Melinda Rose, Senior Editor, [email protected]Some in the industry say they see fiber continuing to make large gains in the manufacturing space, but others say don’t count thin-disk out. The boom in fiber lasers that began several years ago has led some to question whether there is still room in the industrial manufacturing space for both the glamorous new star and its slightly less hip cousin, the disk laser. A short survey of companies on both sides – and neither side – of the issue reveals that the answer is yes, but that the choice is not limited to just one or the other. To understand where these lasers are...Read full articleRelated content from Photonics MediaARTICLESFiber Optic Sensors Are Wired for Growth with Infrastructure ImprovementsIn October 2021, a 40-year-old undersea pipeline off the coast of California ruptured, releasing more than 130,000 gallons of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean. 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Optically pumped, they produce an output wavelength close to 1...Photonics HandbookIndustrial Lasers: An Introduction to Process Qualification: The step from successfully demonstrating a new laser process on a limited number of samples under laboratory conditions, to scaling that process up for high-volume industrial use is a big one. In particular, it’s necessary to determine how variations in process parameters affect end results, so that acceptable process input and operating ranges can be determined.Materials processing with lasers is actually a broad term for a diverse range of applications. The major categories of these uses, and the lasers that service them, are summarized Table 1. At one...Photonics HandbookWHITEPAPERSFast Axis Collimator Lenses (FACs) - The Essential Components for Laser DiodesWe started developing FACs more than 15 years ago. The result is highly automated in-house processes which allow for competitive prices – even with high volumes. 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This webinar will discuss challenges in femtosecond laser design and manufacturing, such as...Photonics.com 1/23/2018PHOTONICS DICTIONARY TERMSneodymium:YAGLiterally, neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet. A cylindrical rod of yttrium-aluminum-garnet doped with neodymium that is the active medium of the Nd:YAG laser, a highly serviceable solid-state device...EDU.photonics.com 3/5/2018solid-state laserA laser using a transparent substance (crystalline or glass) as the active medium, doped to provide the energy states necessary for lasing. The pumping mechanism is the radiation from a powerful...EDU.photonics.com 10/18/2016laser rodIn a solid-state laser, the material (Nd:YAG, Nd:glass, ruby) in which lasing action takes place.EDU.photonics.com 9/8/2009picosecond pulseA pulse having extremely short duration, about 10-13 to 10-10 s, that is produced by mode locking of wide-bandwidth lasers, such as the organic dye and ruby lasers. Picosecond pulses are used in the...EDU.photonics.com 9/8/2009MEDIALight Matters Extra: Optics & Photonics Technology Program, STCC - 09.2017In this month’s Light Matters Extra, we take you to the Springfield Technical Community College campus and introduce you to Professor Nick Massa, who has been teaching Optics and Photonics there for...Photonics.com 9/28/2017Merging Industry and Education Through Photonics - LIGHT MATTERS 09.2017Tune into this month’s edition of Light Matters for the complete list of Photonics Media’s Industry Beacon award winners. 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Since 1947, three generations of family leadership have placed LaCroix Precision Optics...Photonics Buyers' GuideFOCtek Photonics Inc.FOCtek provides customers with all types of custom manufactured lenses, Precision Optical Components, Polarizing Optics, Prisms, Filters, Coatings, Optical Systems, Crystals, Nonlinear Crystals,...Photonics Buyers' GuideOhara Corporation, Western OfficeOhara manufactures precision optical glasses: strip/slab, cut/molded blanks, pressings, high homogeneity blanks, fine gobs, polished ball lenses, near-UV transmitting i-Line glass, ceramic...Photonics Buyers' GuideShanghai Optics Inc.ISO 9001 & ISO 13485 certified and D&B DUNS # 113515303 Shanghai Optics is an unparalleled custom system solution provider offering advance precision custom optical design, engineering,...Photonics Buyers' Guide