Founded in 2001, EdgeWave has successfully commercialized the InnoSlab technology. This robust and efficient laser design enabled the development of high power pulsed laser systems. While keeping a number of world records, EdgeWave is still pushing the limits with a brand new 400 W ps laser.
Würselen (Germany) – When EdgeWave GmbH started in 2001, it was spun off from the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen. The core technology of the new company was the InnoSlab laser, an innovative setup for diode pumped solid state lasers. “Searching for a reliable and scalable solid state laser design, we developed the InnoSlab concept. And it fulfilled all the expectations” says the founder and CEO of the company, Dr. Keming Du.
In 2002, EdgeWave brought its first air-cooled and stand-alone InnoSlab lasers to the market. Starting with 20 W output, lasers were up-scaled and new innovations were added. Several product families were created and in 2006 the first system with 200 W average power made it to the market. In 2010 a first high power ps laser with an average power of 400 W and a pulse energy up to 800 µJ was demonstrated.
The InnoSlab technology is based on advanced diode-pumped solid state laser technology. The special geometry enables a compact resonator with excellent stability and low thermal lensing effects. These advantages make the InnoSlab systems particularly well suited for high power and pulsed lasers. They allow for short pulses with high peak powers, while maintaining high beam quality at high average power. Another advantage is the flexibility in beam profile: the laser resonator supports beam shaping from circular, through line shaped one dimensional top-hat, to two dimensional top-hat with rectangular cross section.
The robustness on the one hand and the flexible design on the other enable a large number of applications. Today, EdgeWave lasers are applied in micro-processing of glass, scribing, edge deletion, high throughput thin film structuring, and pumping of dye lasers.
Although developed to be a workhorses, InnoSlab lasers achieved a number of world records for pulsed lasers. The outstanding technological achievements of EdgeWave were awarded with the 1rst prize of the “INNOVATION AWARD LASER TECHNOLOGY 2010” at the International Laser Congress Aachen AKL´10.
The most recent innovation from EdgeWave are the PX-series and QX-series. With 100 W and 400 W of average power and 10 ps pulse duration from a very compact box it will be a dedicated workhorse for micro machining applications. You may see those laser system at the LASER World of Photonics on the EdgeWave booth C1.230.
