Dear Reader,  

This year has seen many challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact all our lives and many businesses. Brexit advantages to the UK bring challenges too such as driver shortages, whilst the COP26 climate change conference seeks to achieve global net zero by mid-century. LASER COMPONENTS has however continued to grow in staff numbers, bookings and revenue. We are now a 250+ people organisation across seven locations worldwide, all achieved within 40 years, which we will be celebrating next year. These achievements have doubled since 10 years ago showing a growing demand for the photonic products we manufacture, and those we distribute from our valued partner suppliers. To keep pace with this growth a holding structure has been created with the formation of a holding parent company called Photona, to provide support and direction for the group.

But what does our group do? We manufacture and supply photonic components covering the UV to FIR spectrum, from sources of light, optics for manipulating light, to detectors for specific wavelengths or ranges of wavelengths. Many instruments include a form of all three components, for example, a laser diode light source at 785 nm, focussing optics to deliver that light, and a detector to measure the Raman shifted light off a particular target material. Our components can be used to measure a particular property such as gas, dust, spectra, vibration, concentration of glucose, microgravity, communications, and so on, or functional uses such as delivering energy to satellites, mapping with LiDAR, curing inks with UV light, and more, the list is vast. Due to customer demand we also supply accessory products such as fibre optic tools, laser safety with curtains and goggles, and IR conversion screens. It gives us great pleasure to be involved in so many technologies providing solutions to new and challenging needs.

This Photonics News newsletter includes several exciting themes, such as using lasers to manufacture solar panels, delivery of optical fibre communications, water sterilisation with UV LEDs, and the use of infrared detectors to detect fires. We also present a range of new and improved components from UV photodiodes, efficient UV LEDs, single longitudinal modules (SLM) laser sources for Raman spectroscopy, and intelligent laser safety curtains.

Yours sincerely,

Chris Varney
Managing Director, Laser Components (UK), Ltd.