Altus Consulting

Altus’ Laser Heated Pedestal Growth (LHPG) technology can produce fibers and thin rods that are longer, thinner, and of better quality than those made by others, and opens up new applications in industrial, military and medical laser markets and, potentially, in completely new sectors.

Our LHPG systems enable fabrication of fibers down to 25 micron diameters with high coiling flexibility and lengths not available from alternative processes. Additionally, at scale LHPG supports far higher production efficiencies than alternative methodologies.

LHPG involves drawing a fiber upwards out of a source rod and molten seed crystal combination. The process can use a variety of refractory materials and dopants, driven by the performance requirements of the laser in its end use. The speed of growth and the size of the fiber are related, with higher speeds associated with thinner fibers. Additionally, LHPG unlike other methods, does not use a crucible and so contamination is significantly less, resulting in higher quality products.

Using LHPG, crystals can be grown more quickly (more than 300 mm/hour) and using materials with higher melting points than other methods, resulting in a more economical approach to producing crystals for many applications.