Laser Components breaks ground on detector manufacturing facility in Chandler, AZ
With the building of its new production facility for detectors, Laser Components (Olching, Germany and Bedford, NH), specialized provider of components and services in the laser and optoelectronics industry, has begun laying the foundation for the future. At the end of April 2019, the ceremonial setting of the cornerstone for the new 26,000 square foot building took place in Chandler, AZ.
Work on the building, which will serve as a central development and production site for all Laser Components detector technologies, should be completed by the spring of 2020. The facility, which will be equipped with production areas and cleanrooms according to the latest standards, is designed for up to 70 employees and thus offers sufficient space for the growth that the CEO Patrick Paul expects to see in the coming years.
“We deliberately chose the location for our new plant near our previous headquarters. This will allow us to continue to benefit from the expertise of our long-standing employees and to expand our close ties with Arizona State University,” says Patrick Paul. “In addition, major players in technologies related to autonomous driving have recently settled in Chandler. This market is becoming increasingly important for our optical detectors.”
Laser Components manufactures detectors for vastly different technologies in the US. These include silicon and InGaAs avalanche photodiodes, which collect the smallest amounts of light. Further components include PbS/PbSe, InAs, InGaAs, and pyroelectric detectors, which are mainly used for gas measurement and flame detection.
“Manufacturers of sophisticated security systems have relied on our detectors for many years now,” explains Dragan Grubisic, general manager of the Laser Components Detector Group. “The automotive industry is known for its high standards of quality, which is why we are confident that our high-end products make us an attractive partner. With the new facility, we will be able to manufacture the quantities necessary to meet the enormous growth potential of this market.”
The best example of the implementation of the Group's ambitious plans is the production facility in Canada, which successfully qualified pulsed laser diodes for use in the automotive industry after its expansion two years ago.
SOURCE: Laser Components; https://www.lasercomponents.com/us/news/laser-components-lays-the-foundations-for-the-future
Gail Overton | Senior Editor (2004-2020)
Gail has more than 30 years of engineering, marketing, product management, and editorial experience in the photonics and optical communications industry. Before joining the staff at Laser Focus World in 2004, she held many product management and product marketing roles in the fiber-optics industry, most notably at Hughes (El Segundo, CA), GTE Labs (Waltham, MA), Corning (Corning, NY), Photon Kinetics (Beaverton, OR), and Newport Corporation (Irvine, CA). During her marketing career, Gail published articles in WDM Solutions and Sensors magazine and traveled internationally to conduct product and sales training. Gail received her BS degree in physics, with an emphasis in optics, from San Diego State University in San Diego, CA in May 1986.