Laser Transmitters & Laser Glass

MATERIALS

L3Harris standard and special laser glass materials may be doped with rare-earth elements such as erbium, ytterbium, samarium, neodymium, holmium, thulium, dysprosium, europium and praseodymium.

SPECIALTY GLASS PRODUCTS AVAILABLE

• Q-98
  A neodymium-doped athermal phosphate laser glass of exceptional optical quality offering high gain and athermal behavior. The result is a higher repetition rate with minimum beam divergence.
• Q-100
  Patented use in applications where the highest possible gain is desired. The superior performance of this neodymium-doped athermal phosphate glass results from its uniquely high neodymium concentration.
• Q-246
  A neodymium-doped silicate laser glass known for its strength and durability. It is the laser glass of choice for a wide range of applications from range finding to materials processing.
• QE-7 & QE-7s
  Erbium-doped phosphate laser glass that is four times more efficient than the erbium-doped silicate laser glass developed in the 1960s. Its unique "eye-safe" operating wavelength of 1.535 microns makes it ideal for specialized medical apparatus as well as field-safe range finding.
• QX/Nd, QX/Er and QX/Yb
  QX phosphate glass laser materials exhibit a chemical durability that is comparable to silicate glasses. These high-performance laser glasses are designed to withstand high thermal loading and thermal shock conditions in both strengthened and unstrengthened configurations.
• IR Glass
  Germanate IR transmitting glass window/laser material, L3Harris BGA and NRL BGG glass materials exhibit high optical transmission in a wide window region from the visible (~ 450nm) through the infrared to ~ 5μm. L3Harris has demonstrated a tunable 2.09 micron BGA glass laser doped with holmium and other rare-earth sensitizers.
• Special Melting Facility
  L3Harris' "Special Melts" are manufactured to customer-specified dopant concentrations. Various base materials for your "Special Melt" host glass are available from an extensive menu. Let our technical people help you select a glass laser material specifically designed for your application.

L3Harris facility located in Hilton Head, SC has built its business on excellence and scientific innovation to offers eye-safe laser transmitters and specialty glass.

• Initially founded as a COTS provider, we now develop products for the US Department of Defense (DoD)
• 49-year history of delivering Erbium glass and diode pumped transmitters
• L3Harris has world-class expertise in the design and development of solid-state lasers and active EO systems
• We offer unique capabilities in laser glass development, manufacturing, and laser transmitter architecture
• Proprietary glass formulations
• Laser transmitter sub-assembly design/fabrication optimized specifically for glass-based architectures
• Thermal management and optical efficiency
• Additional expertise in laser receiver and drive electronics
• Packaging for ambient temperature ranges of -40 to +85 C (-22 to 185 F), and elevated mechanical shock/vibration
  

L3Harris provides industry leading laser glass materials along with transmitter architectures uniquely engineered for optimized performance using these materials.

When we think about glass, we think first of household items. Practical, decorative, clear and breakable – but glass is so much more. It is a fascinating material with amazing possibilities. L3Harris is a manufacturer of specialty laser glass. Our customers have strict standards and require glass that performs in extreme conditions where decisions rely on the quality of the glass.

L3Harris excels at laser glass fabrications that require innovative production techniques, including small-batch melting and pouring, making us a leading manufacturer specializing in processing glass for a wide array of industries within global markets. L3Harris’ specialty laser glass materials are doped with specialty rare-elements Erbium, Ytterbium and other elements based on the end user application for the laser glass.

In addition to the laser glass, L3Harris designs and manufactures its own Q-switch material.  Q-switching is a method for generating intense short pulses, generating high-peak laser power. This proprietary cobalt-doped glass provides our transmitters with the added advantage of using self-made material where a rare and expensive crystal is usually used. Using this proprietary glass for Q-switching allows our transmitters to remain cost-competitive with the added bonus of controlling material quality.

Our artisanal process allows L3Harris to create small-batch, custom laser glass to meet the specifications needed by our customers. Our process allows us to be agile - our engineers and technicians work to analyze the requirements and end-user information to formulate glass for a specific application.

L3Harris' laser glass has the properties to support the broad spectrum of output energy, high-repetition rates and conductive properties to capture and distribute laser light for range finding, imaging, illumination tracking and targeting applications. Our glass efficiently absorbs and uniformly transfers diode-pump laser light into a single mode, lasing wavelength.

One use for the glass is inside L3Harris laser range finders. Laser range finders use high peak power laser light sources for accurate, long-range distance measurements. A laser designator provides the user target information to know where ordinance seeking such information should be aimed. L3Harris makes compact, low-profile laser designators for users demanding high performance in a compact, ruggedized package. In addition, we manufacture laser designators for man-portable, small gimbal vehicles, airborne and UAS applications.

The glass is an integrated component of L3Harris laser transmitters. Our laser transmitters produce improved beam quality with more efficiency while providing the critical accuracy our customers need. Our laser transmitters are compact, high efficiency and offer a wide operational temperature range with no moving parts or any active cooling requirements.  L3Harris’ dedicated engineering team supports your project’s design and integration requirements.

Our advanced laser range finders are optimized to reduce size, weight and power. Enhanced by diode-pumped technologies, they are optimal solutions for airborne, land and sea applications. 

At L3Harris, our in-house processes, highly-skilled staff development and custom-batch manufacturing techniques allow tailored solutions for the most challenging laser glass specifications. Leveraging more than our vast experience, L3Harris is the premier provider for your toughest laser glass and laser transmitter challenges.