Laserful

As reported by Optics.org, Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT) in Aachen, Germany, will unveil a femtosecond laser of a world-beating power output of 400 W at LASER World of Photonics in Munich, Germany, next month.

That's a monumental improvement on most commercial femtosecond lasers, which produce an average output power around the single-watt level, while even high-end models are limited to the 50-100 W range.

"The Fraunhofer ILT is introducing a paradigm shift in the design of commercial femtosecond lasers," claimed Axel Bauer, head of the institute's marketing and communications group. "Our laser module holds the world record for average output power among lasers with pulse durations of less than one picosecond."

...... Mr. Gates said he would cut from programs for defense against missiles, including halting the increase in the numbers of defensive missiles deployed in Alaska. Defense experts were also expecting that Boeing’s airborne laser system, which would equip a modified 747 jetliner with a laser to shoot down missiles, might be killed.......

via Gates Budget Plan Reshapes Pentagon’s Priorities - NYTimes.com.

During tests last month at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., Laser Avenger achieved its principal test objectives by using its advanced targeting system to acquire and track three small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) flying against a complex background of mountains and desert. The laser system also shot down one of the UAVs from an operationally relevant range. These tests mark the first time a combat vehicle has used a laser to shoot down a UAV, and was enabled by IPG Photonics' GaAs diode-based laser systems. Credit: Boeing. via: IOP

The ultrafast laser market will reach about $260 million in 2008, with healthy growth expected through to 2012 according to analyst Strategies Unlimited.

I have noticed in previous laser conferences that there are more and more companies producing on ultrafast fiber lasers. A recent report by Strategies Unlimited is on this topic. The report is not freely available. But we can know something from this interview from optics.org. The interview article is free, but you have to register. Following is the part that is most interesting to me.

How does the ultrafast market sustain such a large number of players?

There are now 38 companies offering an ultrafast laser product. In my opinion, that's a bit too many, especially when you consider that Coherent and Newport have the dominant market shares today. It is a lot more than I expected when we started looking into this project, but a lot of companies survive by serving a niche and with very tight financing. Many of them do this by offering ultrafast as an extension of their other pulsed laser products. What is surprising is how many of these little companies have been around for many years. Only a very few can be considered start-up companies entirely focused on ultrafast.

Do you expect to see new entrants and what do they have to do to survive?

When it comes to the laser business, you always see new entrants, but the venture-funded start-up is a very tough way to go, because the application development is so slow. The supplier must find a customer to design the laser into a system, and then the system has to be sold to end users. In between, there may be regulatory hurdles and extensive qualifications. It's easier to do if the laser supplier has a tight budget, lots of patience and maybe some other products already selling.

Do you expect to see any consolidation?

"Consolidation" is not the word that comes to my mind, at least not in the sense of a significant reduction in the number of suppliers. There are no strong economies of scale in the ultrafast business that would force that. The intellectual property is critical, though, so there certainly will be some licensing and even acquisitions to get access to that. I don't consider that consolidation - that is just the usual business of horse trading.

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Sharp Corp had a meeting on technologies relating to blue-violet and red semiconductor laser diodes. It explained the market conditions and the output growth as well as its efforts to enhance the laser power and reduce the module size.

via: Tech-On

The company forecast that 22 million low-power blue-violet diodes will be sold globally in 2008. Also, it estimates that the sales of high-power blue-violet diodes will reach 2.2 million units as the market for Blu-ray compatible products started to rise from the 2007 Christmas season. Annual sales of low-power and high-power products are expected to exceed 100 million units in 2010 and 2012, respectively.

Moreover, Sharp unveiled its plans to release a 350mW class blue-violet diode product in the later half of 2009 and a 400mW class product by around 2010.

LASER World of PHOTONICS CHINA 2008 will be held on 18 to 20 of March. More than 200 exhibitors will present their products and applications on 11,500 sqm of floor space at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC). More than 10,000 visitors are expected to attend the show.

Arasor acquired US-based Novalux through US$7 million as part of a joint venture with ZTE Corporation, China's largest telecommunications and networking provider, to commercialise laser chip technology for use in TVs, projectors, and smaller screens such as laptop, PDA and mobile phone. via: SmartHouse

January 2008 issue of Nature Photonics has a technology focus on fiber lasers. Some recent research highlights are presented, like report of millijoule femtosecond fiber laser from Jena University. Several people from companies (SPI Lasers, IPG Photonics, Koheras) are invited to write their perspective on fiber lasers. Prof. Andreas Tuennermann, head of the Fraunhofer Insititute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering in Jena, Germany, is interviewed on developments of fiber laser and his views on its future.

Among all the highlights, I think ultrashort pulse fiber laser is the center of spotlight. It seems suddenly, lot of companies emerge competing on femtosecond fiber lasers. Just point a few of them: IMRA, MenloSystem, Koheras, Toptica, Fianium, and FEMTO Lasers, etc.

Following is the Editorial of this Technology Focus:

ROFIN-SINAR Acquires Nufern according to this press release. It is quite a surprise to me. I use Nufern's fibers a lot.