Focuslight Surpasses 150 Million FAC Shipments: The Industrialization Journey of a Critical Micro-Optics Technology

Over the past decade, the fiber laser industry has experienced rapid growth, with much of the market’s attention focused on increasing laser power, enhancing system performance, and expanding end applications. Behind these advances, however, Fast Axis Collimators (FACs) have continued to play a fundamental — though often understated — role as one of the key enabling components in high-power laser systems.

Today, tens of millions of FACs are integrated into high-power laser systems worldwide every year, supporting applications across advanced manufacturing, new energy, consumer electronics, and many other industries. Yet just a decade ago, FACs were still considered a niche precision optical component, with annual demand measured in the low millions of units.

Recently, Focuslight reached an important milestone: since 2017, the company has shipped more than 150 million FACs for fiber laser pumping applications worldwide.

This milestone represents far more than a shipment number. It reflects both the rapid growth of the global fiber laser industry, driven in large part by China, and Focuslight’s successful industrialization and large-scale commercialization of FAC technology, transforming it from a low-volume precision component into a highly scalable industrial product. The continued maturation and large-scale adoption of FAC technology has also played a critical role in enabling higher laser power levels and supporting the growth of demanding, high-volume industrial applications worldwide.

From Tens of Thousands to Tens of Millions: An Industrialization Journey Driven by Strategy, Innovation, and Operational Excellence

In 2017, Focuslight completed the acquisition of Germany-based LIMO GmbH, a recognized pioneer in micro-optics and beam-shaping technologies. LIMO possessed industry-leading wafer-level micro-optics manufacturing capabilities, enabling thousands of FACs and FAC arrays to be fabricated simultaneously on a single optical wafer.

At the time, however, FAC remained a relatively niche market. Despite its superior technology and product performance, LIMO's FAC products were primarily used in highly specialized applications due to pricing levels that were significantly above market averages. Annual sales volumes remained limited to only tens of thousands of units.