Optics & Photonics News

Toptica Photonics:

Helping Lasers Leave the Laboratory Wilhelm Kaenders

Courtesy of Toptica Photonics Diode and fiber laser technology is ideally suited to allow transfer from the optical ab into real-world applications.

For more than a decade this self-funded company has worked to develop and commercialize diode and fiber lasers while remaining active in the research community.

Tunable diode lasers were developed in 1995 by Theodor Hänsch’s research group at the Ludwigs-Maximilians University in Munich. With their promise for industrial applications, they piqued the interest of Toptica’s precursor company, Technolas. Although I had not yet finished my Ph.D. at the time, the people at Technolas identified me from the start as a key player because I had worked with tunable diode laser systems for the previous four years.

This was the opportunity that I had longed for—to extend my academic path by pursuing an entrepreneurial venture. A small team that I led quickly developed external-cavity diode lasers, including low-noise driver and control electronics, and we introduced them into the market at the Munich fair called LASER in 1995.

From the beginning, one of the core markets for the company was laser tools that could physically manipulate atoms using resonant radiation pressure. Laser cooling—the process of making cold atoms and studying their interactions— has become one of the major research areas of modern physics; three Nobel Prizes have been awarded for work in this area over the past 12 years. Toptica has been contributing to this development for many years, helping to accelerate progress in this very competitive field.

URL: www.toptica.com Headquarters: Munich, Germany and Rochester, N. Y., U.S.A. Products: Diode lasers Founded: 1998 Founders: Wilhelm Kaenders and Thomas Weber Number of employees: 95 Partners: Alfred Leitenstorfer, University Konstanz

Launching the company

In 1998, my colleague Thomas Weber
and I launched Toptica as an indepen-
dent business. We have enjoyed double-
digit growth rates ever since. Gaining
recognition as a supportive and delivering
member of the scientific community is
very important to us. At the same time,
knowing how fast research interests move,
we have also taken care to have multiple
lines of technology in house beyond
research. In fact, in 1998, when we had
only seven people on board, we started
working on optical disk storage technolo-
gies. This was triggered by customers’
needs and a U.S. support program on
optically assisted magnetic storage.

Advice to the aspiring entrepreneur

Enjoy what you do. Toptica was founded, and is run by, two passionate physicists, and it is strongly driven by technology. As an employer, we appeal to young researchers who enjoy our team approach and company culture.

Think globally: Despite our relatively small size, we have developed a global market presence. The ubiquitous Internet is a great tool for businesses looking to expand beyond their borders.

Believe in yourself: Toptica has become a role model for academic startups. We are typical for Germany and other European countries, where funding rules differ from elsewhere in the world. We couldn’t have succeeded without being confident and committed to our vision.