Thorlabs announced that effective August 1, 2019 it will have completed the acquisition of Coda Devices, a manufacturer of Raman-based solutions for analyzing the chemical composition of substances within a laboratory environment or out in the field. Based out of Menlo Park, California with an R&D center and production in Moscow, Russia, the Coda team will be integrated into Thorlabs’ Spectroscopy Technology Group in Munich, Germany.
Coda Device’s Raman spectrometers employ patented coded-aperture technology, which samples over 1,000 optical channels simultaneously, to achieve more than 30 times the light throughput of analogous diffraction slit spectrometers, thereby overcoming the light collection and overall sensitivity limitations of a small entrance aperture. By combining this high throughput aperture with extensive signal processing algorithms, the Coda Devices suppress unwanted fluorescence signals that would otherwise mask the detection of weak Raman signatures and achieve five times higher signal-to-noise ratios than standard diffraction-slit-based spectrometers.
With a 1.5 mm2 analysis area, which is 10,000 times larger than traditionally available laser spots, a lower energy light source can be deployed, allowing for nondestructive analysis of heat-sensitive samples. The larger area also makes it possible to accurately identify a wider range of samples, including large-grain and non-homogeneous mixtures.
Coda’s technology can identify the relative concentrations of up to four substances (powders, liquids, gels, or solids) out of a current library of 3,600 known signatures (prescription and illegal substances, polymers, plastics, minerals, and organic/inorganic compounds) in less than 15 seconds. The analysis can be performed through any transparent material (e.g., baggies, blisters, glass ampoules, etc.), thereby eliminating the need to break into the initial packaging, which has the benefit of preventing contact with potentially deadly substances and allows the technology to be employed for inline quality control.
Founded in 2015, Coda Devices develops and manufactures Raman-based solutions for analyzing the chemical composition of substances. The organization’s US headquarters is in Menlo Park, California, while an R&D center and local production facilities is situated in Moscow, Russia. Previously, Coda Devices raised $800,000 from Phystech Ventures.
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