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Photonics

We design and manufacture laser drivers and controllers for a wide range of applications, including controllers for Quantum Cascade Lasers and standard DFB drivers with market leading performance that have been deployed in Antarctica and other hostile environments.

The vast majority of active devices, such as lasers and optical amplifiers, and passive optical devices require differing levels of control and monitoring. Most lasers used today have at least one laser diode where current control is required for correct operation. RedWave Labs has designed, developed and supplied laser controllers with ultra low current noise down to shot noise limit for sensing applications at one end. We have also designed and manufactured high power pulse current (up to 100A) drivers for pump applications.

 

To record the signal from lasers, light emitting diodes or even incandescent bulbs, we typically need a measuring device. It might be a photodetector, photoreceiver, thermopile, Golay cell or something else. The optical spectrum covered by the RedWave Labs photoreceivers and detectors ranges from ultraviolet (300 nm) to the far-infrared spectrum (10 µm). We have femtowatt receivers for sensor applications in the visible and near-infrared ranges, fast receivers around 3 µm to monitor gas leakage, CO2 sensors operating around 4 µm and also many more which have been designed to specific customer requirements.

We have in our standard portfolio laser controllers:

  • Standard DFB laser controllers with current capabilities up to 250 mA, analog modulation bandwidth of 250 kHz and additional TTL On/Off switch with rise time of about 200 ns. TEC control is included, as is a  connector for NEL laser. The required heatsink is a part of the boards.
  • Quantum Cascade Laser driver with current capability up to 1.3 A, compliance voltage up to 14.5 V, TTL On/Off switch, analog modulation bandwidth of 100 kHz
  • Pump laser driver with current capability of up to 5 A, low noise and small footprint.

Photoreceivers:

  • General purpose Si-based (0.3 – 1.0 µm) amplified photoreceivers D101 with multiple gain and low filter settings or D121 DC-coupled with 150 MHz bandwidth.
  • High performance InGaAs (0.9 – 1.7 µm), extended InGaAs ( (0.9 – 2.6 µm) and InGaAsSb (1.0 – 3.6 µm) with built-in thermo-electric (TEC) cooler and controller.

In addition to our standard products we offer customized versions of all our products for OEM integration. We have been shipping our custom tailored laser controllers and photoreceivers for more than 10 years now and with volumes ranging from one-off to several hundreds per year and over several thousands over lifetime.