New lasers from Powerlase address display manufacturing and solar-cell processing

July 31, 2008--Powerlase (Crawley, England), manufacturer of nanosecond Q-switched, diode-pumped solid-state (DPSS) lasers, introduced a new range of green lasers, the Starlase 100G and Starlase 200G, that are designed for specific applications including solar-cell processing and organic light-emitting diode (OLED) flat-panel display manufacture.

Developed in collaboration with its customers, the Powerlase 100G and 200G enable a rapid laser patterning technique that can process thin-film coatings on plasma television screens and can be extended to applications in solar-cell manufacturing. With high average powers of 100 W and 200 W, respectively, at a wavelength of 532 nm, the new lasers boast nanosecond-duration pulses and are well suited for polysilicon annealing (also known as green laser annealing, or GLA)--a process used in the manufacture of OLED displays. The lasers are also uniquely suited to the processing of hard materials, such as polycrystalline diamond. The output beam of both the 100G and 200G can also be homogenized to provide top hat or thin-line profiles.

Les Lockwood, executive director at Powerlase, said, "New technology development at Powerlase is driven solely by customer requirements and we are confident these new lasers will enable us to break ground in new markets. We've seen great success in the Korean FPD marketplace, and are now adapting our technology to meet the needs of growing markets including solar-cell processing and OLED manufacture."

Powerlase was awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise earlier this year in the International Trade category for significant growth in overseas earnings (see www.laserfocusworld.com/articles/332962).

For more information, visit www.powerlase.com.