High-power laser diode drivers and solutions for the electronic control of diode lasers and other laser types within the high-power range are highly specialized technologies, requiring plenty of experience and expertise. The Baden-Baden-based experts for individual professional power supply solutions from Schulz-Electronic have been projecting laser driver solutions for several decades. In recent months, they significantly expanded their laser-partner portfolio: newest additions are Advice Electronics from Israel and the Russian laser driver manufacturer Maiman Electronics. Six months ago, the Swiss Meerstetter Engineering team also announced further upcoming projects in collaboration with Schulz-Electronic – targeting to expand the solutions already offered together, into higher power segments. 

Advice Electronics’ flagship is the modular LCH capacitor charger series with ultrashort loading times due to a quasi-constant power output (QCP), for voltages up to 1,600 V and 350 up to 9,000 W of power. Developed by Advice Electronics, the attractively priced LCH-series was designed to offer faster loading times than conventional devices at identical power ratings can offer. Advices’ devices are frequently used in medical, medical aesthetic (so-called IPL systems) and pulse laser systems in industrial environments. They as well drive medical-surgical lasers, flash-lamp pumped industrial welding lasers, pulsed UV hardening  systems, surface and food sterilization systems and are used in photovoltaic manufacturing.

Maiman Electronics scores with highly compact laser diode drivers up to the high current range, which can make very high power available at a small packaged size. Maiman Electronics is considered as a supplier for very high efficiencies as well as high stability and precision. The devices from Maiman Electronics currently available from Schulz-Electronic are at a range of 10 up to 40 V voltage at 15 up to 450 A current. However, the portfolio also includes butterfly drivers of only a few amperes at a noise performance at the µA range.

Schulz-Electronics’ close development cooperation with the Swiss laser electronics specialist Meerstetter Engineering has already been announced last year. The two companies work together in distribution and for the joint further development of variable, cost-efficient premium laser diode driver solutions. The latest collaboration deals with the new – even more powerful – Meerstetter LDD-1137 GaN-FET diode driver platform. The basic parameters of this pulsable, cw multiphase driver reach up to 75 A output current and 75 V output voltage. Thanks to the latest GaN-FET technology, rise times in pulsed mode of less than 500 ns are possible at output powers of up to several kilowatts.

Johannes Wolf, segment manager laser at Schulz-Electronic: “The choice of our partners was also made with a view to enable synergies for already planned, high-performing applications which are already well preconfigured for our customers.”