Coherent delivers a 905nm pulsed three-junction edge-emitting laser

     Coherent Inc. announced the introduction of its 905nm three-junction edge-emitting semiconductor laser for industrial LiDAR (LiDAR) applications. The installation of range-finding devices in binoculars and increasingly in autonomous robots to perform complex tasks such as processing, sequencing, mapping and navigation has accelerated the market demand for depth sensing based on Lidar.

     These devices use components that work effectively and reliably even in the most extreme environments. Coherent's new 905nm semiconductor laser has a three-junction design that enables it to efficiently transmit optical power up to 100W in nanosecond pulses. The laser complies with the strict JEDEC JESD22-A10x industrial application standards.

     "What Coherent Coherent appreciates is that we will be able to achieve significant economies of scale by migrating manufacturing of this new laser diode platform to our existing 6-inch gallium arsenide platform," said Dr. Karlheinz Gulden, senior vice president of Laser Components and Subsystems. "It is the only technology platform of its kind that has driven manufacturing scale and field reliability, providing semiconductor lasers for high-capacity consumer electronics and industrial equipment, as well as optical communications devices deployed on the seabed."

     Housed in a robust and sealed TO-56 package, the three-junction laser emits three times more optical power per chip area than a single-junction device, resulting in power up TO 100W at 40A pulse operation. They support Direct Time-of-flight (DTOF) lidar systems in a variety of mission-critical robots that are exposed to challenging environments. Applications include warehouse logistics, consumer appliances, last-mile distribution, crop harvesting, land surveying and security monitoring.

     Coherent offers a broad portfolio of active and passive products for lidar design. The active device combination includes a VCSEL, an edge transmitter, a laser rod, a frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) source, and a pulsed fiber source. The combination of passive devices includes laser optics, polygons, galvanoscopic scanning mirrors, lenses, ultra-narrow-band filters, wide-angle reflectors, gratings, and thermoelectric devices.