Jenoptik to expand laser production at Berlin site

Berlin and Jena, Germany--High-power diode laser supplier Jenoptik will invest around 10 million euros to expand its manufacturing capabilities for laser bars at its Berlin-Adlershof site, with operation expected to launch in early 2013.

Driving the expansion is the fact that the company's existing production facility has reached its capacity limit due to rapidly increasing demand, particularly from Asia, for future projects. The company cites the progressing process of the internationalization of the Lasers & Material Processing division as well. State-of-the-art manufacturing technology will automate production and enable processing of 4-inch wafers, eliminating the need for further processing to create high-power laser bars.

There has been a significant rise in demand for high-power diode lasers over recent years, primarily as a result of new laser applications. High-power diode lasers are increasingly conquering mass volume markets, such as in direct laser material processing in the industrial environment and in the field of medicine/aesthetics. As an excitation source they are also needed for modern laser technologies, such as thin-disk and fiber lasers as well as diode direct. These types of lasers are already achieving high growth rates and will continue to do so in the future. High-power diode lasers offer high efficiency, compact design, and low operating voltage, and their capacity range can be variably adapted to their respective application requirements.

The laser bars from Berlin form the basis for the high-power diode lasers developed and manufactured by Jenoptik in Jena. The laser bars are also sold to customers worldwide. The company has control of the entire technology chain to manufacture these lasers and their service range also includes the epitaxial process; i.e., applying the optically active layers to the GaAs substrate.

Jenoptik currently employs 70 people at its Berlin site, mainly in the Lasers & Material Processing and Optical Systems divisions. However, the number of employees will increase by 2013, according to expected further growth.

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