XARION Laser Acoustics
Develops and manufactures membrane-free optical microphones and laser-based ultrasonic inspection systems for non-destructive testing, process monitoring, and acoustic measurement.
- CEO / Founder
- Dr. Balthasar Fischer
- Team Size
- 11-50
- Stage
- Growth Stage
- Total Funding
- $2.19M
- Latest Round
- Venture Round
- Key Investors
- TRUMPF Venture; In-Q-Tel; DB MindBox; Airbus BizLab; SPIE Startup Studio
Technology & Products
Key Products
Optical Microphone sensors (Eta600 Ultra, Eta450 Ultra, Eta250 Ultra, Eta100 Ultra, Eta450 Ultra Array for air; Eta250 L Ultra, Eta100 L Ultra for liquids); Thermoacoustic Emitter; LEAsys NDT Scanning System (turnkey laser ultrasound inspection); LEAstudio software for system control and data analysis; Laser-Excited Acoustics (LEA) for contact-free ultrasonic testing
Technological Advantage
Patented optical microphone technology based on a Fabry-Pérot interferometer with no mechanically moving parts — provides flat frequency response from 10 Hz to 4 MHz (air) / 20 MHz (liquid); true temporal impulse response; inherent phase match in arrays; operation in high EM fields (no metallic parts); detection sensitivity down to 1 µPa; ability to perform fully contact-free, dry (no water/gel couplant) ultrasonic inspection on complex geometries.
Differentiation
Value Proposition
Contact-free, water-free ultrasonic testing and acoustic sensing using a patented membrane-free optical microphone with an unprecedented frequency bandwidth (10 Hz to 4 MHz in air, 20 MHz in liquids), enabling inspection where conventional piezoelectric ultrasonic testing cannot be applied.
How They Differentiate
XARION's core differentiator is its fundamentally different transducer principle — using light (laser interferometry) rather than piezoelectric crystals to detect ultrasound. This eliminates the need for mechanical membranes, couplant fluids (water/gel), and physical contact with the test object. It provides a flat frequency response covering up to 4 MHz in air vs. ~100-200 kHz for conventional air-coupled ultrasound, enabling new NDT applications on composites, batteries, and complex geometries that were previously impossible to test non-destructively without couplant.
Market & Competition
Target Customers
Aerospace OEMs and suppliers (composite inspection), automotive manufacturers (battery inspection, spot-weld inspection), semiconductor manufacturers (end-of-line testing), defense contractors, industrial production lines (process monitoring), R&D laboratories.
Industry Verticals
Aerospace & Defense (composite CFRP inspection, helicopter parts); Automotive (battery inspection, spot-weld inspection); Semiconductor & Microelectronics; Adhesive bond inspection; Laser material processing (process monitoring); Additive manufacturing (real-time monitoring)
Competitors
Waygate Technologies (Baker Hughes) — conventional industrial ultrasonic NDT; Eddyfi Technologies — advanced NDT inspection systems; Olympus Scientific Solutions — conventional ultrasonic testing equipment
Growth & Milestones
Major Milestones
2006: Invention of membrane-free optical microphone by Balthasar Fischer; 2012: Company founded as spin-off from Vienna University of Technology; 2015: First products launched on market (H2); runner-up in SPIE Startup Challenge at Photonics West; 2016: Won Code_n Award for Startups; Series A led by TRUMPF Venture; won Berthold Leibinger Innovation Award; 2022: Joint patent granted with Northrop Grumman; 2025: Strategic investment from In-Q-Tel (IQT); 2026: LEA integrated into Testia's cobotized ultrasonic inspection system for Airbus R&D
Notable Customers
Northrop Grumman; Airbus (via Testia); Airbus Helicopters; NASA; Audi; Porsche; Honeywell; Fill GmbH