“LASORB has applications across an array of consumer, commercial, and industrial products,” said William Benner, president and chief technology officer, Pangolin Laser Systems. “ESD is a well-known problem for laser diodes, especially Blu-ray laser diodes and low-power single-mode red laser diodes. A single modest ESD event can cause permanent damage, resulting in partial or complete diode failure often fail long before the manufacturers' rated life expectancy, and ESD is the suspected cause of many malfunctions.”

Benner said LASORB also protects against reverse bias conditions. While Schottky diodes are typically used for this purpose, Benner said using LASORB in their place offered protection against both ESD and reverse biasing.

The company is currently producing two series of LASORB, one for red and infrared diodes and a second for Blu-ray diodes. The component package is compact (8.9 mm tall x 10.4 mm long x 3.8 mm thick) and mounts in a 2-pin, through-hole configuration. Custom packages are available, and an SMT version will be offered as well.

Said Benner, “Previous solutions for ESD often fail in some respect to protect laser diodes. They are either too slow to respond, ineffective in the required voltage range, or incapable of absorbing the energy of a voltage surge. LASORB protects against ESD as well as from power surges caused by turning equipment on and off. It protects against reverse bias.”

You can view a video demonstrating the component’s capabilities at www.lasorb.com, as well as obtain detailed product information and datasheets, background on laser diodes and ESD, a review of the limitations of previous ESD solutions in laser diodes applications, and links to other resources.

The company has produced two videos demonstrating the effects of ESD on laser diodes, including Blu-ray diodes, and the effectiveness of LASORB in protecting them. The videos can be seen on the LASORB website (http://www.lasorb.com/11_videos.htm) or on YouTube: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bvoC81ZsTM and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bow7pL4n3Ak).

Pangolin Laser Systems is a developer and producer of software and related control hardware for laser display applications in entertainment, business, and industry. The company, founded in 1986, has received more than 20 awards for technical achievement, including, most recently, an award for LASORB from the International Laser Display Assn. Pangolin is based in Orlando. William Benner, Pangolin's president, co-founder, and chief technology officer, holds several patents in the field of laser technology and electronics.