The latest products for diode lasers in 2024
Diode lasers use semiconductor technology that produces a coherent projection of light in the visible to infrared range (Credit: Mia Stendal/Shutterstock.com)
The ability of diode lasers to convert electrical energy directly into laser light has led them to become an increasingly popular choice in a number of industries and applications, where. They may provide a lower cost of ownership combined with a wider choice of output wavelengths, ranging from 810 to 1064nm.
What are diode lasers?
Diode lasers are semiconductor laser devices based on laser diodes. They use semiconductor technology that produces a coherent projection of light in the visible to infrared range.
Applications of diode lasers
Early documented uses go back to the early 1960s and ongoing developments in the technology have led to more widespread use today, with applications ranging from consumer electronics and retail to life sciences and automotive. They are also used in industrial applications and routinely in the aesthetic beauty industry for tasks such as laser hair removal and dermatology.
ProPhotonix Photon Laser Modules
The Photon laser modules have been designed as a complete solution for OEM applications. This compact laser module is available in wavelengths including 375nm, 405nm, 488nm, 520nm, 635nm and 830nm and a wide range of power levels from 0.9mW to 85mW. Optical outputs including elliptical and circular beam, line generating, and diffractive optics making it suitable for a broad range of applications. The Photon laser modules are available with adjustable optics and enhanced boresight options as well as CW or TTL modulation options.
The Photon laser modules are ideal for a range of applications from industrial alignment and positioning to fluorescence, particle measurement and 3D printing. With many thousands operating successfully in the field, the Photon Laser Modules offer a high-quality, reliable solution as a final product or an ideal evaluation product should you need to validate laser technology within your system. Customisations are also available.
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How do diode lasers work?
Diode lasers generate light by combining electrons (negative) and holes (positive) at a semiconductor junction, releasing photons. Reflective surfaces create an optical cavity where photons bounce, in order to stimulate more emissions and amplify the light. This process can produce a powerful, coherent laser beam.
Diode laser product suppliers
Vendors of diode lasers and related products include Akela Laser Corporation, a high-power laser diode manufacturer with a specialism in laser assemblies using any combination of light source, optics, cooling and drivers with wavelengths ranging from 375nm to 12 microns.
BWT has around 20 years of experience when it comes to the design, development and manufacture of fibre coupling diode lasers. Its optical output diode laser is based on multi-coupling technical schemes and thermal control can satisfy any specialist requirements for power, brightness, wavelength control and power-to-weight ratio. The product covers a wavelength of 405-1,064nm, and is provided with a wide optional power range.
Coherent’s diode laser systems are available for many use cases. Its Compact Series of direct diode lasers is robust and modular, with compact sources that have enough output power for materials processing of plastics and metals. The HighLight DL Series of lasers includes fibre-coupled, multi-kW diode lasers for cladding, additive manufacturing, heat-treating and laser-assisted bonding.
Eblana Photonics’s range of single-frequency distributed feedback (DFB) laser diodes, Fabry–Pérot (FP) laser diodes, superluminescent diodes (SLDs) and other optical sources are specifically designed for optimum performance in optical sensing, lidar and telecoms applications.
Excelitas Technologies offers a variety of free-beam and fibre-coupled diode and solid-state iFlex-iRis laser modules and multi-line laser engines that deliver stability for demanding high-resolution biomedical imaging and metrology applications.
Focuslight Technologies specialises in high-power diode lasers and micro optics. The firm can provide design, fabrication, integration and contract manufacturing services for applications in advanced manufacturing, health care, research, automotive and information technology.
Frankfurt Laser Company (FLC) is a supplier of FP, DFB and distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) laser diodes, SM individually addressable and broad area laser diode arrays, VCSELs and quantum cascade lasers. It also incorporates laser diode modules, free-space and fibre-coupled, diode-pumped solid-state (DPSS) lasers and OEM modules. Products cover 266nm to 14µm wavelength and a 5mW to 3,000W power range.
Laser Components has a broad laser diode portfolio, extending from CW laser diodes to pulsed laser diodes to high-power laser diodes. For special areas of application, VCSELs and quantum cascade lasers are also included in the product range.
Laserline produces and sells high-power diode lasers, made from stacked diode bars, known as stacks. There are several of these stacks in a laser, depending on the target output power. With the help of the company’s patented technology, the beams of the individual diodes are overlaid into one common laser beam and coupled into a fibre-optic cable.
Lumentum provides high-performance, reliable diode lasers for next-generation 3D sensing applications and more. Its product range includes high-reliability, single-mode diode lasers that combine a quantum-well structure and a real-refractive, index-guided single-mode waveguide, as well as fibre-coupled diode lasers. The company is also well-known as a source for VCSELs.
Micro Laser Systems manufactures optical accessories and diode laser modules with an emphasis on optical packaging to provide diffraction-limited, circular beams with low wavefront error and low divergence. Lasers from 350 to 2000nm have accessories for expanding or focusing the beam, fibre collimators, fibre focusers, tiny collimators and splitters to integrate with the pigtailed lasers.
Omicron-Laserage offers laser diode modules from 355 to 2500nm, with high-speed modulation capability up to 350MHz analog and 500 MHz digital, picosecond pulsed diode lasers, laser combiners, laser light engines, DFB laser diode modules and narrow bandwidth laser diode modules.
PhotonTec manufactures fibre-coupled laser diodes and DPSS lasers from 266 to 1550nm. Additionally, the company provides optical fibre cable for laser beam delivery, high power fibre combiner, UV-IR spectrometer and customised optical components.
Photodigm offers a range of monolithic DBR laser diodes for probing atomic and molecular spectroscopic transitions. The firm fabricates its own products to customer requirements at high-power levels. Available in multiple package options, Photodigm single-frequency, tunable DBRs are used in multiple applications.
PicoQuant’s compact and reliable turnkey diode laser solutions work in picosecond pulsed, modulated or fast-switched (nsec to µsec) operation mode. The laser systems typically consist of a common driver unit and exchangeable heads. Specialised lasers are also available as stand-alone units.
ProPhotonix offers laser diodes for diode lasers with a wide range of wavelengths and power outputs with many laser diodes in stock. Laser diodes are available from a range of manufacturers, including Ushio, Osram, Panasonic, QSI and Ondax, in red, green, blue, violet and infrared. The company prides itself on its 25+ years of experience as a supplier and integrator of laser diodes to help select the right one for a given application.
QPC Lasers provides high-performance diode lasers for medical, industrial and consumer applications. Its products are based on proprietary technologies, notably its BrightLase and BrightLock diode designs, which provide superior diode brightness and spectral control and offer significant size, weight and cost benefits.
RPMC Lasers has a large selection of standard and custom solid-state lasers, diodes and modules designed for a variety of markets and applications. The company boasts a broad wavelength selection of semiconductor laser diodes, while its diode laser products include single-mode and multimode laser diodes, single emitter and multi-emitter multimode laser diodes, laser diode bars and stacks, quantum cascade laser diodes, superluminescent laser diodes (SLEDs) and VCSELS.
SemiNex manufactures diode lasers that are created by introducing impurities to the surface of a crystal wafer and altering a semiconductor’s electrical properties. Where the layers on the wafer meet, charge carriers combine and the electrical current in the laser’s energy is released as light. Diode lasers are small and require little input power. The firm’s laser diodes span the 1,250- to 1,940nm range for automotive lidar, professional medical, military and industrial applications.
Wavelength Electronics teams with researchers and OEMs that use laser diodes in high-performance applications. The company supplies laser drivers that ensure high stability and offer as low as single-digit µA RMS noise. Products come in a range of sizes, from components used in aerospace and lidar, to touchscreen benchtop instruments for laboratory experiments.
This is not an exhaustive list. If you provide products in the diode laser space and would like your company to be included, please let us know at: editor.electro@europascience.com
