History of Products at Q-Peak

Q-Peak began operations in 1985 as the Research Division of Schwartz Electro-Optics, Inc (SEO). The Division was formed into Q-Peak, a separate, wholly owned subsidiary company of SEO in 1998. Q-Peak was then purchased by Physical Sciences Inc. in 2001. Through all this time, the organization, which we refer to simply as Q-Peak, was involved in the development of innovative laser products, summarized here.

The original business model for SEO was that any products resulting from technology development at Q-Peak would be put into production at the SEO facilities in Orlando, FL. In 1987, SEO began manufacturing in Orlando of the first product (Laser 1-2-3) to emerge from Q-Peak. The next year SEO formed the Solid State Laser Division in Orlando to carry out marketing, sales and production of the Laser 1-2-3 and subsequent products. During the first years of operation, Q-Peak worked jointly with the Solid State Lasers Division in product development, primarily for the scientific, industrial R&D and medical R&D marketplace.

The table below summarizes the standard products developed before 1993, and provides background on their development.

The products were recognized for their innovation by industry trade journals, as shown in the "Comments" section in the table, and were sold worldwide.

	The LASER 1-2-3 product, built by a Division of SEO in Orlando, was based on Q-Peak’s development of unconventional lamp-pumped laser materials, and was the key to SEO’s entrance into the medical-laser market.
	The Titan-CW laser, also developed by Q-Peak, established SEO as an important source of lasers for research and won several awards for innovation. The patented design (US #5,029,179) allows conversion between standing wave and single-frequency ring operation. A later version provided mode-locked pulses.

MPS Product Line: Background

From 1993 on, Q-Peak began the development of a product line that it would also manufacture, market and sell, based on an emerging technology: high-power diode-pumped solid state lasers, the MPS Series, the design of which is based on the Gain Module. These products were geared towards a new market for the company, the general field of materials processing. Q-Peak shipped the first prototype products in 1995, and establihed a pilot production line in 1996.

MPS Product Development and Configurations

The first MPS-design systems (model MPS-1047) used single Gain Modules based on the laser material Nd:YLF and generated >10 W of diffraction-limited power in the infrared. To drive the laser, Q-Peak developed the SSC-40 power supply/chiller, which contained DC supplies for the diodes, a thermoelectrically cooled, recirculating water cooling system for the Gain Module, an optional RF driver for the acousto-optic (AO) Q-switch and control electronics that included an RS-232 interface for computer control. The SSC-40 also included a Remote Unit that allowed adjustment of the diode current and Q-switch pulse rate. The SSC-40 has since been replaced by the MPL Control Unit and MPL Cooler, designed for mounting in standard 19" relay racks.

Shown here is the MPS-1047 laser system, with SSC-40 power supply/chiller and remote unit. The device was specified to deliver >10 W of power at 1047 nm, with a TEM00, polarized beam. The laser head contained a single Gain Module and an optional Q-switch. The umbilical connecting the head and power supply carried cooling water, diode power, control lines and an RF cable when the Q-switch was installed. The first systems were shipped in 1995.

A number of MPS-1047 systems, with heads shown here, were customized for application to disk texturing, and shipped in 1996.

With support from a variety of contracts, Q-Peak developed the MPS system beyond the initial MPS-1047 product, through the addition of Gain Module amplifiers and also harmonic generation options. The first oscillator-amplifier system was shipped in 1997, and generated >20 W of infrared power. With the addition of amplifiers and harmonic generation, Q-Peak developed a naming convention for product configurations as follows:

The first block of options signifies the wavelength output

• 1047 – fundamental
• 523 – 2^nd harmonic
• 349 – 3^rd harmonic
• 262 – 4^th harmonic

The second block indicates whether the laser provides CW or Q-switched (QS) output. All harmonic systems are Q-switched.

The third block indicates the configuration of Gain Modules and corresponds to the minimum cw power that would be generated in the infrared:

• 10 – one Gain module in an oscillator
• 20 - one Gain module in an oscillator, one in an amplifier
• 30 - one Gain module in an oscillator, two in amplifiers
• 40 - one Gain module in an oscillator, three in amplifiers

The last block signifies the "E" option for enhanced Q-switched energy at low pulse rates.

Q-Peak also developed Gain Modules based on the laser material Nd:YVO₄ and gave them the designation MPV.

Q-Peak developed new laser head designs to accommodate the addition of amplifiers and harmonic generation to the product mix. Shown on the left are an MPS-349-QS20 head, generating 5-W of UV and an MPS-523-QS10 head generating 5-W of green.

When 40-W bars became commercially available, Q-Peak employed them in MPS Gain Modules, and, as discussed above, determined that at least 25 W of TEM₀₀ and 35 W of multimode power could be generated from a single Gain Module oscillator. The first system employing 40-W bars was shipped in 2000, and the letter H was added at the end of the model designation.

As part of the process of providing options for harmonic generation, Q-Peak developed high-efficiency crystal ovens and control electronics for the LBO nonlinear crystals, as well as worked to develop high-damage-resistance coatings for the crystals.

The current generation of laser heads has evolved from the units in the photograph above, and uses aluminum tooling plate as a base for all the optical components, along with aluminum rails to provide additional stiffness.