LightPath Technologies, Inc. announced the commissioning of additional optical coating capabilities and capacity in its facility in Riga, Latvia, and the availability of a new, high durability coating from that facility. LightPath's Riga facility, added in 2017 through the acquisition of ISP Optics, is a center of excellence for production of infrared optical components. In 2021 LightPath began adding optical coating capabilities to the Riga operation, making it vertically integrated and enabling it to produce complete components from start to finish without depending on other LightPath facilities in the US and China.

The addition of this capability in Riga has since enabled LightPath to tap into the European defense market, which requires all components to be produced inside the European Union. In recent years LightPath has seen its customers gradually transition away from using Germanium in their optical systems and integrate new materials such as LightPath's BlackDiamondTM infrared glass. This trend has accelerated with recent export limitations on Germanium by China, and LightPath expects significant growth in demand for its Germanium alternatives in the coming months.

In anticipation of this, and with the increasing demand from the defense industry in Europe and Israel, LightPath has invested in expanding its coating capacity in Riga to serve those growing needs. Additionally, a new High Durability Anti-Reflective coating ("HDAR") now available from this facility provides customers an advanced coating that protects the optics in harsh environments, while maintaining high optical transmission. HDAR coating is often used in maritime applications and other harsh environments.

The new coating is available for optics for the mid-wave infrared band ("MWIR") on a variety of materials and will later be made available for long-wave infrared band ("LWIR") optics.