Gooch & Housego Brings Aerospace Technology To Industrial Applications At Photonics West

Low Out-Gassing technique to offer higher quality, improved reliability and extended product lifetimes for industrial laser manufacturers

January 23, 2008 – Gooch & Housego has brought technology designed for some of the universe’s most demanding conditions to the industrial laser market with its low out-gassing capability.  The technique is designed to prevent the release of contaminating gasses inside laser systems, which can lead to the deterioration of optical surfaces and the eventual failure of critical components.  Gooch & Housego is exhibiting at booth #1013 at the premier Photonics event.

Typical acousto-optic devices use a number of materials in their construction, generally adhesives and coatings, that can release gas inside the laser during use.  This can cause contamination of optical surfaces, which is catastrophic in high power laser systems.  Out-gassing is increased in operating conditions such as reduced pressure or vacuum environments, or where there is UV light present, rendering lasers with intra-cavity frequency conversion to the UV at high risk of failure.

“Gooch & Housego developed this capability to reduce the release of harmful gasses for aerospace, space and defense applications, where conditions are at their most extreme and the performance of laser systems is at its most critical,” says strategic director, Mike Draper.  “Now these advanced technologies have gained traction in industrial markets as manufacturers of fiber lasers and systems for biomedical, metrology and marking applications strive to differentiate from their competition on quality and reliability.

“A range of products from our broad portfolio of acousto-optic devices can be delivered with this capability, enhancing overall system performance in the most demanding applications, irrespective of the end use.”

Gooch & Housego will be exhibiting products, including crystal-optics, acousto-optics, precision-optics, and electro-optics, on booth #1013 at Photonics West.