LONDON, December 1 /PRNewswire/ -- The Frost Sullivan '2009 European Diode-Pumped Solid State Laser Technology Innovation of the Year Award', is presented to KLASTECH Karpushko Laser Technologies GmbH.

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For the Technology Innovation Award, the following criteria were used to benchmark KLASTECH's performance against key competitors: uniqueness of the technology, impact on new products/applications, impact on functionality, impact on customer value and, relevance of innovation to the industry.

Although there are many diode-pumped solid state (DPSS) lasers manufacturers in Europe, mastering in DPSS is still unique, notes Frost Sullivan Research Analyst Igor Derylo. With their intra-cavity impedance matched laser technology, KLASTECH has positioned itself at the top with regards to beam quality, reliability, and energy efficiency.

KLASTECH has made strong gains as this technology offers considerable development flexibility. The company has developed outstanding product lines including UV Verve, Ruby Crescendo and green Scherzo.

The KLASTECH technology platform is unique as it presents a different way of thinking about frequency doubling in visible light lasers. The company identified the frequency doubling process as significantly affecting the overall laser efficiency.

By adopting a novel optical scheme to meet the challenge of impedance mismatch between laser cavity and frequency doubling cavity, a considerable part of internal laser losses was reduced, simultaneously increasing the efficiency, explains Derylo. At the same time, the alignment tolerances regime was released, offering greater reliability.

Features such as small size, robustness, and high energy efficiency drive the applicability of laser sources. KLASTECH's technology fulfils all these criteria.

Besides new applications, this technology can also enhance the functionality of DPSS lasers, states Derylo. In this context, KLASTECH has pioneered the world's first continuous wave DPSS ruby laser, generating wavelengths at 694 nm.

Intra-cavity impedance matched laser technology allows end-users to experience high quality, particularly single frequency beam generation, at an economical cost because the quality derives from the design itself rather than from keeping very tight tolerances or involving advanced manufacturing processes. The competition, in contrast, tends to focus on high reliability and compactness, rather than on allowing high beam quality at reasonable cost. Therefore, KLASTECH scores higher in terms of its impact on customer value.

With regards to the life time of a technology, KLASTECH's laser technology presents considerably higher potential than the competition. This technology realigns a laser's optical scheme, whereas competing technologies merely represent novel ways of building laser cavities.

Hence, the intra-cavity impedance matched laser technology could potentially be implemented with manufacturing technologies developed by competitors as well as with newer manufacturing approaches that will appear in the future, states Derylo. It will be difficult to develop an optical scheme that could successfully challenge the KLASTECH technology.

Frost Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognise companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.

About KLASTECH GmbH

KLASTECH GmbH specialises in manufacturing high quality compact DPSS lasers for demanding applications. KLASTECH lasers deliver ultra quiet, single frequency laser light with diffraction limited beam profiles, enabling analytical instrument designers and researchers alike to surpass their highest expectations. KLASTECH was founded in 2005 by Professor Fedor Karpushko, who invented the (Intra-cavity Impedance-Matched Amplification Tuned) laser technology. This technology is patented worldwide, for example in Europe under the patent Intra-cavity Frequency Conversion of Laser Radiation (EP 1 442 507 B1). KLASTECH serves customers in industrial (OEM) sector as well as RD applications. The company has received early stage funding from the German Triangle Venture Capital Group.

KLASTECH GmbH Contact: Christopher J. Madin - Chief Sales Officer Phone: +49-231-47730-640 E-Mail: c.madin@klastech.de

About Frost Sullivan

Frost Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve best in class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company's Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO's Growth Team with disciplined research and best practice models to drive the generation, evaluation, and implementation of powerful growth strategies. Frost Sullivan leverages over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from more than 35 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership, please visit http://www.frost.com.

Frost Sullivan Contact: Jasmine Malone - Promotions Coordinator Phone: +44-207-915-7869 E-Mail: jasmine.malone@frost.com

SOURCE: Frost SOURCE: Sullivan

CONTACT: Christopher J. Madin, Chief Sales Officer of KLASTECH GmbH,+49-231-47730-640, c.madin@klastech.de; or Jasmine Malone - PromotionsCoordinator of Frost Sullivan, +44-207-915-7869, jasmine.malone@frost.com