Freedom Photonics Achieves New Laser Performance Breakthrough

aura^TM Semiconductor Chip Now Delivers >10 Watts of Optical Power Amplification at 1550 nm with Nearly Perfect Beam Quality

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Freedom Photonics, a leader in photonic components, modules and subsystems, announced its aura^TM single mode diode laser amplifier achieved a new performance record. The result demonstrates the potential for Freedom Photonics’ aura™ diode laser chips to disrupt the market for traditional fiber lasers by delivering equivalent brightness at a fraction of the size and cost.

Dr. Jenna Campbell, Director of High Power Laser Engineering at Freedom Photonics, gave an invited paper at the 2022 International Semiconductor Laser Conference (ISLC) stating, “Freedom Photonics’ 1550 nm aura^TM diode laser amplifier has achieved an output power of over 10 Watts (pulsed) with nearly diffraction-limited beam quality.” This result doubles the previous milestone announced in January. Compared to the current industry standard, it represents a roughly two order-of-magnitude increase in the saturation power that can be extracted from a semiconductor optical amplifier and is comparable to the output of many fiber amplifier systems.

Dr. Paul Leisher, VP of Research at Freedom Photonics and ISLC 2022 Program Chair said: "The International Semiconductor Laser Conference is likely the most prestigious conference related to the field of semiconductor lasers and amplifiers. All submitted work undergoes a highly rigorous peer review process, and less than half of the submissions are accepted for oral presentation. Elevation of a contributed presentation to invited status, such as in the case of Dr. Campbell's talk was decided by committee in only a handful of submissions. This is a strong indication of the perceived value and acceptance by the scientific community of the significance of the results achieved by Freedom Photonics."

The aura^TM product line has been specifically developed to permit all-semiconductor solutions in high-power laser applications that previously relied on fiber lasers. These legacy fiber laser systems are extremely expensive, bulky, and inefficient - consuming large amounts of input power and producing excess waste heat making them difficult to cool in non-industrial environments. Dr. Milan Mashanovitch, President of Freedom Photonics noted: “Our aura^TM product line is capable of achieving nearly perfect diffraction-limited output at power and brightness levels comparable to fiber laser amplifiers. We strongly believe that the introduction of an all-semiconductor solution for optical power generation and amplification will enable for the first time pushing high power photonics products from the industrial, defense, and aerospace segments into the hands of consumers.”

Technological advancements of the aura^TM product line are continuing rapidly; Dr. Jason Eichenholz, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Luminar, is scheduled to present a Hot Topics talk during the Plenary session of the 2023 SPIE Photonics West LASE Symposium. His talk will focus on how advancements such as this are enabling a dramatic paradigm shift in 3D sensing to unlock the potential of LIDAR technology for vehicle safety and automated driving systems.

About Freedom Photonics, a Luminar Company

Founded in 2005 and based in California, Freedom Photonics is a leader in unique and innovative photonic components, modules and subsystems. Freedom Photonics’ products are enabling revolutionary performance in a range of markets including automotive lidar, optical sensing, aerospace, industrial processing and data communications. Freedom Photonics was acquired by Luminar in 2022. For more information, please visit www.freedomphotonics.com.