Seed Drivers for Pulse Durations from picoseconds to cw

Precision, quality and flexibility have made PicoLAS one of the leading providers for laser diode drivers and TEC drivers.
Since its foundation in 2005 in Aachen, Germany, the PicoLAS GmbH has successfully established a unique portfolio of drivers. Our engineers use all their expertise and experience to develop every single one of our products to the highest performance standards. This way, our portfolio increases continuously by various laser drivers. Our OEM drivers have pulse durations from 200 ps up to continuous wave (cw) with currents of up to 2000 A. We have the right product for many areas and applications – for the control of high power diodes or for LIDAR, medical or seeding applications. Of course, our R&D team also develops individual drivers upon request, which are adapted to the specific requirements of our customers.
Some of the highlights from more than a decade of experience are the fully digital current control and the conductive cooling via baseplate. The in-house production allows complete control of the high standard production quality and flexible adjustment of our drivers to satisfy your individual needs.

The high speed seed drivers from PicoLAS are specially designed to drive laser diodes in seeding applications for fibre and solid state laser amplifiers. They either offer a full range analog real time modulation or extremely short pulse durations in the ps-regime. With the full range analog real time modulation arbitrary pulse shapes or minimal pulse durations of 1 ns can be created. All drivers suitable for a laser diode in a butterfly package also offer an integrated TEC driver and a digital control interface.

Our BFS-VRM 03

Our BFS-VRM 03 is one of the world’s fastest analog modulated drivers for seed applications, DVD-Disk mastering, printing applications, etc. With an output current from zero to 3 A it delivers enough power to overdrive single mode diodes for short pulses. The pulse widths span from 1 ns to cw is continuously addressable via the analog input signal. The fascinating technology and the wide span is unique worldwide. Of course, there are protective features, such as the protection of the laser diode against reverse currents, and the driver is base plate cooled like all other drivers from PicoLAS. The innovative current regulation concept actively prevents the laser diode from overshoots and overcurrent and there is a protection against transients through the regulated current rise time. Furthermore, you can enable and disable the input and monitor the driver status output as well as the laser fire monitor. We integrated an over temperature shutdown, so the device is secured at all times.

The BFPS-VRHSP 02 is a specialized driver for ultra short pulse applications. With this device PicoLAS releases the first seed driver available on the market which enables short pulse durations as low as < 500 ps up to 10 ns with an extraordinary current potential of 2 A. A further special highlight of the device is the integrated pulse width controller. Moreover, all settings can be performed via an integrated digital interface which is perfectly linked to the device. The digital interface also logs the different tracks of the device. Furthermore, the innovative current regulation concept actively prevents laser diodes from overshoots and overcurrent. Just as the BFS-VRM 03, you can enable or disable the inpu, control the driver status output and laser fire monitor of this device. The overtemperature shutdown and protection of the laser diode against reverse currents is also integrated.

Optional accessories

Optional accessories for both of the BFS-VRM 03 and BFPS-VRHSP 02 are the PLCS-40 and PLB-21. By linking those devices you will be able to perfectly control the seed driver and reach the outstanding performance the devices are capable of.
Before using the devices, please pay special attention to the manual. Our engineers put together an extensive list of do’s and don’ts which will support our customers by setting up the device. All documents can be found online and will support throughout the operation. Of course, in case there are questions unanswered, please do not hesitate to contact us. Our support is available via mail, but you can also give us a call during our business hours.

If you are looking for further information, check out our online shop, it views all product details. You can find the data sheets and detailed information about seed drivers for pulse durations from picoseconds to cw online. If you follow the steps as described and take the suitable products into account, you will be able to use the maximum capacity.

Customer support

Your satisfaction as customer, for example in the field of photonics, with our products and service is of utmost importance for us. Therefore, the quality of our products and the good feedback of our customers is our top priority. To achieve our product quality, we implemented a multilevel quality assurance. We test each device during manufacturing separately and archive the test results. Thus, each product is completely traceable through our product process through the serial number. The test protocols are stored without any time limit and this allows us to check on every device we ever manufactured. Another important factor for us is to avoid external production processes to keep control over each production step. Therefore, apart from the delivery of the PCB and the components, we carry out the complete manufacturing in-house. From the PCB assembly to the electrical testing of each device is everything in our hands. This allows us to control the quality of each step and it also enables us to do faster prototyping or customization for projects with our customers.

ISO certification

These high standards we set ourselves for our production and the derived quality management system is certified according to the ISO 9001:2015 norm. We developed these standards based on the needs and wishes of our customers, now and in the future. Furthermore, we thrive to exceed our customers’ expectations with individual products or standard products of our portfolio. The quality management system guarantees accurate production planning and enables PicoLAS to develop new drivers and share innovative news with our customers. In addition, this also optimizes our innovation cycles and lead time. In the end, we focus on our customers’ satisfaction, thus, communication and cooperation is key to establish successful customer relationships. We always encourage you to raise questions and to give feedback. Only this way we can improve your customer journey and our innovative technology.