The company was the first to commercialize the quantum-cascade laser (QCL) for scientific,[2][3] industrial[4] and medical[5] use.

[6] The company has also developed QCLs for defensive countermeasure applications for the United States Air Force.

[7] The company was founded in 1998 by physicists Jérôme Faist), Antoine Muller and Matthias Beck as a spin-off from the University of Neuchâtel.

The company became involved in the design, manufacture and distribution of QCLs, which were first developed by Jerome Faist, Federico Capasso, Deborah Sivco, Carlo Sirtori, Albert Hutchinson, and Alfred Cho at Bell Laboratories in 1994.

[9] In Switzerland, the firm has worked on projects with the university of Neuchatel[10] and ETH Zurich[11] where Faist currently holds a professorship in the department of physics.