June 15, 2007, Quebec City, Que., Canada--TeraXion reported that it has been selected by JDSU (Santa Rosa, CA) to supply telecom-grade fiber-Bragg-grating (FBG) filters for JDSU's new commercial 488 nm solid-state laser.
The 488 nm solid-state blue laser developed by JDSU targets applications in biotechnology, semiconductor processing, and general instrumentation. The fiber-based architecture consists of a semiconductor pump laser emitting at 976 nm that uses a narrowband FBG as its output coupler. The telecom-grade FBG filter developed and produced by TeraXion is also used to accurately stabilize the frequency of the laser. Frequency conversion at 488 nm is then achieved by using a fiber-pigtailed periodically-poled lithium niobate waveguide.
This is the first time a commercial visible-wavelength solid-state laser is benefiting from reliable telecom packaging technology, notes Len Marabella, director of marketing for commercial lasers at JDSU.
TeraXion FBGs are used outside of the telecom arena in applications such as industrial lasers and fiber-optic sensors. The company provides reflectors, pulse stretchers/compressors, and cavity dispersion compensators tailored to meet the most stringent requirements of current and future high-performance fiber lasers used for marking, welding, cutting, micromachining, and medical applications.