About Featured Expert: NKT Photonics

NKT Photonics are global industry experts in fiber lasers, supercontinuum sources, ultrafast lasers and specialty optical fibers. The company develops laser and fiber technologies for scientific, medical, industrial, aerospace, defense and quantum applications. Its work spans specialty fiber design, laser light generation and control, and the integration of those technologies into systems requiring specific wavelength, linewidth, pulse, power and delivery characteristics.

NKT Photonics was formed through the 2009 merger of Crystal Fibre and Koheras, bringing together established expertise in photonic crystal fibers, low-noise fiber lasers and supercontinuum sources. That combined technical base remains central to the company’s current portfolio, particularly in applications where fiber structure and laser architecture must be developed together rather than treated as separate parts of the optical system.

NKT Photonics - Featured Expert Logo - Photonics Industry MonthlyThe company’s SuperK series uses nonlinear propagation in specialty fiber to generate broadband supercontinuum light from a compact laser source. These systems are typically used across bio-imaging, spectroscopy, semiconductor inspection, device characterization and scientific instrumentation applications, where broad spectral coverage and controlled wavelength selection must be incorporated into the same optical platform. In addition, the company’s single-frequency Koheras lasers address applications requiring narrow linewidth and low phase and intensity noise. Available across erbium- and ytterbium-based wavelength regions, with frequency-converted options extending into additional spectral bands, these all-fiber sources are used in sensing, metrology, quantum technology, coherent communications and other systems where spectral stability is a primary requirement.

NKT Photonics also develops ultrafast lasers in both fiber and solid-state configurations. Its picosecond and femtosecond systems support applications including precision micromachining, medical-device manufacturing, nonlinear imaging and scientific research. Fiber-delivered options extend that capability into equipment architectures where stable beam delivery and integration are of equal importance to pulse performance.

Specialty-fiber development remains an important part of NKT Photonics’ wider expertise. Its portfolio includes photonic crystal fibers, large-mode-area fibers, nonlinear fibers, polarization-maintaining fibers and other application-specific designs used within lasers, amplifiers, sensing systems and research platforms. These fibers can be supplied either as components or as larger modules incorporated into laser systems, depending upon application requirements.

The company’s work increasingly combines these technologies at the system level. Supercontinuum sources can be paired with tunable filtering and wavelength-selection modules, while single-frequency and ultrafast lasers can be configured with fiber delivery, amplification or frequency-conversion stages. This allows wavelength generation, pulse formation, beam delivery and application integration to be addressed within a more unified optical architecture.

NKT Photonics supports applications across medical and life sciences, industrial processing, aerospace and defense, and quantum and nanotechnology. Its technologies are used in microscopy, spectroscopy, remote sensing, semiconductor inspection, laser processing, gravity and magnetic-field measurement, deep-space communication and other systems requiring controlled light generation and delivery.

The company became part of Hamamatsu Photonics in 2024 and continues to operate as a subsidiary responsible for fiber and laser development, manufacturing and commercialization within the wider group. Headquartered in Birkerød, Denmark, NKT Photonics supports customers through engineering, manufacturing, sales and service operations in Europe, North America and Asia. To learn more about NKT Photonics and its fiber-laser and specialty-fiber technologies, please click here.

(Editor’s Note: All trademarks mentioned in this article, including company names, product names, and logos, are the property of their respective owners. Use of these trademarks is for informational purposes only and does not imply any endorsement.)

Molly Bakewell Chamberlin
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