May 10, 2018, Mainz, Germany - Edmund Optics® (EO), the premier provider of optical components, is investing heavily into laser optics in response to the global surge in laser optics applications. The global laser market has exhibited a solid global annual growth of 6,3% over the last decade, significantly higher than global gross domestic product (GDP) and even the photonics market as a whole^[1]. To respond to this growth in the laser market, EO has created a laser optics development team, invested into metrology, and introduced a vast array of new products ranging from beam expanders to high laser damage threshold mirrors.

"It was obvious that the demand was there and EO realized that a significant investment in equipment, technical personnel, and technology expertise was necessary to meet the growing markets," stated Stefaan Vandendriessche, EO's Laser Optics Product Line Manager. "With EO's 75 year history and success in other areas of optics and photonics, expanding into laser optics was a natural evolution for us."

Extensive technical expertise & capabilities

Stefaan leads a new team of engineers dedicated to laser optics development. He also hosts a Laser Optics Lab video series covering laser optics concepts including specifications, coating technologies, product types, and more.

EO's in-house coating capabilities include high Laser Induced Damage Threshold (LIDT) coatings, high reflectivity coatings, and high transmission coatings. The R&D department has been conducting extensive research into how laser beam diameter and other factors affect LIDT. Nathan Carlie, EO's R&D manager, is part of a committee revising the ISO standard for specifying LIDT.

Significant investment in metrology equipment

Edmund Optics has invested in a wide range of metrology equipment necessary to manufacture high quality laser optics including interferometers, cavity ring-down (CRD) spectrometers, Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors, profilometers, and coordinate measurement machines (CMMs). This emphasis on metrology is essential for verifying the tight tolerances required for precision laser optics applications.

Wide range of new laser optics products

As a result of the above new investments, we are proud to offer a wide range of new EO designed and manufactured laser optics components including new aspheric lenses, spherical lenses, mirrors, beam expanders, beamsplitters, prisms, filters, and polarizers in addition to our selection of other optics and imaging products. EO's strict manufacturing process control and emphasis on metrology ensure that all products meet their advertised LIDT, surface accuracy, spectral characteristics, and other specifications.

Laser optics: the future of Edmund Optics

Lasers will continue to be an integral part of both emerging and existing applications including laser manufacturing, medical lasers, and sensing. To supply the high quality optics needed to meet this ever-expanding market, Edmund Optics will continue their substantial investment into laser optics personnel, equipment, and technology, and release a dedicated Laser Optics Catalog in early 2019. Learn more about Edmund Optics' laser optics capabilities by visiting our Laser Optics homepage.

References

            [1] Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar, 2017