Laser and Fiber Technology

For the development of high-power fiber lasers with diffraction-limited beam quality, Fraunhofer IOF has expertise in laser physics, fiber and optical design, glass chemistry, thermooptics, packaging and interconnection technology for fiber lasers, and the development of efficient fiber couplers and beam delivery systems.

Here, Fraunhofer IOF covers the entire technology chain in its fiber technology center, from the design and manufacture of laser-active preforms and fibers, preparation and characterization, to system integration of the laser-active special fibers and fiber-optic components. This is essential for the design and application of cw and pulsed fiber laser systems of the highest beam quality (M² < 1.2) with output powers up to the multi-kilowatt range. By operating technologies on an industrial scale, it is possible to quickly transfer new solutions into applications.

Fraunhofer IOF is one of the strongest research institutes with global visibility and numerous unique technological features.

 

Assembly and joining technology for fiber lasers and fiber optics

The assembly of laser systems requires special construction and joining technologies which enable operation and stability in an industrial environment...
 

Fiber-based amplification of laser sources

Rare-earth doped fibers offer a simple and performance-scalable way of amplifying low-power laser sources to high power while maintaining...
 

Q-switched microchip lasers

Diode-pumped and passive Q-switched microchip lasers based on various laser crystals and saturable semiconductor mirrors are used as absorbers...
 

Fiber optics

The use of laser and laser diode sources in metrology, visualization and materials processing requires beam shaping optics on the one hand...
 

Fiber technology

Direct access to the entire technology chain from design to preparation and characterization all the way to system integration of the laser-active...
 

Materials processing using ultrashort laser pulses

Ultrashort pulse lasers with pulse duration in the range of a few picoseconds or femtoseconds show great use potential for the highly-precise structuring...