Finnish nanotechnology coating specialist Picodeon is to accelerate the development and manufacture of its disruptive thin films and thin film deposition tools following completion of a EUR5 million round of investment by Enso Ventures. In addition, Picodeon recently started a new project funded by TEKES (the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation) with a value over EUR1 million. The investment will fund further research into thin-film applications and the development of new thin-film materials, as well as the production of a market-ready range of laser deposition equipment.

Picodeon's patented Coldab coating technology is an advanced Ultra-Short Pulsed Laser Deposition (US PLD) process. The technology enables nanometer scale thin-film coatings including materials such as metals, composites, oxides and polymers, to be deposited on a vast range of substrates.

The process is produced by Picodeon’s patented coating equipment, where material is vaporised in a laser-ablation process forming a plasma plume, which condenses on the substrate to form a thin film. Applications include hard optical coatings for displays, screens and other transparent products, and may vary from super-hard low-friction thin-films to optical thin-films with anti-finger print properties. In July for example, Picodeon delivered a project to a semiconductor manufacturer for the US PLD deposition of a gold (Au) thin film.

Said Marko Mylläri, CEO of Picodeon, “Picodeon is investing nearly EUR2 million in the development of new automated thin-film coating equipment which will be up and running by January 2014. This is a unique machine to demonstrate the volume manufacturing potential of PLD coatings. It will show that the PLD process is not just a laboratory research concept, but that it is scalable into industrial applications by using Picodeon’s innovations.” He also added that Picodeon has a large portfolio of global patents including 18 granted patents and nearly one hundred patent applications.

Enso Ventures is a private investment and project management company that specialises in making selective equity investments in high-technology and bio-tech companies. It provides the required capital along with leadership and industry expertise with a clear focus on technology acceleration and commercial development to promote faster growth. Enso Ventures has offices in New York and London from which it manages its investments in Europe, USA and Russia.