Photonics West is the world’s largest optics and photonics event, bringing together thousands of innovators in optics, lasers, and quantum technologies at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA. This global stage is where cutting-edge research meets real-world applications. indie will be exhibiting at all three SPIE exhibitions, including Bios (booth #8357), Photonics West (booth #4719), and Quantum West (booth #510), along with five technical presentations covering our optical, laser, and SLED solutions.
Presentations:
- Compact optical module with RGB superluminescent diodes and collinearly aligned collimated output beams
- Uncooled micro-RGB optical module with wavelength-stable DFB/DBR laser diodes and collimated output beams
- High-performance GaN DFB lasers from 400 nm to 520 nm
- Coherent sensing transceiver based on narrow linewidth semiconductor laser and silicon photonics IQ receiver
Read through the sneak preview and be sure to join us at one, two, or all our technical presentations!
Compact optical module with RGB superluminescent diodes and collinearly aligned collimated output beams
When: 19 January 2026 • 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM PST
We demonstrate a new miniaturized, full-color RGB light source module on a micro-optical bench architecture with a collimated beam output for near-to-eye display systems, incorporating semiconductor superluminescent diodes (SLEDs) for red, green and blue emission. All SLED emitters are generating large optical peak power levels of 350 mW per color with short electrical current pulses at short duty cycles, thereby massively reducing the average power consumption. This new uncooled RGB SLED light source module has a SMD-mountable ceramic package for direct reflow soldering onto printed circuit boards and delivers collimated beams having a high circularization of better than 85% with large 1/e2 beam diameters around 1.0 mm that are collinearly aligned with low angular alignment errors.
Where: Poster Hall (Moscone West, Level 2) Paper: 13821-88
Uncooled micro-RGB optical module with wavelength-stable DFB/DBR laser diodes and collimated output beams
When: 20 January 2026 • 11:00 AM – 11:20 AM PST
We demonstrate the first uncooled, micro-RGB module that is realized with high-performance, wavelength-stable, single-frequency DBR (red) and DFB (blue and green) laser diodes. A multi-layer, SMD-mountable ceramic acts as a heatsink but also as an optical bench for the light sources and the free-space collimation optics to deliver a collimated, circular output beam. The DBR/DFB laser sources deliver output power levels of more than 50 mW per color over a wide temperature range with a temperature-related wavelength shift that is 3-4-times smaller compared to conventional RGB Fabry-Perot laser diodes. Therefore, this will be beneficial for AR/MR display systems based on holographic grating structures that show a significant change of diffraction angle and efficiency with wavelength.
Where: Room 2010 (Moscone West, Level 2) Paper: 13821-57
High-performance GaN DFB lasers from 400 nm to 520 nm
When: 20 January 2026 • 11:10 AM – 11:30 AM PST
Distributed feedback (DFB) laser diodes based on gallium nitride (GaN) enable narrow-linewidth, single-frequency emission across the 400–520 nm range, offering compact, efficient sources for applications in communications, sensing, and quantum technologies. These devices employ monolithic gratings integrated into single-transverse-mode ridge-waveguide structures, achieving high side-mode suppression ratios and stable operation over a wide current range. They exhibit low threshold currents, high differential efficiencies and wall-plug efficiencies comparable to Fabry–Perot lasers. Wavelength tuning is continuous and mode-hop free, with sensitivities of ~15 pm/K and 4 pm/mA. The intrinsic linewidths are below 1 MHz. The monolithic grating design ensures high spectral stability (less than 1 pm drift over 15 hours) and reduced wavelength variation across and between wafers. Lifetests at 50–60 mW output show stable performance over 5’000 hours, with projected MTTF values exceeding 10’000 hours.
Where: Room 158 (Moscone South, Upper Mezzanine) Paper: 13912-19
Learn more: https://spie.org/photonics-west/presentation/High-performance-GaN-DFB-lasers-from-400-nm-to-520/13912-19
Low-threshold GaN laser diodes with ultra-short gain sections and passive waveguides
When: 21 January 2026 • 2:50 PM – 3:10 PM PST
We demonstrate GaN-based visible laser diodes featuring ultra-short electrically pumped gain sections integrated with longer passive waveguiding regions, fabricated with a two-step epitaxial overgrowth method. The active regions consist of InGaN/AlGaN waveguides and InGaN quantum wells emitting near 450 nm, while passive sections share the same substrate and cladding, but lack active layers. This active-passive architecture enables precise control of gain region length and supports applications such as distributed Bragg reflector lasers, non-absorbing mirror designs, and integrated photonic platforms. Devices with very short gain sections of 100 µm and passive segments up to 500 µm exhibit threshold currents below 10 mA in single-mode ridge-waveguide configurations with high beam quality. Measured optical losses in passive sections are below 2 cm⁻¹, with active-passive coupling efficiency around 90%. Efficient continuous-wave lasing is maintained, confirming the architecture’s suitability for low-power photonic applications, including near-eye displays, integrated optics or battery-driven optical sensors.
Where: Room 157 (Moscone South, Upper Mezzanine) Paper: 13896-37
Coherent sensing transceiver based on narrow linewidth semiconductor laser and silicon photonics IQ receiver
When: 20 January 2026 • 11:20 AM – 11:40 AM PST
We present a compact coherent sensing transceiver that integrates a narrow linewidth DFB semiconductor laser, a silicon photonics in-phase and quadrature (IQ) receiver, and a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA), all co-packaged in a 25 × 18 mm optical engine. The laser, locked to a frequency discriminator, achieves a frequency noise floor of 3 Hz²/Hz and a Lorentzian linewidth of 10 Hz. It maintains wavelength stability within 2 pm from –15 °C to +70 °C. We demonstrate high-resolution OFDR over 50 m and long-range C-OTDR over 50 km, enabling scalable, high-performance distributed photonic sensing.
Where: Room 3014 (Moscone West, Level 3) Paper: 13904-18
Learn more: https://spie.org/photonics-west/presentation/Coherent-sensing-transceiver-based-on-narrow-linewidth-semiconductor-laser-and/13904-18