Buyer's Guide … the one with the Encyclopedia!

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Purchasing Advisor for Q Switches

Find all you need for professionally buying Q switches: an interactive tool with a comprehensive and trustworthy directory of suppliers and expert guidance for a structured decision process with scientific and technical background information.

Top-level product category: icon various devices

More specific product categories: acousto-optic Q switches, electro-optic Q switches, saturable absorbers, semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors

Q switches are devices used to produce short, intense pulses from lasers by modulating the intracavity losses. Common types include acousto-optic and electro-optic modulators, as well as semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs). They are essential in applications requiring high peak power and precise pulse control.

Interactive Purchase Decision Tool

Purchasing high-value photonics products is a substantial responsibility. Using a structured decision-making process and high quality supplier data helps a lot:

See also:

How Responsible Purchase Decisions for Expensive Goods Like Lasers Are Done Explanations on this purchasing tool

Go through the process:

1. Understand the technical background

It is important to sufficiently understand the technology before buying.

Use the comprehensive learning resources of RP Photonics:

encyclopedia article Q switches Q switching Q-switched lasers acousto-optic modulators electro-optic modulators saturable absorbers semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors

If you need personal help, contact RP Photonics to get technical consultancy.

2. Define your requirements

It is essential to fully understand and clearly define your requirements before you purchase.

We recommend that you develop a list of clear specifications according to your specific needs, against which you can later check the suitability of found product offers:

To help you, we have already listed some aspects we recommend you consider when buying Q switches. Of course, there may be other aspects that are relevant to your specific case.

This list is for your own preparation, and can later (possibly in modified form) be used for quotation requests to suppliers.

Otherwise, you will need to talk to your technical colleagues.

If you cannot sufficiently clarify your requirements, you may want to get technical consultancy from RP Photonics.

You find these buttons in the supplier list below or under "3. Find suitable suppliers".

3. Find suitable suppliers

We suggest three steps:

  • Below, you can find our list of suppliers for Q switches. Use the checkboxes to mark possibly suitable suppliers.
  • The selected suppliers will appear below this list, along with your list of specifications. You can then indicate which specifications they meet according to your research. (You should finalize your specifications before doing this.)
  • Based on the results, you can finally choose a supplier that is hopefully a good enough fit.

Selected suppliers:

(none so far)

Decision

The most suitable supplier you found:

Comments, e.g. reasons for your choice, or things which still need to be checked:

4. Document the decision process

It is essential to document your purchasing process, not only its result (chosen supplier):

  • You will find it easier next time.
  • If something goes wrong, you can defend your decision by showing that you properly considered all important aspects. Or you see what needs to be done better next time.

Our interactive tool makes it easy: Fill out the form, and in the end print it to a PDF. Note that the document will show all sections (including those not currently shown on the screen), while omitting some irrelevant details such as the page navigation.

Suppliers for Q Switches

55 suppliers for Q switches are listed in the RP Photonics Buyer's Guide, out of which 8 present their product descriptions and images. Both manufacturers and distributors can be registered.

Suppliers with Advertising Package

presenting their product descriptions

Your reliable partner for photonics innovations!

EKSMA Optics, UAB
Dvarcioniu St. 2B
LT-10233 Vilnius
Lithuania
Profile page  Website  

See us at LASER World of Photonics 2025 in Munich, June 24–27 (booth A2.107)!

Q switches

We produce KTP, KD*P and BBO Pockels cells for high repetition rate Q-switching. Our Pockels cells can be supplied with mounting stages, drivers and power supplies.

Product-specific web page

Your problem is our challenge – flexibility is our standard!

Artifex Engineering GmbH & Co KG
Dortmunder Str. 16–18
26723 Emden
Germany
Profile page  Website  

See us at LASER World of Photonics 2025 in Munich, June 24–27 (booth B2.230)!

Q switches

Artifex Engineering offers customised Pockels cells, available as DKDP (KD*P), MgO:LiNbO₃ and BBO. Our Pockels cells feature low insertion loss, high damage threshold. These are cost effective units at OEM prices. We also offer a range of standard Pockels cells with an aperture of 6 mm to 12 mm diameter. Visit our product page for more information. We look forward to your inquiry.

Product-specific web page

Nonlinear crystals pioneers

Raicol Crystals Ltd.
22 Hamelacha Str.
Park Cibel, New Industrial Area
Rosh Ha'ain 48091
Israel
Profile page  Website  

See us at LASER World of Photonics 2025 in Munich, June 24–27 (booth B2.335)!

Q switches

Raicol Crystals offers a wide range of electro-optic solutions, including RTP, BBO, i-RTP, and LN, catering to diverse electro-optic applications. Some of those are particularly suited for Q switching of lasers:

  • RTP (rubidium titanyl phosphate) is an excellent choice for electro-optic applications, such as Pockels cells, shutters, Q-switches, phase modulators, pulse pickers, and more. The outstanding electro-optical parameters enable extremely fast switching with rise/fall times under 1 nanosecond and high repetition rates exceeding 1 MHz, all without ringing.
  • BBO (beta barium borate) crystals combine a wide transparency range, high damage threshold, and excellent chemical and mechanical properties, making them ideal for various electro-optic applications.
Product-specific web page
Hangzhou Shalom Electro-optics Technology Co., Ltd.
A635, Boke Mansion
No. 9 Xiyuan Road
Xihu District, Hangzhou 310030
China
Profile page  Website  

See us at LASER World of Photonics 2025 in Munich, June 24–27 (hall B1, booth 258)!

Q switches

Hangzhou Shalom EO offers standard and custom Q switches made of DKDP, BBO crystals and LiNbO3 or MgO:LiNbO3 crystals.

Shalom EO’s DKDP Pockels cells feature high deuteration (>98%), low capacitance and fast rise time, and high transmission, high extinction ratio, with a maximum aperture of 50 mm.

Shalom EO’s LiNbO3 and MgO:LiNbO3 Pockels cells are excellent choices for ultraviolet (UV) lasers to infrared lasers with long operating wavelengths up to 4 μm. LiNbO3 Pockels cells are specially preferable for Er:YAG, Ho:YAG and Tm:YAG lasers.

Our BBO Pockels cells have significant advantages in terms of high damage threshold, low insertion loss, high extinction ratio, minimal piezoelectric ringing, and competitive price. BBO Pockels cells with both Single and double BBO crystal designs and low-voltage geometries are available upon request.

Hangzhou Shalom EO also offers polished and AR-coated DKDP, BBO and LiNbO3 and MgO:LiNbO3 crystals with Cr–Au electrodes which can be used as central components of Pockels cells.

Product-specific web page

Lasers, Optics, Electronics. Made in Germany.

ALPHALAS GmbH
Bertha-von-Suttner-Str. 5
37085 Göttingen
Germany
Profile page  Website  
Q switches

ALPHALAS offers a combination of high-speed, high voltage Pockels cell drivers with a Pockels cell for active Q-switching, designed for all standard laser wavelengths. Rise times below 1 ns and amplitudes > 10 kV cover even the most demanding applications. Repetition rate can be as high as 100 kHz.

The acousto-optic Q-switches from ALPHALAS have the advantage to operate in the MHz repetition rate range where the electro-optical Q-switches can operate only at the cost of considerable technical efforts and complex water-cooled design.

The passive Q-switch alternative has the advantage of simplicity, durability and low cost when compared with the active Q-switching alternative. Cr4+:YAG, V3+:YAG and Co-spinel (Co2+:MgAl2O4) cover the spectral range from 900 nm to 1600 nm. Most Q-switching crystals are available from stock.

Product-specific web page
Laserton Optic Co., Ltd.
C506, #1 Building
Pioneering Park for Overseas Chinese Scholars
No. 69 Huayang Road
Lixia District Jinan, Shandong
China
Profile page  Website  
Q switches

Laserton offers electro-optic Q switches based on KTP, RTP, BBO or KD*P Pockels cells. We also make devices with a thermally compensated double crystal design.

Besides, Laserton offers Er:Yb:glass gain chips with integrated passive Q switches (saturable absorbers).

Product-specific web page
G&H
Dowlish Ford
Ilminster TA19 0PF
United Kingdom

See us at LASER World of Photonics 2025 in Munich, June 24–27 (booth B2.303)!

Q switches

Our acousto-optic Q-switches are rugged, reliable, and long-lasting, backed by millions of hours of service in the field.

We offer low insertion loss, highly efficient acousto-optic Q-switches capable of handling very high peak power, and will draw on our 35 years of experience to match the cavity length, repetition rate, wavelength, beam diameter, polarization state and output power of a laser to the best acousto-optic Q-switch solution.

Product-specific web page
RefleKron Ltd.
Kauhakorvenkatu 53B
33710 Tampere
Finland
Profile page  Website  

See us at LASER World of Photonics 2025 in Munich, June 24–27 (booth B2.441)!

Q switches

Our customized semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs) can be used as passive Q-switches in applications where short (max. few nanoseconds), high repetition rate and relatively low-energy pulses are required.

Contact us for the optimal customized SESAM for your application.

Product-specific web page

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Other Suppliers

Acal BFi
Germany
AOG Crystal Technology Co, Ltd.
China
Profile page  Website  
AZURE Photonics Co., Ltd.
China
Profile page  Website  
BATOP GmbH
Germany
Beijing JIEPU TREND Technology
China
Bluebean Optical Tech Ltd.
China
Profile page  Website  
Brimrose
United States
Cascade Laser Corporation
United States
CASIX Inc.
China
Profile page  Website  
CASTECH
China
Cryslaser Inc.
P.R. China
Profile page  Website  
Crystrong Photonics Technology Co., Ltd​
China
Profile page  Website  
Electro Optical Components, Inc.
United States
ELUXI Ltd.
United Kingdom
Profile page  Website  
EQ Photonics GmbH
Germany
Profile page  Website  
GAMDAN Optics Inc.
United States
Profile page  Website  
Wuhan GuangAo Technology Co. Ltd.
China
Profile page  Website  
HG Optronics
China
IL Photonics
Israel
Profile page  Website  
IntraAction
United States
Jinan Nanosecond Photoelectric Technology Co., Ltd.
China
Profile page  Website  
Laser Components GmbH
Germany
Profile page  Website  
Leysop Ltd.
United Kingdom
Profile page  Website  
Metalaser
China
Moltech GmbH
Germany
Sichuan MetalMiracle Industry Corp.
China
Profile page  Website  
Nanjing Crylink Photonics Co., Ltd
China
Nanjing Metalaser Photonics Co., Ltd
China
Profile page  Website  
Nano-Giga
France
Profile page  Website  
Newlight Photonics Inc.
Canada
nortus Optronic GmbH
Germany
Profile page  Website  
Nu Opto Inc.
United States
Profile page  Website  
OptoCity
United States
Pegasus Optik GmbH
Germany
Pro-Lite Technology Ltd
United Kingdom
Profile page  Website  
Rayser Optronics, Inc.
China
Profile page  Website  
Sichuan MetalMiracle Industry Corp.
China
Profile page  Website  
SOL Instruments Ltd.
Belarus
Profile page  Website  
Solar Laser Systems
Belarus
Profile page  Website  
Solaris Optics S.A.
Poland
Sydor Instruments LLC
United States
Profile page  Website  
Ultra Photonics
China
Profile page  Website  
VM-TIM GmbH
Germany
Profile page  Website  
Wavelength Electronics, Inc.
United States
Profile page  Website  
Wavelength Opto-Electronic (S) Pte Ltd
Singapore
Hangzhou Yong Hee Photonics Co., Ltd.
China
Yutai Optics
China

If any displayed information is incorrect (e.g., a listed supplier does not offer such products) or legally problematic, please notify RP Photonics so that the problem can be solved.