21 January 2011

Oclaro’s new 808nm lasers demo integration of Tucson wafer fab into Zurich

Optical component, module and subsystem maker Oclaro Inc of San Jose, CA, USA has launched a new line of laser diodes that feature what is claimed to be the industry’s highest level of efficiency and performance by combining the laser diode technology from its facility in Zurich, Switzerland with packaging technology from its Tucson site (part of the Newport Spectra Physics high-powered laser diode business acquired in July 2009).

To be showcased at next week’s Photonics West 2011 event in San Francisco (22–27 January), the new line represents Oclaro’s first laser diodes to ship in volume into products originally developed in Tucson, including the collimated bar series and Prosario Series. Used primarily for diode-pumped solid-state lasers and direct medical applications, the new integrated platforms provide end-users and integrators with another level of performance with a more compact size, more efficient thermal management and increased power, says Oclaro.

“These new laser diodes demonstrate how we can take advantage of Oclaro’s economies of scale and expertise to deliver the highest level of cost savings, operations efficiencies and manufacturing excellence — and then leverage the resulting technology across multiple Oclaro product lines,” says executive VP & division manager Yves Le Maitre.

Targeted at solid-state laser pumping, direct-diode applications and medical markets, Oclaro’s new line of 60W 27%FF (fill factor) bars and 80W 50%FF bars are developed for CW (continuous wave) operation on a conductive heat-sink. The 60W and 80W diode bars have an industry-standard CS-type assembly, which is fully compatible to previously released products. The increased brightness of the 60W product makes it most suitable for beam shaping and fiber coupling applications, while the 80W product suits pumping applications and line sources.

The laser diode bars represent the first Oclaro E2 facet passivated and hard-soldered bars to be incorporated in Oclaro’s collimated bar series and fiber coupled Prosario series. By integrating this technology into these two series, Oclaro can improve their output power, efficiency and reliability in order to offer customers a higher performing solution. This is another example of how Oclaro is taking its core technology and leveraging it across multiple product lines and markets.

The new Oclaro high-powered laser products feature the Oclaro E2 mirror passivation process which protects the front facet of the bar against catastrophic optical mirror damage. In addition, the telecom-grade AuSn (gold tin) hard solder suits industrial and defense applications in CW and hard-pulse operation mode. Oclaro says that these two manufacturing technologies significantly extend the life of its products by providing reliability and robustness even in the most demanding applications.

Oclaro claims to deliver the industry’s most expansive line of high-powered laser diodes and to achieve lower costs and higher operating efficiencies through economies of scale, greater factory utilization and its assembly & test manufacturing capabilities in Asia. Its customer base, which includes top-tier firms in the medical and industrial markets, continues to grow as manufacturers steadily turn to lasers for new and innovative applications.

In addition to showcasing its new high-power laser diodes at Photonics West, Oclaro will be presenting six technical papers at the associated symposia BIOS and LASE 2011.

Tags: Oclaro 808nm lasers

Visit: www.oclaro.com