The expanding applications for ultrafast lasers are driving demand for attendant components. More rigorous collaboration on optical standards could further fuel this trend.

“In high-power continuous-wave optics, every aspect of the optical component is important,” said Jessica DeGroote Nelson, director of technology and strategy at Optimax Systems Inc. The optical components must ensure low total loss, with scatter plus absorption in the parts-per-million range, and they must exhibit low total error when accounting for surface irregularity plus position. And mirror coatings must be low stress, she said.

Learn more from Photonics Media's latest article, “An Essential Exchange of Ideas Would Benefit the Optics Industry‘.