Component Blog Posts

Semiconductor materials are unique among laser gain materials for their extremely high index of refraction.  As a result of this large index difference at the air/semiconductor interface, each facet of a laser diode naturally acts as a partially reflective mirror (~32%).   This gives diode lasers the unique property of having a built-in resonator which is capable of lasing without any external optics or coatings and providing an extremely low-cost solution for applications such as laser pointers, where performance isn’t the primar… Read More

When attempting to measure ultra-low-frequency vibrations it is challenging collect a clear spectrum because of the proximity to the laser line. In this blog post, we will examine how holographic filters can be used in conjunction with single frequency DPSS lasers to get around these dif… Read More

In this blog post we are going to take a look at two most commonly used fiber laser dopants erbium (Er) and ytterbium (Yb) which both have a strong absorption peak at 976 nm, but who’s bandwidths vary dramatically causing one to require a wavelength stabilized d… Read More

Optical technologies are widely used in anti-counterfeiting. One of the newer methods combines laser marking & micromachining to embed microscopic 2D barcodes directly onto the item. This blog post explores the types of lasers used, & the system level requirements for high-resolution 2D… Read More

In addition to our knowledge center which hosts our blogs, application notes, and white papers we have just added a brand new application section. This applications page organizes over 50 popular laser applications into easy to search categories ranging from laser welding to h… Read More

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced this year’s Noble prize in physics was being awarded “for groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics.” The award is to be split between optical tweezers and chirped pulse amplification (enabling attosecond pulse ge… Read More

In this blog we look at the application of machine vision in the transportation industry for laser rail inspection where high-power laser diodes. Laser rail inspection systems use high-speed cameras & high power laser line projectors to acquire high-res images and 3D profiles of rai… Read More

During any manufacturing process, there is some statistical variation in the finished product.  Resistor manufacturing is no different, and for many years traditional bulk and chip resistors have been tested and sorted into bins and labeled based upon these tolerances.  Board mount chip resistors are also similarly tolerance using a numerical code instead of a color code, but the end result is the same.  However, this is not feasible in larger format thick-film or thin-film intergraded circuits which require initial calibration, such as operational amplifiers, voltage dividers, and oscillators, where the resistors are one small detail in a much more complex arc… Read More

In our last blog post, “Laser Amplification for Power Scaling,” we discussed how an optical amplifier can be used to increase the power of a seed laser while maintaining its performance characteristics.  The same basic principle can be applied to a laser itself, with a method known as injection seeding.  In this case, a single frequency laser is sent into the laser cavity therefore selectively reducing the gain threshold at that specific frequency as shown in the fig… Read More

Modern lasers come in a seemingly endless variety ranging from diode lasers as small as a grain of rice to CO2 lasers the size of a refrigerator. The one thing that all of these lasers have in common is that they contain the three basic components of a laser: gain medium, resonator, and excitation source. If any of these three components are missing, achieving threshold and starting the lasing process would be impossible. In this blog post, we will examine what happens when the resonator is removed from this equation, resulting in an optical amplifi… Read More

Continuing with our recent theme of application for laser diode bars and stacks, in this post we will take a look at laser cladding.  If you haven’t already read our previous post titled “Understanding Laser Diode Arrays,” or have a basic understanding of laser diode bars and stacks we’d highly recommend you check out that post before reading … Read More

In this post, we will take a looking to industrial laser welding and why high power (multi-kilowatt) fiber coupled diode lasers are ideal for this application. This is accomplished by looking at the differences industrial laser cutting and laser welding system req… Read More

By combining TOF lidar at 1.5 micros with an InGaAs camera, you can produce a hypercube or “point cloud” containing a three-dimensional image of the target. This technique known as active night vision laser imaging, is discussed in this post, as well as which laser is best for this ap… Read More

At RPMC we offer one of the widest ranges of laser diodes on the market, and if you have been following us for some time now, we often mention that we offer both single emitters and arrays (bars).  In this blog post we are going to take a look at exactly what we mean when we talk about diode bars, but in order to do that, we need to first take a small detour and talk about the role of the ridge waveguide in laser diodes i… Read More

Passively q-switched microchip lasers from Bright Microlaser, are the ideal solution for time-of-flight (TOF) lidar systems, because they offer pulse widths as short as 400ps while still maintain a single longitudinal mode and TEM00 output in wavelengths from 1064 nm to as low … Read More

Eblana Photonics’ propitiatory Discrete Mode (DM) single frequency laser diode technology is an ideal solution for this application, available from 760 nm up to 2150 nm. Their DM laser technology delivers DFB laser like performance at a lower price point geared to high volume app… Read More

RPMC Lasers is excited to announce the renewal of our exclusive distribution relationship with LDX Optronics. LDX specializes in high power diode lasers, & for over 20 years we have worked together to provide customers with widest selection of diode wavelengths and packaging confi… Read More

Pulsed lasers refer to any laser not classified as a continuous wave. The optical power appears in pulses of some duration and at some repetition rate. Pulsed lasers have a gain medium that is typically optically pumped using either a flashlamp or by laser dio… Read More

A complete, turn-key laser diode system suitable for many welding and cladding applications. This award winning product based on multiple single emitter design, a combination of fused fiber combining, has achieved 1000 W output power for a 300um fiber and 3000W output from 60… Read More

SOL is a compact industrial Q-switched DPSS nanosecond laser available from 4 – 40W at 1064nm and the harmonics thereof (up to 20W at 532nm). These air-cooled DPSS nanosecond lasers are offered in a rugged and lightweight housing with integrated electronics, to allow for easy an… Read More

Laser diodes and VCELS are semiconductor lasers in the simplest form of Solid State Lasers. Laser diodes are commonly referred to as edge emitting laser diodes, because the laser light is emitted from the edge of the substrate. RPMC Lasers supplies all your Laser Diode and VCSELS needs 63… Read More

These products have found homes in a variety of applications such as LIDAR, range finding, 3D scanning and other applications where eye-safe wavelengths are required in a compact form factor. With nearly 20 years of R&D experience, the staff at Bktel has superior technical competence an… Read More

High Power laser diodes (multimode laser diodes) have an enlarged emitter that allows higher power than single mode laser diodes. The output power varies depending on the wavelength needed. Laser diodes are available in wavelengths from the UV (~370 nm) through the mid IR (>2 um) wa… Read More

CW Laser Modules emit continuous light, unlike the pulsed lasers (See below). Some wavelengths are achieved using laser diodes, and other wavelengths are achieved using a Diode Pumped Solid State Laser. Applications include Microscopy, Holography, Raman Spectroscopy, Optogenics, and … Read More

A laser diode or semiconductor laser is the simplest form of Solid State Laser. Laser diodes are commonly referred to as edge emitting laser diodes because the laser light is emitted from the edge of the substrate. The light emitting region of the laser diode is commonly called th… Read More