Buyer's Guide … the one with the Encyclopedia!

Users Advertisers

Buying Variable Optical Attenuators

Top-level product categories: icon optical components and devices, icon various devices

More general product categories: optical attenuators

Variable optical attenuators (VOAs) are used in applications such as optical fiber communications to control signal strength. These devices come in bulk-optical (free-space) and fiber-optic versions, with varying polarization dependence, attenuation range and accuracy, operational wavelength range, and power handling capabilities.

Making Good Purchase Decisions

As the most professional photonics purchasing portal, RP Photonics helps you to not only to find all relevant suppliers (not limited to our advertisers), but also to make good purchasing decisions.

NEW: Structured Decision Process

Purchasing involves a lot of responsibility. We recommend that you apply best practice by using the following structured process: Go through the following expandable sections, complete the form and finally come to a purchase decision. You can then print that to a PDF for documenting the process.

Our article on best practices for purchasing and another one explaining this tool give you valuable insights.

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 variable optical attenuators optical attenuators

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 buy.

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 variable optical attenuators. 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 variable optical attenuators. 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:

Suppliers for Variable Optical Attenuators

39 suppliers for variable optical attenuators (VOA) are listed in the RP Photonics Buyer's Guide, out of which 5 present their product descriptions. Both manufacturers and distributors can be registered.

Suppliers with Advertising Package

presenting their product descriptions

Test. Measure. Solve.

Quantifi Photonics Limited
12–14 Parkway Drive
Auckland 0632
New Zealand
Profile page  Website  

See us at OFC 2025 in San Francisco, April 1–3 (booth 5523)!

variable optical attenuators

Quantifi Photonics' offers a range of extremely compact, cost-effective variable optical attenuators designed for streamlined testing and characterization of optical communication systems and optical components. They provide fast attenuation speed with low insertion loss and built-in power monitoring, with fixed attenuation or constant output power modes and supports single-mode, multi-mode and polarization-maintaining fibres.

Product-specific web page

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)!

variable optical attenuators

EKSMA Optics has variable attenuators for high power Nd:YAG laser or femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser applications.

Product-specific web page
AMS Technologies AG
Fraunhoferstr. 22
82152 Martinsried
Germany
Profile page  Website  

See us at LASER World of Photonics 2025 in Munich, June 24–27 (booth B2.203)!

variable optical attenuators

AMS Techno­logies carries a broad range of variable fiber-optic attenuators (VOAs), for manual operation as well as driven by stepper motors, MEMS mirrors or shutters, or based on liquid crystals:

Product-specific web page
Aerodiode
Rue François Mitterrand
Institut d'Optique d'Aquitaine
33400 Talence
France
Profile page  Website  
variable optical attenuators

AeroDIODE has developed the variable optical attenuator – a high-speed intensity modulator and optical switch based on a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). It is available over a wide wavelength range from 750 to 1650 nm. Key features are high speed (down to 1 ns rise/fall time), high dynamic range (>48 dB), high extinction ratio (>50 dB) and an easy to use graphical user interface with multiple software libraries (LabVIEW, Python etc.). AeroDIODE also offers the semiconductor optical amplifier alone or the SOA driver in either CW or pulsed configuration.

AeroDIODE also offers a wide range of fiber coupled AOMs (Acousto Optic Modulators) with various types of digital (TTL) or analog RF drivers.

See also our white paper/tutorial on fiber-coupled modulators.

Product-specific web page

Home of high power optics and coatings

LASEROPTIK
Horster Str. 20
30826 Garbsen
Germany
Profile page  Website  

See us at LASER World of Photonics 2025 in Munich, June 24–27 (booth B1.120)!

variable optical attenuators

LASEROPTIK can provide coatings for variable optical attenuators. One can change the transmission by tilting an edge filter, with highest transmission at normal incidence and typical operation for angles of incidence between 0° and 45°.

Product-specific web page

Your company's products are not listed here? Get our Advertising Package to enjoy that and many other benefits!

Other Suppliers

AC Photonics
United States
Profile page  Website  
Advanced Fiber Resources Ltd.
China
AFW Technologies Pty Ltd.
Australia
Agiltron Inc.
United States
APEX Technologies
France
Profile page  Website  
Evanescent Optics Inc.
Canada
HC Optical Science and Tech
China
Profile page  Website  
HyOptic Technology Co., Ltd
China
Profile page  Website  
IDIL Fibres Optiques
France
Profile page  Website  
JGR Optics, Inc.
Canada
Lahat Technologies Ltd
Israel
Profile page  Website  
LAS Photonics
Israel
LC-Tec
Sweden
Profile page  Website  
Lightcomm Technology Co., Ltd.
China
Lightstar Technology
China
Maier Photonics, Inc.
United States
Mountain Photonics GmbH
Germany
Nano-Giga
France
Profile page  Website  
OBS FIBER
France
OF-LINK Communications Co., Ltd.
China
Profile page  Website  
Optiwave Photonics Limited
India
Profile page  Website  
OZ Optics
Canada
Photonwares Co.
United States
Precision Fiber Optics Products
United States
Pure Photonics
United States
Reynard Corporation
United States
Profile page  Website  
Ruik-tech Communication (Dongguan) Co., Ltd.
China
Profile page  Website  
Santec Corporation
Japan
Sercalo Microtechnology Ltd.
Switzerland
Spectral Products
United States
Profile page  Website  
Tokyo Instruments, Inc.
Japan
Wuhan Sunma Technology Co, Ltd.
China
Hangzhou Yong Hee Photonics Co., Ltd.
China
Zhongshan Hongxin Communication Technology Co., Ltd.
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.



Follow our company page to keep track of our news!