Volume 8, Number 3     May/June 2000

Laser Technology Finds Wide Commercial Application

Laser technology developed by SDL, Inc. for use in space communications system has been incorporated into several successful commercial products. The laser products are based on a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) technology development effort managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, a division of the California Institute of Technology.

Commercial products include lasers for marking industrial materials, precision cutting and welding, high-resolution soldering, thin film etching and research and development work. High output power, precise control and compact design are some of the features of this technology that make it attractive for these as well as future space communications applications.

SDL lasers are capable of projecting circular spots of light as small as a few microns (one micron equals one millionth of a meter) in size. The intensity of the light provides near instantaneous etching of surfaces to precisely controlled depths (plus or minus two microns) for marking items such as semiconductor chips. Moving rapidly along the surface, the laser quickly marks the semiconductor chips with product identification. This same precise beam of light can be used to achieve precise heating for soldering or welding, or at greater intensity to cut through materials.

The high-power output begins with laser light from a laser diode. Laser diodes are capable of producing a ray of laser light at a precise wavelength and are able to modulate the amplitude of the light at very high frequencies. The next step is to amplify this signal or beam of laser light without distortion. This is accomplished in a special optical fiber that is capable of lazing at the same wavelength. When the laser light from the laser diode enters the optical fiber, a lazing process is initiated that greatly amplifies the original signal.

A separate high-power pump laser provides energy for this lazing process. Operating at a different light frequency, the pump laser energizes the optical fiber without interfering with the lazing process.

NASA's interest in developing communications systems using lasers is based on the promise of higher efficiency in comparison with conventional systems. Unlike radio frequency transmissions, laser signals can be focused in a tight narrow beam, minimizing the amount of energy required to transmit the signal. Information collected by scientific instruments can be encoded in this beam of light through rapid modulation in the signal's intensity. This is similar to the process used to transmit phone calls over optical fibers. The major difference is that the transmitter and receiver are no longer connected by an optical glass fiber.

Recent advances in laser technology by SDL and others have made the technology attractive for NASA applications on the International Space Station, the Next Generation Space Telescope and other near-Earth missions. Similar systems may soon link communications satellites, helping provide cellular phone services around the world.

Laser technology developed by SDL, Inc. for use in space communications systems has been incorporated into several successful commercial products. (Photo supplied by Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

For more information, contact Byron L. Jackson at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 818/354-1246, Byron.L.Jackson@jpl.nasa.gov Please mention you read about it in Innovation.