JENA, GERMANY -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 01/19/2006 -- High-power diode lasers generate their radiation from bar-shaped semiconductors based on GaAs. They are the most efficient sources of artificial light available. Their broad industrial use is still in the early stages and the potential of this type of laser is far from reaching its limits.

The two JENOPTIK companies -- JENOPTIK Diode Lab GmbH in Berlin and JENOPTIK Laserdiode GmbH in Jena -- work closely together to manufacture these lasers.

Since the beginning of 2005, the quality of the already excellent semiconductor bars made at the JENOPTIK Diode Lab GmbH in Berlin-Adlershof has continuously been improved. The JENOPTIK Laserdiode GmbH uses those bars to produce semiconductor lasers with up to 120 W cw per bar as standard products. This allows for diode laser stacks with up to 3 kW cw for applications such as thin-disk laser pumping.

For further testing of the limits of this type of semiconductor bar material, the main assembling issues -- mounting and cooling techniques -- had to undergo additional development stages. Based on this, in August of 2005 a new world record of 454 watts was set for a 10 mm diode laser bar operating in continuous mode.

But this success did not mean that the potential of these two companies was exhausted. Further improvements to the optical characteristics by the JENOPTIK Diode Lab GmbH and the optimization of mounting techniques at JENOPTIK Laserdiode GmbH led to an output beyond the 500-watt barrier for a diode laser in continuous mode -- 509 watts were reached at 540 amps of operating current.

The testing of diode lasers in regards to their performance limits serves as proof of quality for the semiconductor material and assembling techniques. These investigations are included in the VDI project BRILASI, which is part of the BRIOLAS project alliance with funding from BMBF. The goal of this project is to double the current commercially available power of 50-100 watts with enhanced reliability by the end of 2007.

Further details about the record-setting laser and the developments leading to its success will be made public by the JENOPTIK Laserdiode GmbH in a presentation at the Photonics West Conference in San Jose, California in January of 2006.

Information on the complete product line based on this record-setting technology is available during the Photonics West show at the JENOPTIK booth (#1415).

Company portrait of JENOPTIK Laserdiode GmbH (www.jold.com)

JENOPTIK Laserdiode GmbH develops, manufactures and markets high-power diode lasers. These new laser types offer high efficiency from a very small volume. They are used chiefly as an excitation source for solid state lasers or serve as a direct beam source in medical technology and material processing. Laserdiode GmbH has been part of the JENOPTIK Group since 1993. JENOPTIK Laserdiode GmbH is a subsidiary of JENOPTIK Laser, Optik, Systeme GmbH (www.jenoptik-los.com) in the Photonics division of JENOPTIK AG, Jena. (www.jenoptik.com).

Company portrait of JENOPTIK Diode Lab GmbH (www.diodelab.com)

JENOPTIK Diode Lab GmbH, located in Berlin-Adlershof, as a 100% subsidiary of JENOPTIK Laserdiode GmbH is part of the Photonics division of JENOPTIK AG (www.jenoptik.com). The company, founded in February 2002 as a spin-off of the Ferdinand-Braun Institute in Berlin-Adlershof, currently has seven employees and is focused on manufacturing of opto-electronic elements for high-power diode lasers of JENOPTIK Laserdiode GmbH.

Additional Information:
Detlev Wolff
Phone: +49-3641-65-4341
Fax: +49-3641-65-4392
Email: detlev.wolff@jenoptik.com

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