Freedom Photonics Sets a New Milestone: auraTM 1550 nm Semiconductor Laser Amplifier Reaches >5.0 Watt Diffraction-Limited Output Power

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Freedom Photonics has achieved a new world record by demonstrating over 5.0 Watts of continuous wave optical power from a 1550 nm diode laser amplifier with nearly diffraction-limited beam quality. This result doubles the previous record reported just three months ago. Commercial samples (bare die, chip on submount, and packaged) are available for purchase. “This achievement is a testament to the inherent scalability of our aura^TM product line and demonstrates that this is just the beginning of a product life cycle that will see continuous improvements for years to come,” noted Dr. Paul Leisher, VP of Research at Freedom Photonics.

The aura^TM product line is intended to address applications such as free space optical communications, sensing, and LIDAR by enabling watt-level direct use output from a semiconductor chip source. Systems based on aura^TM will enjoy an order-of-magnitude improvement in cost, size, and efficiency through the elimination of erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) commonly employed to boost optical signals to the watt-level regime. The aura^TM technology has also recently been extended to the 1300-1400 nm wavelength range with the demonstration of over 3.0 Watts of diffraction-limited optical output power.

Freedom Photonics controls all aspects of the laser amplifier design and production starting from bandgap engineering of the semiconductor epitaxial design to process development for attachment of the laser die to custom fabricated heatsinks. According to Dr. Jenna Campbell, Director of High Power at Freedom Photonics, “Our highly talented team has achieved these results through a patent-pending design which mitigates specific problems arising in the underlying device physics. We are extraordinarily excited to see where we can take this technology next.”

Additional information will be presented by Freedom Photonics at the 2022 SPIE Photonics West conference in San Francisco, California:

• >3W diffraction-limited 1550 nm diode laser amplifiers for LIDAR by Dr. Paul Leisher – 11:00 AM on 24 January 2022
• High power diffraction-limited tapered diode lasers at 885 nm and 980 nm by Dr. Jenna Campbell – 11:40 AM on 23 January 2022
• Ultra-robust watt-class single mode 885 nm diode lasers by Michelle Labrecque – 11:00 AM on 23 January 2022.

About Freedom Photonics LLC

Freedom Photonics is a Santa Barbara, California based manufacturer of unique and innovative photonic components, modules, and subsystems. Our best-in-class diode laser, photodetector, and photonic integrated circuit (PIC) products are enabling revolutionary performance in LIDAR, sensing, and communication markets. Our core competency is bringing photonics products from concept to volume production.