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The company is also working on developing metamaterials – ultrasensitive to biological and chemical agents – to detect chemical threats. This project is generating a great deal of public interest, as metamaterials open the door to something once relegated to science fiction: invisibility. The development of these new lab-created materials contain properties not found in nature; when light interacts with the metamaterials, it bends around them rather than being reflected, in effect leaving them invisible.
Developing these types of materials, however, remains a huge challenge scientifically, technologically, and even socially. But as Martí points out, from a scientific perspective, “important advances are being made that enable us to better understand the interaction of light with materials, in particular the nanostructure [base].”
Research and innovation
The focus on research and innovation at DAS Photonics has enabled the creation of technological innovations at the nanoscale. During the company’s initial phase, research formed the strategic core of the business. Now, after a process of consolidation, R&D enables the company to win market share and to extend its position internationally.
DAS Photonics started in 2005 as a spin-off company from the Valencia Nanophotonics Technology Center (NTC), a university research center. The company uses unique laboratories in Spain, belonging to NTC, to test its products and solutions. The company contracts nanomanufacturing services in these laboratories and make use of the clean room, in which the environmental parameters are strictly controlled.
“It’s a unique model where the facilities are partially available to technology companies and other research institutes in Spain and Europe,” explains Martí. “NTC has implemented this model to contribute to improving the development of Spain’s scientific and industrial competitiveness in the field of photonics.”
Article published in may 2011
Carmelo Hermoso de Mendoza
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