BRIGHTERWAVE – Shortening and improving the NPI process

Interview to Tomi Jouhti and Antti Laakso Co-Founders at Brighterwave.

What is the core activity of Brighterwave and which technologies are mainly developed in the iQonic project?

Brighterwave develops and sells lasers and laser projection solutions to augmented reality, automotive and life science applications. For display applications (picture 1) RGB lasers are needed, whereas as in life science applications (picture 2) Brighterwave’s proprietary laser technology allows the fabrication of any visible wavelength like 561nm.

Figure 1 – Display application

Figure 2 – Life science applications

Can you  explain Brighterwave’s use case and the main objectives you’re pursuing through iQonic?

Brighterwave use case consists of studying an optimised assembly process of optoelectronic multi-component modules supporting a medium-volume production of its laser-based products and maintaining maximum quality and zero-defects in the production process.

Which benefits do you expect from the iQonic project?

The abovementioned objectives will be achieved by linking the currently disjointed multi-stage manufacturing process through its data aggregation. The received data will be used for the prediction and early detection of defects which currently occur in the final stage. This quality inspection methodology at the shopfloor level will speed up reactions thus preventing defects from happening and therefore, it will increase the production yield. Lastly, the use of a Decision Support System, will support the reuse-requalification of the parts, thus reducing also the production costs significantly.

Which activities have you carried out within the project?

The main focus for Brighterwave in iQonic is the optimization of assembly process for laser light sources with submicron alignment accuracy. The new product introduction for customized laser solutions can be made faster and more efficient by optimizing alignment and bonding phases in the assembly process. This work is related to the work packages 2, 3, 7 and 8 in the project.

Which partners are you collaborating with the most?

Close collaboration for the assembly is made with Tampere University for which new micro-assembly solution from the project partner ficonTEC (technology provider) will be installed.