QVersion, a Danish photonics spinout from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at Aarhus University, is developing compact mid-infrared laser systems based on integrated photonic chips. The mid-infrared spectral region contains strong molecular absorption fingerprints, making it particularly useful for detecting gases and chemical compounds.
Emil Zanchetta Ulsig, co-founder and CEO of QVersion, describes the ambition:
“QVersion builds directly on the photonics expertise we developed at ECE. Having worked with the technology as researchers and students gives us a strong foundation for turning it into a product that addresses a real industrial challenge.”
QVersion builds on several years of ECE research in integrated photonics, laser stabilisation, and chip-based frequency conversion. The company translates this research into compact mid-infrared laser systems for advanced sensing applications.
The underlying research was initiated and led by Associate Professor Nick Volet and postdoctoral researcher Emil Zanchetta Ulsig. Together with a team of Master’s students, research assistants, PhD students and postdocs, they matured the technology through a sequence of Innovation Fund Denmark-supported projects, culminating in InnoExplorer and Spin-outs Denmark funding for spinout preparation.
This continuity enabled the technology to progress from fundamental photonics research towards integrated laser systems and system-level validation. It also brought together the infrastructure, expertise, and talent needed to make the spinout possible.
Today, QVersion is building on this foundation to move the technology from research prototypes towards deployable sensing systems.
Nick Volet, also co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of QVersion, explains:
“QVersion was made possible because the technology, infrastructure, and talent were developed together over time at ECE. Integrated photonics cannot be turned into a company from a single research result. It requires sustained research, specialised expertise and people who can carry the technology forward.”
The technical foundation of QVersion is nonlinear integrated photonics, in which chip-scale optical circuits are used to generate new wavelengths of light and stabilise laser signals. This enables optical functionality on compact photonic chips small enough to sit on the tip of a finger.
At ECE, the research focused on chip-based frequency conversion and laser stabilisation, enabling compact generation of mid-infrared light.
QVersion builds on this platform to develop laser systems for applications requiring sensitive molecular detection, including gas sensing, environmental monitoring and industrial process control.
QVersion also demonstrates how research and education at ECE can help develop both advanced technologies and the people needed to implement them. CEO and co-founder Emil Zanchetta Ulsig completed his PhD in integrated photonics at ECE, while co-founders Mikkel Torrild and Lucas Ahler carried out their Master’s theses in the same research environment.
The creation of QVersion represents more than the commercialisation of a technology. It shows how a research and teaching environment can help translate advanced photonics expertise into both entrepreneurial capacity and new Danish deep-tech activity.
Emil Zanchetta Ulsig, CEO and co-founder, QVersion, former PhD student at ECE
Mikkel Torrild, CTO and co-founder, QVersion, former MSc student at ECE
Lucas Ahler, co-founder, QVersion, former MSc student at ECE
Nick Volet, CSO and co-founder, QVersion, Associate Professor at ECE
