The following are among winners of Photonics Spectra Magazine's Photonics Circle of Excellence Awards, given annually to the industry's top 25 technically innovative products and in recognition of excellence, innovation and achievement, at an awards ceremony held concurrently with Photonics West.
Bookham New Focus -- New Focus, a division of Bookham Inc., for its TLM-8700 tunable laser module, a high-performance tunable laser packaged in a compact cPCI/PXI module that can be integrated into OEM instruments for spectroscopy, life science and telecommunications test-and-measurement applications. Bookham's optical components, modules and subsystems are used in telecommunications, data communications, aerospace, industrial and military applications.
IPG Photonics -- IPG Photonics, for its 600-W single-mode ytterbium fiber laser, a combination of high fluence and true single-mode operation. The YLR-600 is "a totally monolithic, all-fiber format, two-stage device requiring no adjustment or alignment" that has demonstrated enhanced cutting, welding and scribing results for the industrial market and has stimulated intense interest on several government and scientific applications, IPG said. Customers use IPG lasers in high-speed and remote welding and high-speed cutting and for drilling and surface modification for applications in the automotive, aerospace, chemical, construction, petroleum and shipbuilding industries.
StockerYale -- StockerYale was recognized for its Cobra 500 LED line illuminator. The company developed the innovative chip-on-board reflective array (COBRA) method for LED module fabrication, a technique that represents a significant improvement in both thermal and optical performance. The COBRA technique, combined with recent technological advances in the LED semiconductor industry, have allowed the company to deliver compact LED-based illuminators that provide more optical power than traditional lighting technologies, such as halogen and fluorescent, in certain applications. StockerYale, based in Salem, N.H., makes structured light lasers, LEDs, fiber optic and fluorescent illumination technologies and specialty optical fiber and phase masks for use in machine vision, telecommunications, aerospace, defense and security, utilities, industrial inspection and medical markets.
