Lasers & Sources

Forward Photonics completes spinoff from TeraDiode to focus on mid-IR lasers

May 7, 2017

MWIR laser manufacturer Forward Photonics has completed its spinoff from TeraDiode Corporation.

A 25 W mid-wave infrared (MWIR) laser with nearly diffraction-limited output beam is packaged in a compact 7 inch x 4.5 inch x 2.4 inch housing.

Mid-wavelength infrared (MWIR) or mid-IR laser manufacturer Forward Photonics (FP; Woburn, MA) has completed its spinoff from TeraDiode Corporation (Wilmington, MA) and will be relocating its operations to Woburn, MA. Its 25 W laser based on quantum cascade laser (QCL) technology uses TeraDiode's proprietary technology of wavelength beam combination (WBC) to combine the outputs of multiple lower-power QCL devices into a single combined beam with a nearly diffraction-limited output (M² ≤ 1.5). FP has also developed a 10 W air-cooled version of the laser.

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FP says its high-brightness laser systems are critical for many applications including standoff detection, remote sensing, gas-leak and spill detection, combustion and trace gas detection, chemical analysis and spectroscopy, interferometry and metrology, laser detection and ranging (LADAR), and materials processing.

"The FP technology and team have made substantial progress in recent years," said FP CEO Robin Huang. "We are excited about our opportunity to operate as an independent company, as the market's interest in our products is rapidly growing.”

FP has developed strong partnerships with major Defense Industry contractors who are working with FP to integrate its QCL-based laser modules into various platforms.

Forward Photonics is a manufacturer of high-power semiconductor and direct diode lasers that use wavelength beam combination (WBC). FP conducts research and development in technologies in the photonics area for use in military and defense applications. FP was spun out of TeraDiode, which was recently acquired by Panasonic Corporation. TeraDiode's core technology was licensed from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory, where WBC technology was invented.

SOURCE: Forward Photonics; https://www.forwardphotonics.com/

About the Author

Gail Overton | Senior Editor (2004-2020)

Gail has more than 30 years of engineering, marketing, product management, and editorial experience in the photonics and optical communications industry. Before joining the staff at Laser Focus World in 2004, she held many product management and product marketing roles in the fiber-optics industry, most notably at Hughes (El Segundo, CA), GTE Labs (Waltham, MA), Corning (Corning, NY), Photon Kinetics (Beaverton, OR), and Newport Corporation (Irvine, CA). During her marketing career, Gail published articles in WDM Solutions and Sensors magazine and traveled internationally to conduct product and sales training. Gail received her BS degree in physics, with an emphasis in optics, from San Diego State University in San Diego, CA in May 1986.