LASER 2005: New products

15 Jun 2005

A selection of some of the new products on display at the show.

•  Spectra-Physics, a division of Newport, has introduced a diode-pumped, solid state laser that provides 5 W of continuous wave emission at 532 nm. Dubbed Centennia, the low-noise unit features a beam profile of better than M² 1.2. According to the firm, the laser is easy to operate, reliable and suits applications such as optical tweezers, subtitling of motion pictures and light shows.

•  Coherent has launched a 20 W ultraviolet laser that can dice wafers and scribe large-area solar cells. The AVIA 355 nm source operates at pulse repetition rates as high as 150 kHz and gives a beam quality of less than M² 1.3. Packaged as a single module, the frequency tripled, vanadate laser is said to have a unique architecture that enables pump diode replacement to be performed in the field without any optical realignment.

•  IMRA is offering its erbium-doped, fiber-based femtosecond laser as a pulsed 810 nm source for THz applications. Housed in a compact head measuring 256x193x88 mm, the laser emits pulses of less than 150 fs at a repetition rate of 75 MHz. The company claims that its device, which does not require water cooling, is maintenance free.

•  XenICs, a Belgium-based developer of infrared (IR) detectors, has released the XS-FPA - a tiny IR camera that delivers 14 bit images at a frame rate of 60 Hz. The device covers the spectral range from 0.9 to 1.7 µm and features an uncooled InGaAs dectector array with 320x256 pixels. A USB connection enables PC operation.

•  LASAG of Switzerland has unveiled its EasyWelder laser with a working range of 50 to 220 W. Designed for seam and spot welding, the system is available with six fiber outputs and features long pulse lengths of up to 100 ms to suit brittle or high-carbonized steels. The unit is supplied with a sealed power supply, interface and PC compatible software.

•  Melles Griot has unveiled the first product in its new line of diode laser assemblies. The 56 RCS 002/HV produces 50 mW of power at 408 nm and has been designed for reprographics applications. Other specifications include a 2.5 mm linearly polarized beam with an aspect ratio of 1.1:1, an M² of 1.2 and a modulation rise and fall time of <1.5 ns. The product range will be extended to include wavelengths ranging from 408 to 830 nm.

•  Southampton Photonics (SPI) has launched its redENERGY series of pulsed fiber lasers. According to SPI, the product can maintain peak powers of up to 15 kW over a wide range of repetition rates making it ideal for marking applications. The product offers pulse durations of 10 to 200 ns and average powers of 10 to 12 W. SPI hopes to add higher average power versions to this range in 2006.

•  OZ Optics has released a wireless power and wavelength meter. The product uses either Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or a high-frequency radio signal to communicate between a transmitter integrated into an optical fiber network and mobile phone, laptop or PDA-based receiver. Although ideal in any situation where a power measurement is required, OZ says typical applications include monitoring fiber-to-the-home networks and channel balancing for WDM systems.