Lumentum, a leading provider of VCSEL (vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser) arrays for lidar and 3D sensing applications, have come out with the first of their M Series products: the M51-100 905 nm 70-watt multi-junction VCSEL array (see picture).
Lumentum’s automotive-qualified, high-performance M Series features peak powers suited for short- and long-range advanced mobility and industrial lidar applications. In addition to higher available power densities, extensive accelerated life testing has shown the same high reliability as single-junction VCSEL devices already in volume production. The M Series is easily integrated into customer platforms and can replace edge-emitting lasers in existing mechanical-scan systems, or be arrayed into configurable illumination sources for addressable, solid-state electronic scanning lidar systems. VCSELs provide advantages in efficiency, scalability, and reliability that are essential to the accelerating rate of innovation in automotive and industrial lidar and 3D sensing applications.
Further M Series product releases are expected later this quarter: The M52-100 is a 100-watt multi-junction VCSEL array designed for line-scanning lidar solutions, and the M53-100 is a 400-watt device tailored for flash lidar systems with unprecedented power from a VCSEL product.
DVN comment
Laser source arrays must be designed to be adaptable to the different modulations and scanning strategies that lidar providers want to use. Lumentum demonstrate here their agility to quickly adapt to the variety of lidar concepts like MEMs scanning as well as flash emitting structures.