Anticipating Laser Munich

Rebecca C. Jernigan, rebecca.jernigan@laurin.com

Running from 15 to 18 June, Laser World of Photonics 2009 will be held at the New Munich Trade Fair Centre in conjunction with the World of Photonics Congress. It brings together companies and researchers from all segments of the photonics industry.

This year’s show has three main sections for attendees: biophotonics and life sciences, lasers in photovoltaics manufacturing, and illumination. The biophotonics segment will include the Symposium on Biophotonics Research, part of a program subsidized by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research, as well as an exhibition section for biophotonics-related applications, techniques and procedures.

The west entrance to Laser 2007 was decorated with the national flags of countries of many of the attendees. Courtesy of Laser World of Photonics.

According to the trade fair’s Web site, in 2007, the most recent year for which numbers are available, 99 per cent of visitors to the show worked in a photonics-related industry, and 47 per cent were from countries other than Germany. The 1008 exhibitors were from 36 countries and the 26,665 visitors, from 77 countries. The event was covered by journalists from 16 countries, and it appeared in 310 trade journal reports, 125 articles in daily or business news products, 110 radio reports, five television reports and 170 Internet stories.

For those interested in attending the show, online registration is available through the official Web site, world-of-photonics.net. A one-day ticket is €32, a two-day pass is €52, and discount tickets are available to groups, students, conscripts, civilian servants and retirees for €16. All prices include the value-added tax of 19 per cent.

Who will be there?

Here are a few of the latest products from companies that will be at the show.

Newport Corp.

The 1928-C single-channel benchtop optical meter interfaces with all of the company’s photodiode detectors, thermopiles and pyroelectric detectors. It can measure from 11 pW to 20 kW of optical power and from 7 μJ to 20 kJ of pulse energy.

Gooch & Housego

The Fibre Q fibre-coupled acousto-optics module was designed for use in pulsed fibre laser amplifier systems in applications such as materials processing. It is offered in a compact hermetically sealed package.

Edmund Optics

Diffuse reflectance grid distortion targets perform similarly to ceramic targets but have been treated to create a surface that reflects light diffusely, limiting glare. They feature a chrome pattern on a substrate and are available in two substrate sizes and three dot frequencies.

Lumics GmbH

The U-mount open-frame laser diode package offers 9 W of CW output power at 808 nm and 16 W at 980 nm, with a peak pulse of 13 and 30 W, respectively. It is produced in large quantities to keep the price low.

Aerotech Inc.

The AGR series motorized stages offers a preloading scheme to avoid changing wear characteristics and a large clear aperture for applications that require a through-hole or accommodations to mount an optic. The stage base is fabricated from an aluminium alloy to provide a lighter-weight system.