Shasta Crystals (San Francisco, CA) is now growing CALGO (CaGdAlO4) crystals that will allow new developments in ultrafast lasers. Company CEO Gisele Maxwell says, “We are very pleased to announce that our Laser Heated Pedestal Growth technology is allowing us to grow the highest quality CALGO crystals in diameters from 25 microns to 1 mm and lengths up to a meter. Thanks to their excellent thermal and electromechanical properties, these very pure broadband crystals push the boundaries of ultrafast lasers, opening the doors to many so far unattainable applications.”
Shasta Crystals is a crystal growth company founded in 2006, and making materials for laser systems for a variety of markets. Shasta specializes in the use of the Laser Heated Pedestal Growth (LHPG) technology that allows rapid growth of crystal fibers with a variety of dopants. With the support of the National Science Foundation and Skymoon Ventures the company is operating a research and pilot scale manufacturing facility in San Francisco, California.
The company has won several NSF SBIR grants, including a $150,000 Phase I grant in 2013 for coilable single crystal fibers of doped YAG for high power laser applications. The goal was to to perform research into the feasibility of growing doped YAG optical fibers of sufficient quality to improve the performance of high-power fiber lasers.
Source: Shasta Crystals
Conard Holton
Conard Holton has 25 years of science and technology editing and writing experience. He was formerly a staff member and consultant for government agencies such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and engineering companies such as Bechtel. He joined Laser Focus World in 1997 as senior editor, becoming editor in chief of WDM Solutions, which he founded in 1999. In 2003 he joined Vision Systems Design as editor in chief, while continuing as contributing editor at Laser Focus World. Conard became editor in chief of Laser Focus World in August 2011, a role in which he served through August 2018. He then served as Editor at Large for Laser Focus World and Co-Chair of the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar from August 2018 through January 2022. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, with additional studies at the Colorado School of Mines and Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.