Uviquity Announces the World's First Chip-Scale Deep-UV Laser at 229 nm

Aluminum nitride photonic integrated circuit brings chip-scale deep-UV light to analytical and inspection instruments serving semiconductor, pharmaceutical/biopharmaceutical, petrochemical, environmental, and defense markets

RALEIGH, N.C., May 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Uviquity, a deep-tech company developing integrated photonics for ultraviolet wavelengths, today announced its first product: a chip-scale laser operating at 229 nm. This laser is the first in the world at this wavelength produced from a single semiconductor chip, delivering collimated, narrow-linewidth, spectrally pure output suitable for demanding analytical and inspection applications. Uviquity will begin sampling to OEM partners during the fourth quarter of 2026, supporting instrument developers across semiconductor manufacturing, pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical production, petrochemical processing, environmental monitoring, and defense applications.

The laser is built on Uviquity's aluminum nitride (AlN) photonic integrated circuit (PIC) platform, which generates deep-UV output through second harmonic generation (SHG) in proprietary AlN waveguides and is protected by more than 20 pending patents. The technology was first published at SPIE Photonics West in January 2026. Uviquity holds the shortest-wavelength SHG record demonstrated to date in AlN. The same platform supports human-safe far-UVC disinfection products under development for air, food, water, and medical applications, positioning Uviquity to address both deep-UV sensing and far-UVC disinfection markets from a single semiconductor architecture.

Deep-UV light at 229 nm enables analytical capabilities not accessible at longer wavelengths, including resonance-enhanced detection of biological and chemical signatures and a measurement window largely free of background fluorescence in most organic samples. The laser supports multiple deep-UV spectroscopic techniques within this regime, including Raman, fluorescence, photoluminescence, and absorption.

Today, instrument developers requiring deep-UV light integrate a mix of laser, lamp, and LED-based UV sources, each carrying significant trade-offs across spectral purity, brightness, lifetime, form factor, and cost that constrain instrument design. For many applications, the only sources that deliver the required performance are large, expensive benchtop systems. Uviquity delivers deep-UV laser performance from a chip, in a compact optoelectronic package that runs on low-voltage electrical input. The form factor is rugged and field-deployable, suitable for handheld, in-line, and embedded instrument designs.

Application areas include semiconductor inspection and metrology, real-time industrial process analytics, continuous gas analysis, reagent-free water quality monitoring, and trace-level defense sensing.

"We've spent time with the scientists and engineers who work in these application spaces," said Scott Burroughs, CEO and Co-Founder of Uviquity. "They know what deep-UV at these wavelengths can do. What they haven't had is a compact, reliable source they could build a product around. That's what we're changing."

Sampling allocations for Q4 2026 are now open to early-access OEM partners. To request the product brief and discuss fit with a specific instrument architecture, contact Karen Scammell, Vice President of Sales and Business Development, at [email protected].

About Uviquity

Uviquity develops chip-based ultraviolet light sources for solid-state deep-UV sensing and analytical instrumentation and for human-safe far-UVC disinfection, all from a single semiconductor photonic integrated circuit (PIC) platform. Founded in 2022 by a team of scientists, engineers, and photonics experts, Uviquity is backed by Emerald Development Managers, AgFunder, and MANN+HUMMEL.

For more information, visit www.uviquity.com.

SOURCE Uviquity Inc.