolerances, and reliability that holds up in the field. At Altechna, this is already a major part of what we do. We provide optics for top defense primes in Europe, the UK, and the US, and around a third of our business is dedicated to this industry. 2️⃣ Medical. Medical optics is pushing for better signal quality and repeatability, while AI is increasingly becoming part of how optical systems are designed. That raises the bar on optical components consistency and manufacturability, not just peak performance. We’re going to see way more AI applications in the medical optics sphere this year. 3️⃣ 3D printing. Industrial additive manufacturing (AM) is scaling fast with higher-power systems, more lasers, and more production-grade expectations. Beam shaping and process stability are becoming differentiators, and the optics requirements rise quickly when uptime and part quality are non-negotiable (especially where AM feeds aerospace and defence supply chains). 2026 isn’t about optics for “extreme environments,” but optics for extreme requirements: higher precision, higher power, higher uptime, and zero tolerance for variability.

We’ve landed in Singapore. Catch us at APE 2026 - Asia Photonics Expo, 4–6 February 2026,📍 Booth C214. Stop by to talk to Mantas Kulnickas and Gintarė Gabrielė Gabšytė about high-performance optics and optomechanical assemblies that enable the world’s most powerful lasers.

Last week in San Francisco was amazing! After more than 60 meetings with customers and shaking hands on a new Bühler Group Leybold Optics IBS 1400 coating machine, the Altechna team is back from Photonics West. And we’ve brought 4 key takeaways from a technological standpoint to share with you! 🔵 Our talk on advanced high-energy laser optics was buzzing. We were thrilled to showcase our hydroxide-catalysis-bonded components, introducing new Altechna's capabilities and sparking lively discussions on durability and outgassing. 🔵 Diode-pumped laser technologies stood out, too. But one thing was made clear – to make progress in diode brightness, the industry needs to reconsider long-standing assumptions and explore alternative approaches. 🔵 Fiber‑based lasers and components kept attracting attention. Despite their maturity and strong performance, fully fiber‑integrated systems still face major challenges in high‑power and high‑energy applications. Thermal load, nonlinear effects, and damage thresholds become limiting factors, which means that free‑space optics (bulk optics) remain an essential part of these systems with growing demand in certain high‑power areas where fiber alone cannot handle the required performance. 🔵 Finally, we witnessed a breakthrough in VUV laser sources. IPG unveiled a high-coherence 148 nm VUV laser, tackling a 50-year physics challenge in spectroscopy of the ²²⁹Th nuclear transition. It was great to see so many people enjoy the event: for many talks, visitors were queuing up in the hallways, and Altechna’s booth was at the epicentre of Photonics West 2026. Coming up next: 📍 APE 2026 - Asia Photonics Expo | February 4-6 | #C214 📍 Laser World of Photonics China | March 18-20 | #N4-4615

We’re scaling our coating capabilities with a clear goal in mind: more capacity, zero compromise. Last week, we signed a Letter of Intent — and this week at #PhotonicsWest2026, we sealed it with a handshake with Bühler Group Leybold Optics for the acquisition of the Leybold Optics IBS 1400. With this addition, we take a major strategic step forward — in the second half of this year, we will have all core PVD technologies from Bühler in-house: 🔵 SyrusPRO 1350 and SyrusPRO 710 — Plasma Ion Assisted Deposition (PIAD) 🔵 Helios 800 — Magnetron Sputtering (MS) 🔵 Leybold Optics IBS 1400 — Ion Beam Sputtering (IBS) This partnership goes beyond adding equipment. It strengthens our ability to scale, innovate, and consistently deliver coatings that meet the toughest optical requirements. What the new IBS 1400 brings: ✨ 3× larger coating capacity compared to our current IBS system ✨ Capability to produce IBS coatings on substrates up to 400 mm in diameter ✨ No compromise on optical performance or stability ✨ A stronger, more scalable IBS production backbone ✨ More freedom for high-power, high-complexity coatings For our customers, this means shorter lead times, higher throughput, and greater flexibility — without sacrificing the precision and quality expected from ion-beam sputtering technology. We’re excited about what this expansion means for our team, our partners, and the industries we serve. More updates to come as the system arrives and moves toward production. 🚀

Photonics West is finally here — and so are we. Meet the Altechna team at SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics #PhotonicsWest2026 📍 Booth #5123, Jan 20–22 Talk with us about high-performance optics and optomechanical solutions for defense, industrial, semiconductor, medical, and automotive laser systems. If you’re on the show floor, stop by and let’s connect.

Meet Ignas Pikas and Tucker Pearson at #BIOS2026 in San Francisco today. Stop by to talk high-performance laser optics, advanced coatings, and optomechanical assemblies for demanding laser systems. Next week, the conversation continues at SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics #PhotonicsWest2026 with more of the Altechna team on site. 📍 BIOS — today | Booth 8609 📍SPIE Photonics West | Jan 20–22, 2026 | Booth 5123

We’re heading to San Francisco for SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics exhibition Photonics West – the biggest photonics event of the year. Visit us to talk about high-performance optics and optomechanics. 📍 SPIE Photonics West | Jan 20-22 📍 Booth #5123 Meet our team there, including CEO Antanas Laurutis, Chief Business Development Officer & General Manager - US Ed Yousse, alongside colleagues from business development and R&D. Chief Scientist Laurynas Lukosevicius, PhD will be joined by other key colleagues Ignas Pikas, Marius Gželka, Mantas Kulnickas, Inesa Karkauskaitė, Samantha Lowe, Tucker Pearson, and Eli B.. Before that, we’ll also be at SPIE BiOS – Photonics West’s biomedical optics track, where new optical concepts often emerge first. 📍 SPIE BiOS | Jan 17-18 📍 Booth #8609 One more highlight: on January 19, our Chief Scientist Laurynas Lukosevicius, PhD will present “Performance analysis of hydroxide-catalysis-bonded optical components for high-energy laser applications” as part of the Optics Assembly and Reliability session. See you there!

The new year has just begun, so we decided to analyze the investments that occurred in the photonics industry in 2025. Spoilers alert: the numbers are looking amazing! Here are the main insights: 🔵 Based on EPIC's Photonics Index, 342 companies attracted over $23 billion across publicly disclosed deals. The final amount was higher, as there were also 35+ deals where companies didn’t disclose the investment size. 🔵 One of the biggest investments ($3 billion) went to the augmented reality company Infinite Reality, followed by $1 billion raised by the robotics company Figure, with another $1 billion by the quantum computing company PsiQuantum. They are all based in the US. 🔵 The most active investors this year were public-sector organizations, including the EIC - European Innovation Council, the EIC Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) Scale Up, and the US Department of Commerce (via funding under the CHIPS and Science Act). This highlights the crucial role government support plays in fostering sector growth. Among private investors, Intel Capital – Intel’s venture arm – was also one of the most active, with nine investments. 🔵 Geographically, the US companies got 169 investments, followed by Germany (28), the UK (23), France (21), and the Netherlands (19). 🔵 The most active months for investments were January and February, with 47 investments each month. It was a major year for many precision-optics-related companies. From robotics to quantum, we’re confident these sectors, and photonics as a whole, will remain on investors’ radar in 2026. And of course, big thanks to EPIC - EUROPEAN PHOTONICS INDUSTRY CONSORTIUM's Photonics Index team for helping keep the industry transparent and data-driven!