New laser diode modules designed for booming fiber laser, direct diode and printing markets

Zurich, Switzerland – January 17, 2008 – Bookham, Inc. (NASDAQ: BKHM), a leading manufacturer of optical components for industrial applications, will debut products from its rapidly expanding high power portfolio targeting high-growth industrial markets, at this year’s Photonics West, taking place in San Jose next week.

Shown on the Bookham booth (#1207) will be the company’s latest high power products, including:
-   10W fiber laser pump module with 105µm fiber core diameter that operates at injection currents up to 12A;
-   1060nm seed laser module with short distance fiber Bragg grating to control spectral properties for pulsed fiber lasers;
-   VHB (Very High Brightness) bar for direct systems – launched at LASER 2007 and now being shipped in volume – which has a power output of 80W – up to four times the brightness of a typical 10mm bar – and measures only 3.6mm in width; 
-   low core fiber diameter multimode modules with 40µm or 50µm fibre, aimed at the Computer-to-Print (CTP) pre-press printing market. The modules deliver up to 2W at 830nm and up to 3W at 940nm.

“The number of applications that require reliable, high power and high brightness laser diodes is growing all the time, and we are continuing to drive investments and developments of next generation products to meet the needs of our customers in these areas,” said Bookham director of product marketing, Berthold Schmidt.  “Leading product performance combined with low cost volume delivery is our key strength.”

In addition to showcasing its technology at the exhibition, Bookham will be presenting three technical papers at associated symposium LASE 2008: ‘Recent developments for BAR and BASE: setting the trends‘, ‘Emission wavelength stabilization in broad area lasers coupled to fiber Bragg gratings’  and ‘Performance and reliability of pulsed 1060 nm laser modules’.