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Monolithic Design Is Transforming the Laser Market
In this article, Jérémy Picot-Clémente, EPIC’ s Photonics Technologies Program Manager, talks to Thierry Georges, President and Technical Director at Oxxius, a French designer and manufacturer of advanced laser systems.
What are the advantages of your laser systems? Since we were founded in 2002, we’ ve developed a range of continuous and modulated monolithic diode pumped solid-state( DPSS) lasers that incorporate a proprietary monolithic resonator that integrates all critical optical components— such as the gain medium, frequency conversion crystals, and resonator mirrors— into a single, ultralow-loss optical block. The advantages of our lasers are that compared with conventional ion and gas lasers they eliminate the need for alignment. Additionally, they are more compact, more reliable, more stable, and more robust – making them ideal for a wide range of applications such as interferometry, Raman spectroscopy, and fluorescence microscopy.
What is your added value compared to your competitors in the DPSS laser market? What sets our lasers apart from our competitors is the lifetime of our products. The typical lifetime of a DPSS laser is up to 40,000 hours. In comparison, the lifetime of our monolithic DPSS lasers is up to 100,000 hours- due to the robust monolithic design, no alignment-sensitive components and the use of long-life diode pumps and high-quality crystal bonding.
What are your main business challenges? Our main customers are instrument makers, e. g., microscopes and Raman spectrometers. The problem with these types of companies is that they make a new generation of products only every 5-8 years, and when they do, they have to decide whether to keep their existing laser supplier or look for a new one. Consequently, the window of opportunity to get new customers is only once every five or eight years.
How do you see the future? Two years ago, we launched a fourth generation of product that allows the use of nonlinear crystals that are good for short wavelengths and high power. Having little or no limitations in either wavelength or power means we will be able to develop a lot of new products in the UV and blue wavelengths. So, over the next 4-5-years we expect to at least to triple our revenue and increase production of our laser systems from 1,500 to 5,000.
What’ s your main piece of advice to the next generation of entrepreneurs? If you make a product or you have an idea, don ' t keep it in your lab, think about how you can turn it into a company. You may not be successful the first time, but you will learn a lot of things. In the recent past, failure was seen as very negative in France. But now, fortunately, you are allowed to fail. In the worst case scenario, you can go back to university or become an advisor to a company.
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