Laser Delivery for Materials Processing, Sensing and Lighting

The Mid to High to Ultra-high Power Laser delivery market is large and continues to grow, driven by advances in material processing, healthcare, defense and other high-value applications.  From Deep UV to Visible, NIR to IR wavelengths; CW or pulsed; narrowband to tunable, nearly all combinations of wavelengths and power levels can be delivered via optical fiber. Berkshire has experience in many Laser delivery applications and the unique challenges each one presents.

Value Drivers

Materials Processing and Healthcare applications have long taken advantage of high-power lasers and optimized fiber delivery systems to bring the power to the work piece or patient. These applications continue to grow as new manufacturing processes and medical procedures leverage the evolution of laser sources for new wavelengths or lower cost per watt generation. 

New applications and laser types drive the need for safe, reliable, and efficient power (and energy) delivery. Fiber delivery of color and brightness controllable laser-generated light is emerging as a high value, specialty lighting category.

Application Focus

Berkshire leverages its strengths in large core fibers, SMA connectors and custom beam shaping to design “delivery fibers” that are optimized for laser wavelength, power, beam quality and output profile requirements.  Applications that require special fiber designs, tight bending radius, specialized connectors, RFID, high transmission at wavelengths of interest are all familiar to Berkshire.  Power levels from 1 to hundreds of watts are possible, utilizing the smallest diameter, most flexible fiber possible. 

Berkshire Strengths

Most laser delivery applications require large core (≥200µm cladding diameter) that have step-index profiles, where the laser beam is focused into the smallest core diameter possible without “overspilling” the core/cladding boundary and possibly damaging the input surface.  For the highest power applications, Berkshire can utilize high temperature fiber coatings; epoxy-less connectorization or even air gap ferrules, custom-drilled for perfect fit regardless of fiber diameter. 

Berkshire Solutions

Successful Laser delivery designs start with optimum fiber and coating selection – All-Silica fiber for the highest power applications; HPCF, for price sensitive or tight bend radius requirements.  Core glass type has to be selected for wavelength requirements. Appropriate coating, buffering and jacketing materials need to be employed.  Berkshire offers the widest range of SMA format connectors with both metal and ceramic ferrules. In-house custom through hole drilling of metal ferrules is available for rapid prototyping and optimized cladding diameters.

A wide range of Ceramic ferrules are available for precision launch fiber alignment. Berkshire has solutions for the output end of the delivery fiber too.  From bulk optics beam shaping to “fiber lenses”; GRN lenses; plastic and glass diffusers or other custom designs, Berkshire can help you efficiently deliver laser light in the required beam pattern. 

Product Focus

Berkshire has all the building blocks for a wide variety of Laser Delivery Solutions. High power SMA connectors; Step-Index, large core, all-silica or Hard Plastic Clad Fibers (HPCF); double clad fibers, high damage threshold connectors; laser output beam shaping and sterilizable assemblies.

Contact Us at 860-868-0081 to discuss your high power, laser delivery system requirements. Whether CW or Pulsed; UV, NIR or multi-wavelength, 5 watts for excitation spectroscopy or 100s of watts for a new lighting application, Berkshire Engineers Solutions.