Development and manufacture of quantum cascade lasers (QCL), interband cascade lasers (ICL) and SWIR laser diodes.
Alpes Lasers SA
St-Blaise (CH)New on Amplifa
About Alpes Lasers
Alpes Lasers SA is a Swiss photonics company based in St-Blaise in the canton of Neuchâtel that develops and produces advanced light sources. The portfolio comprises quantum cascade lasers (QCL), interband cascade lasers (ICL) and short-wave infrared laser diodes (SWIR), which are used, among other things, for gas detection and spectroscopy. In addition to chip fabrication, the company offers packaging services in sealed HHL and TO3 housings, including the mounting and soldering of the sensitive semiconductor chips onto thermally conductive substrates with Peltier element and NTC. Complementary services include HR/AR coatings of the chip facets, shock and vibration testing in accordance with MIL-STD-810H, as well as custom development projects and new wavelengths. The products are used in industries such as Bio/Agro/Food, Medical, Environment, Industry 4.0, ICT, Basic Science, Aerospace as well as Defence and Security. Through a global reseller network, Alpes Lasers supplies customers worldwide, including distributors in USA/Canada, South Korea and Japan.
- Site
- St-Blaise
- Processes
- Manufacturing of quantum cascade lasers (QCL), Manufacturing of interband cascade lasers (ICL), Manufacturing of short-wave IR (SWIR) laser diodes, Packaging in HHL housing (mounting/soldering of laser chips onto thermally conductive substrate,, Packaging in TO3 housing (pulsed lasers in TO3 housings, 38.8 mm x 25.4 mm x 20.5 mm, collimated), High Reflection (HR) Coating (gold thin film on chip facets), Anti-Reflection (AR) Coating (index-matching deposited layers on chip facets), Shock and Vibration Testing (Random Vibrations, Sawtooth Shocks, Halfsine Shocks, MIL-STD-810H)
- Materials
- Semiconductors (laser chips, QCL/ICL), Gold (thin film for HR coating), Semiconductors (QCL/ICL laser chips), SWIR laser diodes, Gold (thin film)
- Certificates
- BS EN ISO 9001:2015, EN 9100:2018 (AS9100D)
- Founded
- 1998
- Industries
- Bio/Agro/Food, Medical/Health, Environment, Industry 4.0, ICT, Basic Science
- 01
Chip design & development
- 02
Semiconductor chip manufacturing (QCL, ICL, SWIR)
- 03
HR/AR coating of the chip facets
- 04
Packaging (HHL, TO3)
- 05
Shock & vibration testing
- 06
Installation & start-up at the customer
Materials & Technologies
Semiconductors (QCL/ICL laser chips)
Core material of the laser sources for mid-IR and SWIR applications.
SWIR laser diodes
Short-wave infrared laser diodes as a complement to the QCL portfolio.
Gold (thin film)
Thin gold layer for high-reflection coatings of the chip facets.
Locations
St-Blaise
CHHead office: development, production, packaging and testing
- Materials
- Semiconductors (QCL, ICL, SWIR), gold
- Shock and vibration test chamber (MIL-STD-810H)
- Coating system for HR/AR coatings
Products & Components
Inside the production
Industries
Processes & technical limits
| Processes | Tolerance | Max. part | Weight | Lot size | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing of quantum cascade lasers (QCL)Engineering | – | – | – | – | Semiconductors |
| Manufacturing of interband cascade lasers (ICL)Engineering | – | – | – | – | Semiconductors |
| Manufacturing of short-wave IR (SWIR) laser diodesEngineering | – | – | – | – | Semiconductors |
| Packaging in HHL housing (mounting/soldering of laser chips onto thermally conductive substrate,Assembly | – | – | – | – | – |
| Packaging in TO3 housing (pulsed lasers in TO3 housings, 38.8 mm x 25.4 mm x 20.5 mm, collimated)Assembly | – | – | – | – | – |
| High Reflection (HR) Coating (gold thin film on chip facets)Surface | – | – | – | – | Gold |
| Anti-Reflection (AR) Coating (index-matching deposited layers on chip facets)Surface | – | – | – | – | – |
| Shock and Vibration Testing (Random Vibrations, Sawtooth Shocks, Halfsine Shocks, MIL-STD-810H)Testing | – | – | – | – | – |
| Custom Product Development (development of individual products or new series)Engineering | – | – | – | – | – |
| New wavelength development / Development projectsEngineering | – | – | – | – | – |
| Installation and start-up service for laser systemsAssembly | – | – | – | – | – |
1 Anlagen & Maschinen
| Machine | Manufacturer / model | Quantity | Working area | Year built | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shock and vibration test chamber | – | – | – | – | St-Blaise, Switzerland |
Additional services
Reference customers
Quality
The quality management system is certified by Bureau Veritas in accordance with BS EN ISO 9001:2015 and EN 9100:2018 (equivalent to AS9100D), with a focus on the design, development and production of QCL products for aerospace and defence. Shock and vibration testing in accordance with MIL-STD-810H is available for the qualification of laser systems.
| Evidence | St-Blaise |
|---|---|
| BS EN ISO 9001:2015 | |
| EN 9100:2018 (AS9100D) |
History
- 1994
Prof. Jérôme Faist (ETH Zurich) co-invented the quantum cascade laser (QCL).
- 1998
Founding of Alpes Lasers in Neuchâtel by Jérôme Faist, Antoine Müller and Matthias Beck; the first company to offer QCLs on the market.
- 2001
First CW laser on the market.
- 2004
First commercial QCL-DFB devices.
- 2006
First broadly tunable external-cavity QCLs (EC-QCL).
- 2009
First broad-gain laser on the market.
- 2015
Launch of XT-QCL (Vernier effect), HP-QCL (≥1 W average power, >9 W peak) and Extended Tuning DFB-QCL (QC-ET).
- 2016
Introduction of the External Cavity Laser Kit (ECLK).
- 2019
Launch of SWIR laser diodes; efficiency record for QCLs (430 A/cm² CW/RT).
- 2025
Introduction of the GLIDER, a monolithic all-in-one light source with a broad tuning range.
- 2026
Introduction of the RF-HHL module for GHz-speed modulation.