27 April 2011

Daylight expands Aries line of high-power, multi-wavelength mid-IR lasers

After earlier this year launching its first Aries Series high-power, multi-wavelength mid-infrared laser (the Aries-100 air-cooled 2W laser), Daylight Solutions Inc of San Diego, CA, USA, which makes molecular detection, spectroscopic imaging and high-power illumination systems based on quantum cascade lasers (QCLs), has expanded the Aries commercial product line with the Aries-200, -400, and -700 products.

The modularity of the Aries family of products can now provide customizable performance in wavelength and power. Users can now choose to populate one, two, four, or seven laser ‘sockets’ with any wavelength and power that Daylight offers. Populating all seven sockets in the Aries-700 can provide more than 10W of continuous-wave (cw), air-cooled mid-IR laser power.

“The flexibility and performance of the Aries product family is beyond anything available on the market to date,” claims Michael Radunsky, product marketing manager for Daylight's scientific products. “These turn-key systems can be configured for high power at a single wavelength or to deliver up to seven different wavelengths simultaneously and collinearly.” Wavelengths of 2–13µm are available.

The Aries-100 is CDRH (Center for Devices and Radiological Health) approved and is ready for lab use. The higher models in the series are OEM laser systems that are ready for integration. They are also highly ruggedized. Standard performance includes operation within an ambient temperature range of 15–40°C. However, they can also be specified to operate over a much wider range of operating temperatures, from –40°C to +70°C. Aries has also been tested for shake and vibration resistance. Optical fiber delivery is also available as an option.

“The flexibility of these models enable applications in multiple markets,” says president Paul Larson. "These lasers are already finding applications in stand-off detection, free-space communication, infrared counter-measures, thermal imaging, and scene generation,” adds Radunsky.

Daylight Solutions is exhibiting all four of the Aries series lasers at SPIE Defense, Security and Sensing (booth 3207) in Orlando, FL (26–28 April) and at CLEO 2011 (booth 1526) in Baltimore, MD (3–5 May).

Tags: Mid-IR lasers

Visit: www.daylightsolutions.com