LightPath Announces US Defense Department Funding to Qualify Additional Materials as Substitutes for Germanium

Rhea-AI Summary

LightPath Technologies announced that the US Defense Department will finance the qualification of additional Black Diamond chalcogenide glasses as a substitute for germanium. The funding will be provided in two phases, with the first phase earmarked for three glasses and totaling $250,000. The second phase is expected to cover the remaining six materials and total approximately $1 million.

- The US Defense Department will finance the qualification of LightPath NRL materials for use in Defense, in addition to its already qualified BD6.

ORLANDO, FL / ACCESSWIRE / July 25, 2023 / LightPath Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPTH), ("LightPath" or the "Company"), a leading vertically integrated global manufacturer and integrator of proprietary optical and infrared technologies, announced the US Defense Department ("DoD") via the Defense Logistics Agency ("DLA") will provide the funding necessary to qualify new LightPath's Black Diamond ("BD") chalcogenide glasses as substitute to germanium. These materials will be in addition to its BD6 material that is already fully qualified and field deployed in multiple systems.

"The qualification of additional BD glasses by the DLA represents an important step forward as LightPath Technologies exclusively produces these additional materials. In this case, the government is taking the additional step of using its funds to qualify our products to be included in their systems. This speaks to the value our technologies create, technologies that are the base to our Strategy and turnaround of the company," said LightPath Technologies CEO Sam Rubin. "Additional qualification of BD glasses will expand the potential use cases of our unique materials, leading to new, cutting-edge designs, similar to the example demonstrated by our multi-spectral camera 'Mantis'."

The DLA's funding will be made in two phases. The first phase of $250,000 is earmarked explicitly for 3 of LightPath's Black Diamond glasses. The second phase is expected to cover the remaining six materials and total approximately $1 million.

Mr. Rubin continued, "This process started last August as multiple stakeholders inside DoD and the industry raised the need for those materials and qualifying them to be used instead of Germanium, and specifically the materials we licensed from NRL in December 2021. We have been in frequent contact with the US DoD on the many uses of BD glass over the last year. The recent restrictions announced by China on germanium are acting as a catalyst in some of those efforts and demonstrating the forward thinking of the DLA and the industry. About 25% of market-wide Germanium use is in optical applications. By providing alternatives, more Germanium will be freed up for other industries such as semiconductors. Estimates vary, but the DoD uses approximately 50 to 150 tons of germanium annually in optical systems. LightPath currently can produce 10 tons a year of BD glass."

About LightPath Technologies:
LightPath Technologies, Inc. is a leading global, vertically integrated provider of optics, photonics and infrared solutions for the industrial, commercial, defense, telecommunications, and medical industries. LightPath designs and manufactures proprietary optical and infrared components including molded glass aspheric lenses and assemblies, custom molded glass freeform lenses, infrared lenses and thermal imaging assemblies, fused fiber collimators, and proprietary Black Diamond^TM ("BD6") chalcogenide-based glass lenses. LightPath also offers custom optical assemblies, including full engineering design support. The Company is headquartered in Orlando, Florida, with manufacturing and sales offices in Latvia and China.

LightPath's wholly-owned subsidiary, ISP Optics Corporation, manufactures a full range of infrared products from high performance MWIR and LWIR lenses and lens assemblies. ISP's infrared lens assembly product line includes athermal lens systems used in cooled and un-cooled thermal imaging cameras. Manufacturing is performed in-house to provide precision optical components including spherical, aspherical and diffractive coated infrared lenses. ISP's optics processes allow it to manufacture its products from all important types of infrared materials and crystals. Manufacturing processes include CNC grinding and CNC polishing, diamond turning, continuous and conventional polishing, optical contacting and advanced coating technologies.

For more information on LightPath and its businesses, please visit www.lightpath.com.

Investor Contact:
Brian M. Prenoveau, CFA
MZ Group - MZ North America
LPTH@mzgroup.us
+561 489 5315

SOURCE: LightPath Technologies

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FAQ

What did LightPath Technologies announce?

LightPath Technologies announced that the US Defense Department will finance the qualification of additional Black Diamond chalcogenide glasses.

What is the purpose of qualifying these glasses?

These glasses will be used as a substitute for germanium in defense systems.

How will the funding be provided?

The funding will be provided in two phases, with the first phase totaling $250,000 and earmarked for three glasses.

What is the total funding expected to be?

The total funding for the qualification of the additional glasses is expected to be approximately $1 million.

What is the significance of this announcement?

This announcement represents an important step forward for LightPath Technologies as it expands the potential use cases of their unique materials and demonstrates the value their technologies create.