'We never actually planned to start a company' — This 'accidental' spin-off from Germany…
- Lepto develops terahertz filters barely thicker than microscopic viruses for advanced communications
- Satellite companies value lighter terahertz components because launch costs remain extremely expensive
- Terahertz radiation enables faster data transmission across secure short-range communication channels
A one-micrometer-thin foil shimmering in gold, red, and green hardly looks like the next big thing in satellite communications.
Yet this high-tech filter, produced by the Empa spin-off Lepto GmbH, represents a quiet breakthrough in terahertz radiation technology.
The company’s founders, Elena Mavrona and Erwin Hack, spent six years researching at Empa’s Transport at Nanoscale Interfaces laboratory before realizing their invention had commercial potential.
From laboratory curiosity to market reality
“We never actually planned to start a company,” says Erwin Hack, CTO of Lepto.
“But we received many inquiries from other research institutions, and they were very satisfied with our filters’ performance. That's when we realized there was a market for them.”
The researchers realized...
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