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.
| Product Name | Technology Description | Comments |
| Laser 1-2-3 | Flashlamp-pumped laser with options for at least 8 different laser crystals | Standard laser for medical research, partly developed with NIH, Air Force SBIRs |
| Titan-CW | CW Ti:sapphire tunable laser with options for standing wave or single-frequency ring configuration | Lasers & Optronics "Top 10 Products of 1989," Photonics Spectra "1990 Circle of Excellence Award" |
| Titan-SW | Low-cost version of Titan-CW | |
| Titan-ML | Mode-locked CW Ti:sapphire with 100 fsec pulsewidth | Lasers & Optronics "Top 10 Products of 1991" |
| Titan-P | Pulsed Ti:sapphire with 100 mJ output, harmonic options, self-contained pump laser | Based on NASA, DARPA/ONR programs |
| Cobra 2000 | Pulsed, room-temperature Co:MgF2 tunable laser with pump included | Based on NASA SBIR, Lasers & Optronics "Top 10 Products of 1989" |
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 graph below shows the wavelength coverage provide through the use of a variety of laser materials.
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) allowed conversion between standing wave and single-frequency ring operation. The graph below shows the tuning range of the standing-wave version of the laser with a 7-W blue-green pump source. mode-locked pulses. A copy of the manual is available here.
The Titan-ML laser, based on Titan-CW components, provided mode-locked pulses on the order of 100 fs in duration. The system employed Kerr-lens modelocking, started and sustained by an acousto-optic loss modulator driven through a regenerative-feedback RF system. Below, the graph on the left shows power and pulsewidth of the laser as a function of wavelength, and the photograph on the left is a picture of the laser pulse autocorrelation signal.
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.
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:
MPS-[1047,523,349,262]-[CW,QS]-[10,20,30,40][E]
The first block of options signifies the wavelength output
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:
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.