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OEM Laser Modules

Author: the photonics expert Dr. Rüdiger Paschotta (RP)

Definition: laser modules made for integration into larger devices by another manufacturer

Category: article belongs to category laser devices and laser physics laser devices and laser physics

DOI: 10.61835/n00 Cite the article: BibTex plain text HTML Link to this page LinkedIn

Industrial lasers are not necessarily sold as complete laser systems, but often in the form of OEM laser modules. That means that an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) supplies lasers to one or more other manufacturers who integrate them into larger machines, for example for laser material processing. Each company can then concentrate on its own areas of responsibility, without a necessity to completely understand the whole system. In particular, it should normally not be necessary that the integrator understands the details of the inner workings of an OEM module.

OEM laser modules can contain laser diodes, lamp-pumped lasers, diode-pumped solid-state lasers, gas lasers or (less frequently) other types of lasers. Additional optical elements for beam shaping and possibly for nonlinear frequency conversion may be included in the housing. For example, there are green laser modules, generating laser beams at the common 532-nm wavelength (frequency-doubled Nd:YAG). The light output may be provided as a free-space laser beam alternatively through an optical fiber.

Often, but not always, an OEM laser has its own complete enclosure, even if the device is to be integrated into a larger product with an own closed housing. That further supports the separation of responsibilities between laser manufacturer and system integrator.

Special Aspects of OEM Lasers

The requirements on OEM lasers are basically the same as for other lasers. However, optical, mechanical and electronic interfaces should be particularly carefully designed for easy integration into a larger system. For example, it needs to be defined what are the spatial properties of the generated laser beam (focus position, beam radius, beam quality), what electrical voltage and power requirements the laser has, how exactly laser pulses can be triggered, and how the module is supposed to be fixed on a base plate. There may be further details concerning the dissipation of waste heat – for example, the allowed temperature of the base plate and the maximum dissipated power.

A OEM laser is often not powered directly by the electrical grid, but is provided with one or more lower stabilized voltages from the power supply of the full system. Ideally, only a single voltage at a standard voltage level is required, and the module contains protective electronics to make the model robust against voltage spikes and drifts.

An OEM laser should after its production not require special alignment procedures, for example, since one prefers to avoid that the integrator has to deal with such issues.

Compatibility of Models from Different Suppliers

A system integrator often prefers to have at least two different suppliers (manufacturers) for certain laser modules to avoid a too strong dependence on a single supplier and its reliability. Of course, this requires again that the optical, mechanical and electronic interfaces are well defined and that they agree between the different manufacturers. Otherwise, the system may have to be modified when integrating a different kind of module. Best compatibility is often achieved for fiber-coupled modules.

More to Learn

Encyclopedia articles:

Suppliers

The RP Photonics Buyer's Guide contains 38 suppliers for OEM laser modules. Among them:

MPB Communications

MPBC’s OEM fiber laser modules were designed for integrators aiming to develop state-of-the-art end user laser systems. They come in a variety of visible wavelengths from 465 – 775 nm, and NIR wavelengths from 930 – 2000 nm. These lasers contain an all-fiber design, which ensure diffraction-limited output, and high wavelength stability. They are easy-to-use, reliable solutions for a wide variety of industrial and medical applications.

Advanced Photonic Sciences

APS offers WTR Series, which is an industrial-grade OEM laser module, proven for operation in wide ambient temperature conditions and to withstand severe shock and vibration conditions. With large drive-voltage acceptance range (10 to 50 V_dc), the WTR is easy to integrate into OEM applications. The WTR is currently available with output powers up to 50 mW at 532 nm and 30 mW at 635 nm wavelengths. Beam-forming optics are available to project dot, line, or cross hair in the single-beam configuration; and dot, line, or a combination thereof, in the dual-beam configuration, respectively.

AeroDIODE

SHIPS TODAY: AeroDIODE offers fiber-coupled laser diodes turn-key modules between 520 nm and 1650 nm as stock items or associated with a CW or pulsed laser diode driver. They are compatible with our high speed nanosecond pulsed drivers with special temporal pulse shaping capability or high power CW drivers with air cooling for the multimode high power laser diode versions. The single mode laser diodes (either Fabry–Pérot laser diode or DFB laser diode) can reach high power in nanosecond pulse regime up to 500 mW. These OEM diode & driver solutions are optimized for single-shot to CW performances with pulse durations down to 1 ns. The laser diode precision pulses are generated internally by an on-board pulse generator, or on demand from an external TTL signal. Many multimode versions are available with CW emission up to 300 W in a 200-µm core multimode fiber or up to 250 W in a 135-µm core fiber or 160 W in a 105 µm core fiber.

See also our tutorial on Fiber coupled laser diodes.

Fluence

Our 1030-nm industry-grade femtosecond oscillator is not a usual laser – this is the superhero of laser oscillators. It has special superpowers that make it stand out from the crowd. Super-short yet ultra-fast. Small in size but very stable and robust. The earth may tremble but the laser will operate as usual. Same power, same pulse and no degradation over many years.

This oscillator was specifically developed to be the rock-solid heart of the Fluence Jasper amplified system. It is build upon the Fluence truly-all-fibre technology, with no degradable components inside. The oscillator is equipped with a special self-starting solution ensuring the laser mode-locks every time. This feature together with the low size and power consumption makes the Fluence oscillator perfect for OEM applications.

Lumics

The Lumics diode lasers are ideal for OEM integrators aiming to develop state-of-the-art end-user laser systems, featuring single emitters with a very long service life and up to four different wavelengths. Users can choose from a wide range of wavelengths, including 670 nm, 760 nm, 785 nm, 808 nm, 890 nm, 915 nm, 940 nm, 975 nm, 1064 nm, 1470 nm, and 1940 nm with custom wavelengths and specifications available upon request. The modules can be configured to match the customers power requirements. Optional enhancements such as temperature, fiber and power monitor sensors and pilot beams further extend the module's capabilities.

Schäfter + Kirchhoff

Schäfter+Kirchhoff offer various laser line generators, laser focus generators or laser diode collimators. You can select them easily using our product configurator.

Frankfurt Laser Company

FLC laser diode modules are easy to use plug and play laser systems suitable for a wide range of military, industrial and medical applications.

Suited for pointing and target designation, spectroscopy, measurement equipment, laser display, printing, biomedical, patient positioning, material processing, laser show, alignment and positioning of materials including garments, cloth, paper, wood, stone and metal.

Megawatt Lasers

MegaWatt Lasers Inc. offers CTH:YAG and Er:YAG resonators. These are flash lamp pumped and water cooled. They are optimized for energy and repetition rate. The CTH:YAG resonator is able to generate 4-J pulses at a repetition rate of 10 Hz, while the Er:YAG resonator reaches 3 J at also 10 Hz. Both allow for adjustable pulse widths.

AdValue Photonics

The EVEREST series laser modules are suitable for laser system/machine integration for application of material processing. It provides nanosecond to picosecond pulse width options; up to 100 W average power; up to megahertz repetition rate; beam quality of M² > 1.3. The emission wavelength is 1030 nm, 515 nm or 1950 nm.

CNI Laser

CNI developed compact laser modules with spot, line, cross and fiber coupled outputs. Features are small size, high compatibility, cost-effectiveness and easy integration. They are suitable for use in instruments and OEM equipments, also a reasonable solution for other applications. The laser diode, cavity and optical and electronic devices can be sealed in one housing, which helps customers to easily install them to their own equipment. CNI always welcome customized requirements. An external heat sink or a PC board can be provided on request.

Lumibird

Lumibird manufactures an extensive range of mature and custom-designed optical fiber amplifiers. Our CW models are used for atom cooling, free space communication or optical remote sensing etc., while our pulsed models are used for applications such as high peak power generation or wind sensing LiDAR. Lumibird also manufactures diode-pumped solid-state laser heads used as optical amplifiers.

Picophotonics

OEM microchip lasers with 50 ps – 10 ns pulse duration, 1 – 500 kHz repetition rate and µJ pulse energies. Current product lines cover wavelengths of 532 nm, 767 nm, 1064 nm and 1535 nm. Applications in LIDAR, range-finding, photoacoustic microscopy, nonlinear microscopy, time-resolved spectroscopy and seeding fiber amplifiers.

Menlo Systems

Menlo Systems' compact OEM laser modules are based on Menlo figure 9^® patented laser technology and are unique in regard to user-friendliness and robustness to ensure 24/7 operation. Our ELMO and YLMO series guarantee lowest amplitude and phase noise for seeding applications, spectroscopy, or quality control. With optionally available frequency conversion our OEM modules cover a wide wavelength range.

TOPTICA Photonics

TOPTICA supports multiple product lines and philosophies for different customer applications. For OEM integration the compact and single purpose smart product line has been developed. TOPTICA's products/single-mode-diode-lasers combine excellent diode technology and rock-solid opto-mechanical engineering with convenient computer-control and intelligent protection measures. The single-frequency diode lasers employ state-of-the-art diode technology to achieve the highest single-frequency output power of any direct diode-based system. Our ultrafast fiber laser systems are dedicated to applications ranging from seed laser purposes, biophotonics to terahertz generation and two-photon polymerization.

Teem Photonics

Teem Photonics specializes in high volume of short pulse lasers for OEMs. Operation lifetimes in excess of 10,000 hours and outstanding MTTFs are achieved with products such as the deep UV 266 nm SNU-20F-10x laser. Lasers at 1064 nm have successfully broken the barrier of 100,000 hours of continuous operation. The company can help industrial customers tune their financial projections by using its reliability data to draw service laser estimates based on business projections when quantities become significant.

Laser modules are offered at 1064, 532, 355, 266 and 213 nm wavelengths.

Shalom EO

Hangzhou Shalom EO offers two types of stock and custom OEM laser modules: eye-safe 1535-nm laser modules and MgO:PPLN waveguide laser modules for second harmonic generation (SHG). Both are compact in size and allow easy integration.

Our 1535-nm laser modules containing Er:Yb:glass as the gain medium and Co:MgAl₂O₄ (Co:spinel) as a passive Q-switch, are exceptional for applications like laser range finders, LIDAR, and medical treatments.

The MgO:PPLN laser modules use MgO:PPLN for frequency conversion, with output wavelengths of 473 nm, 532 nm, 545 nm, 561 nm, and 671 nm. Modules of different dimensions, output powers, and modes are available.

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