Technology Scotland recently caught up with our member, Skylark Lasers, as part of our Member Spotlight series. Read below to find out more about them.
What does your organisation do?
Skylark Lasers specialises in the development and production of ultra-stable, spectrally pure continuous-wave (CW) single frequency diode-pumped solid-state (DPSS) lasers.
Our near-infrared and ultraviolet laser systems enable advances across life sciences, deep-tech manufacturing, and quantum research. We work collaboratively with our customers and research partners to understand their needs and tailor our lasers to each application – helping reveal the unseen, detect the imperceptible, and measure the unknown.
Who benefits most from what you do?
Customers who require high spectral purity, narrow linewidth, continuous-wave laser sources benefit most from the stable and reliable performance of Skylark NX lasers.
Our DPSS technology is engineered for precision applications such as laser interference lithography, UV Raman and photoluminescence spectroscopy, Brillouin microscopy, atom trapping, and wide-bandgap semiconductor inspection – where long-term stability, low noise, and spectral purity are required.
Bridging the gap between diode lasers and Ti:Sapphire platforms, our DPSS architecture provides a mid-range solution that delivers ultra-stable, low-noise output with exceptional spectral purity. This clean mode allows users to streamline their optical setup – often eliminating filters, gratings, or gas cells – resulting in simpler, more robust, and more reproducible operation. By removing these optical losses, users also gain additional power margin, providing improved performance and greater flexibility in system design.
Skylark NX UV systems also offer a modern, compact, and energy-efficient alternative to traditional argon-ion and HeCd gas lasers – delivering comparable or superior performance without the associated maintenance, instability, and unpredictable output. With increasing restrictions and bans on cadmium-based systems, our DPSS lasers provide a sustainable, regulatory-compliant path forward for users who require UV single frequency with compromising performance.
What is your organisation’s biggest achievement?
Over the past five years, the Skylark Lasers team have focused on addressing the key challenges of contamination and ultraviolet-induced degradation in UV DPSS lasers. Through extensive design optimisation, materials selection, and process control, we have engineered a new generation of UV sources that deliver the highest power and longest lifetime of any CW single frequency DPSS lasers at 320 nm and 349 nm.
Tell us something exciting about your organisation
We have recently welcomed Mark Donaghy to the team. Joining Skylark Lasers as our new Global Sales Manager, Mark brings over 20 years of sales and marketing experience in the photonics industry, previously leading teams and driving commercial strategy at Raptor Photonics and Andor.
Mark will develop our route-to-market, working with our trusted distribution partners to deliver Skylark NX lasers to customers around the world. He’ll also identify and bring in new OEM customers in applications across spectroscopy, microscopy, semiconductor inspection, and quantum.
He’s diving right in, so expect to see Mark representing Skylark Lasers at conferences, tradeshows, and visiting your lab very soon!
Why did you join Technology Scotland?
Collaboration and innovation are at the core of our organisation. Partnering with Technology Scotland means being embedded in Scotland’s photonics cluster, which enables us to work with the key players in photonics technology development – from research hubs, universities, and our industry peers – to define and develop laser systems that drive advancements across deep tech manufacturing, life sciences, and quantum applications.
We’re committed to helping drive Scotland’s high-value technology sectors forward and are keen to engage with organisations working in areas such as wide bandgap semiconductor materials characterisation, defect detection, and inspection, quantum networking and sensing, atom trapping, Brillouin microscopy, and optical grating manufacturing. By collaborating with innovators across these fields, we aim to accelerate the commercialisation of Scotland’s research into robust, deployable high-performance solutions for global customers.
Being a member also keeps us in-the-loop and engaged with Scotland’s technology development strategies, policies, and opportunities to get involved in the photonics community.