Solid-state Compact Blue-green Lasers: Research and Development; Practical Implementation and...

Solid-state Compact Blue-green Lasers: Research and Development; Practical Implementation and Applications in

Science and Technology

Stepan Essaian Spectralus Presentation

April 22 2009

April 19, 2023 1SPECTRALUS CORPORATION

Introduction to Spectralus

April 19, 2023 2

• Founded in 2003• Funded by angel investors in 2003-06• Raised expansion round of funding in 2007• Partnered with Satori Electric Co. in 2007• Now expanding production and sales

• Headquarters in Santa Clara, CA (USA) →• Management• Marketing and sales• Customer support• Laser lab

• Production facility in Yerevan, Armenia• Crystal manufacturing• World-class crystal R&D group• Upgrades completed in 2008: Disco saw, polishing machines, etc. for better production capabilities

• Experienced team• Strengths in crystal, optics, and laser design & manufacturing, consumer electronics, and instrumentation

SPECTRALUS CORPORATION

April 19, 2023 3

Spectralus’ Periodically Poled Crystal Technology

• Spectralus developed and began production of new nonlinear optical crystals:

periodically poled MgO-doped lithium niobate and lithium tantalate

• Also known as: periodically poled LiNbO3, MgO:LiNbO3, and LiTaO3

• These crystals enable new laser capabilities because of their advantages over

traditional materials

• Wavelength conversion ~10x to100x more efficient than in old materials (KTP, LBO)

• They can be engineered for any target wavelength: UV, visible, IR, THz

• They are suitable for volume manufacturing for large consumer markets

• Low cost is achievable via proprietary wafer-scale production process

SPECTRALUS CORPORATION

April 19, 2023 4

Spectralus’ Nonlinear Crystal Technology: What is Different?

• Nonlinear crystals convert laser wavelength from efficient IR range (1064nm, 976nm,

810nm) to application-desirable 532nm, 488nm, 460nm, 405nm, 355nm, etc.

• Traditional (uniform) crystals phase-match (synchronize) fundamental and converted laser

beams within directions and nonlinearities defined by nature:

• Periodically poled crystals use highest nonlinearity coefficient and convert any wavelength

(color) by appropriate design of poling period

P P

P2

Direction of polarization

of ferroelectric material

P2

PP

deff -deffdeff -deff deff -deff

deff -deff

SPECTRALUS CORPORATION

Comparison / Bulk Type and Waveguide

• Waveguide

Advantage ：

・ High conversion efficiency

by keeping incindent laser beam

intensity

Disadvantage ：・ Low yield due to very small

incidence area

・ High cost due to low yield

Comparison / Bulk Type and Waveguide

• Bulk Type

Advantage ： Suitable for Mass-production

due to wider incidence area

than Waveguide

Lower cost than Waveguide

due to better production yield

Ready-to-pole waferand poled grating

Finished PPMgOLN elements

Efficient nonlinear conversion in customer’s laser system

Spectralus’ PPMgOLN Technology in Pictures

April 19, 2023 7

SHG crystals

OPO & DFG crystals

532nm green

488nm blue

MgO:LiNbO3 with our patented processing (semi-conductor-

fab compatible). US patent 7413635

periodically poleddomain grating

SPECTRALUS CORPORATION

Spectralus Microchip Technology

Spectralus Microchip is bulk type innercavity element, not a waveguide. Length of the Microchip is only 1-2mm which enables us producing compact size Green DPSS laser .

Performance:Output power : 100-150mW (CW) WPE : 10-15 ％

April 19, 2023 8

808nm (IR Pump laser ）

Lens Microchip Element

Main Green Laser Architectures

April 19, 2023 SPECTRALUS CONFIDENTIAL 9

IP: Kuehnelt et al., US2007081564:•Optically pumped semiconductor laser platform•Discrete components, multiple alignment steps (cost!!!)•Great packaging but low efficiency (7%) and high cost

IP: Shchegrov, A.Mooradian et al, US 7,359,420•Electrically pumped semiconductor laser platform•Discrete but components, medium cost, efficiency ~9%•Technology, still needs work. But company is no longer …

Spectralus Microchip DPSS Laser

IP: S. Essaian et al, US application 11/ 788916, publication number  20080317072.• 808nm diode pumped solid state microchip laser platform• Monolithic structure, practically no alignment steps, low cost• High efficiency, 15-20%

Markets and Applications: Spectralus’ technology is enabling for …

Laser InstrumentationFrequency-converted laser

sources for:

• Biomedical (flow cytometry, DNA sequencing, etc.) – 488, 532, 473 nm

• Semiconductor inspection - 488, 532 nm

• Medical – 560-590 nm• Spectroscopy / security –

1.5-4.5 m

Consumer Electronics

Efficient, low-cost visible lasers for

• Laser projectors

• Entertainment (e.g. laser shows)

Consumer Electronics

Efficient, low-cost visible lasers for

• Laser projectors

• Entertainment (e.g. laser shows)

April 19, 2023 10

www.symbol.com/LPD

http://www.invitrogen.com/content.cfm?pageid=11556

SPECTRALUS CORPORATION

Military Applications

Key product: Spectralus green laser for

• Laser displays• Dazzlers

Market Opportunity in Mobile Projectors

• Mobile projectors is a huge emerging market, projected to be in multi-billion USD by 2011

• First-generation LED-based mobile projectors just appeared in 2008: Toshiba, 3M, Dell

• LEDs are not bright enough. Industry wants laser sources but there is no adequate green product (red & blue ok)

• In the green-laser product race, leading players include large corporations: Corning, Osram, Mitsubishi

• However, Spectralus’ unique technology has the best chance to win on efficiency and low production cost

April 19, 2023 11

3MToshiba

Osram

Spectralus

SPECTRALUS CORPORATION

April 19, 2023 SPECTRALUS 12

Spectralus Green Laser Performance vs. Ambient Temperature

• The design temperature can (and will) be shifted towards higher values by changing the target PPLN temperature

December 12, 2008 SPECTRALUS CONFIDENTIAL 13

April 19, 2023 SPECTRALUS CONFIDENTIAL 14