Judges announce winners of 2001 CTA awards

Here they are—the winners of the Laser Focus World Commercial Technology Achievement Awards for 2001. Chosen by our Editorial Advisory Board members, these products represent the most innovative, in-demand technology introduced commercially between Oct. 1, 1999 and Sept. 15, 2000. We extend our congratulations to the winners in eight categories. The awards will be presented in a special ceremony at Photonics West later this month in San Jose, CA. An additional 30 products are also named as finalists (see box). The deadline for next year's competition is Sept. 17, 2001; contact assistant editor Carole Root for details (tel: 603-891-9138; e-mail: [email protected]).

NONDIODE LASERS The FCPA2 ultrafast fiber laser by IMRA America (Ann Arbor, MI) is the first completely fiber-laser-based, single-mode commercial laser that uses chirped pulse amplification (CPA). The micro-Joule per 200-fs pulse energy level surpasses previous levels of pico- to nano-Joules without the need for a Ti:sapphire amplifier. Emitting in the 1050-nm (Ytterbium fiber) wavelength range, the ultracompact (25" x 17" x 7") laser is maintenance-free, air-cooled and easy to use with a simple "on/off" switch. The FCPA2 simplifies existing ultrafast technology in widespread commercial applications such as ophthalmology, dentistry, dermatology, microsurgery, device manufacturing, and microstructuring of microelectronics. The FCPA2 was first introduced to the market in July 2000.

DIODE LASERSSDL Inc. (San Jose, CA) introduced a significant increase in power and brightness over existing diode lasers in May 2000 with the SDL-6380 series, 4 W cw, 910- to 980-nm optical pump lasers. Whereas earlier products provided up to 2 W from a 100-µm aperture, this product doubles to 4 W cw from the same aperture without reducing reliability. The laser satisfies high-reliability production requirements such as 2,000,000-hour mean time between failures. To customers using these lasers as pumps in double-clad fiber systems, this translates into half the number of pumps required per system, reducing complexity and cost. The product's efficiency has been achieved using an epitaxial and laser-cavity redesign from the ground up, optimized for power and reliability at wavelengths between 910 and 980 nm.

OPTICS/OPTICAL MATERIALSDeltronic Crystal Industries Inc. (Dover, NJ) has introduced a greatly improved quasi-phase-matched nonlinear material called magnesium-doped stoichiometric lithium niobate (Mg:SLN), which came onto the market in April 2000. Available in custom-fabricated shapes, Mg:SLN is intended for use as an active medium for nonlinear frequency conversion, optical switching, and optical modulation in applications that include materials processing, medicine, metrology, and remote sensing. Periodically poled Mg:SLN shows improved resistance to photorefractive damage at low magnesium concentration, making it unnecessary to heal the crystal. This material also has a shorter absorption edge of 302 nm rather than 320 nm, allowing it to extend its application further into the blue spectral region.

FIBEROPTICS/OPTOELECTRONIC COMPONENTS In the race to provide more bandwidth for data delivery, OMM (San Diego, CA) introduced the first microelectromechanical-systems (MEMS) photonic switch for commercial use in February 2000. The MEMS photonic switch incorporates advances in optoelectronics packaging and automated manufacturing for photonic-switching subsystems in order to switching optical signals without first converting them into electrical signals. In January 2000, OMM delivered MEMS-based all-optical switches for tests conducted by the National Transparent Optical Network Consortium. Two- and three-dimensional MEMS scanning-mirror switches are provided to original equipment manufacturers for network protection, restoration, fast provisioning, bandwidth-on-demand, and optical add-drop.

DETECTORS Recent advances in optical lithography and tunable deep-ultraviolet (DUV) lasers have opened a new arena of applications that did not previously exist. Advanced Photonix Inc. (Camarillo, CA) introduced large-area avalanche photodiodes (LAAPDs) in June 2000 to meet the need for fast, sensitive, and easy-to-use detectors covering the DUV range down to 135 nm. The DUV device offers many advantages, such as high internal gain, sensitivity, and low capacitance, delivering better signal-to-noise performance and higher speed than photodiodes. Potential uses include DUV-scintillation detection in high-energy physics, direct synchrotron-radiation detection, and biomedical research and therapy.

IMAGING SYSTEMS/VISION SYSTEMS The ThermaCAM PM 695 radiometric handheld infrared (IR) camera by FLIR Systems (North Billerica, MA) is the first to feature both thermal- and visual-imaging capabilities in a single system. A thermal and built-in digital visual camera allows the PM 695 to store more than 100 thermal and visible images, along with corresponding text, voice, and inspection data. A report detailing target location, ambient temperature, load, and thermographer name can be automatically generated, a dramatic time-saver in thermal predictive maintenance. The incorporation of microbolometer-detector technology improves thermal sensitivity by 50% (to 0.08°C), previously achievable only with cooled-detector technology. FLIR introduced the ThermaCAM in July 2000.

INSTRUMENTATION Many subsystems in telecommunications depend on critical manufacturing tolerances for optical components. In May 2000, Zygo Corporation (Middlefield, CT) began shipping the first microaperture laser unequal-path interferometer (LUPI) systems. The MicroLUPI was developed for precise, rapid, noncontact testing of highly curved micro-optics ranging from 20 µm to 3 mm in diameter. A combination of phase-shifting interferometry and automation is incorporated in this fully integrated metrology system, which can be configured for reflected or transmission modes in the visible to near-IR spectrum. The MicroLUPI offers imaging objective lenses of varying numerical aperture up to 0.8 for fiber, diode, and detector couplers; focusing modules; filters; collimators; isolators; DWDM and optical-switch devices.

ACCESSORIESLambda Research Corporation (Littleton, MA) was the first company to introduce optical software based upon the industry-standard ACIS CAD kernel, combined with Monte Carlo ray-tracing algorithms for solid modeling of complex structures. The resulting easy-to-use virtual prototyping environment has since been improved to create TracePro Version 2.1, made available for the first time in July 2000. Three new features include the ability to model thin film stacks, to model gradient index media, and to analyze volume scatter. In addition to the existing graphical user-interface, TracePro Version 2.1 incorporates a human-tissue database, permitting medical personnel and optical engineers to model how light interacts with each layer of the skin.