Development and manufacture of wind lidar modules, laser systems and optical metrology in Göttingen
Abacus Laser GmbH
Göttingen (North Campus, Hans-Adolf-Krebs-Weg 6)New on Amplifa
About Abacus Laser
Abacus Laser GmbH is a technology company founded in 2014 by Dr. Christoph Bollig, located at the North Campus in Göttingen. The company develops and manufactures wind lidar modules (LiTra S, LiTra S+, LiTra L, LiTra HSR) for optical remote measurement of wind speeds, custom laser special builds, and optical metrology systems. Core competencies are single-frequency pulsed lasers, lasers in the eye-safe wavelength range, and coherent detection; the team comprises around ten employees with over 25 years of experience in laser development. In addition to its own developments, Abacus Laser offers consulting and planning as well as repair, maintenance and modification of existing laser and lidar systems. Project partners and customers include DLR, TROPOS, Fraunhofer IPM, the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, ForWind Oldenburg and KIT. Deliveries and distribution also reach Japan, China and the Asia-Pacific region.
- Site
- Göttingen
- Processes
- Wind lidar module LiTra S (wind measurement up to 10 km distance), Wind lidar module LiTra S+ (compact wind lidar, demo unit offered), Wind lidar module LiTra L (remote wind measuring), Wind lidar module LiTra HSR (remote wind measuring), Laser development and custom special builds (lasers, optical remote measurement/lidar,, Development and manufacture of an SBS measurement station with wind lidar module (stimulated, Single-frequency Q-switched 2064 nm Ho:YLF high-power laser (fiber-laser-pumped ring laser,, Diode-pumped Q-switched TEM00 Nd:YLF high-power laser (10 mJ pulses at 5 kHz)
- Materials
- Ho:YLF laser crystal, Nd:YLF laser crystal, Tm:YLF slab laser crystal (pump source), Optical fiber (for SBS measurement and fiber laser), Tm:YLF slab laser crystal, Optical fiber / fiber optics
- Founded
- 2014
- Employees
- 10
- Industries
- Wind energy (on-/offshore), Meteorology/environmental research, Aerospace, Photonics/science & research institutes
- 01
Consulting and concept development
- 02
Laser and lidar development
- 03
Assembly and manufacturing in the development laboratory
- 04
Testing and commissioning
- 05
Delivery as well as maintenance and modification at the customer
Laser crystals and optical technologies
Ho:YLF laser crystal
Basis for single-frequency Q-switched high-power lasers in the eye-safe 2-µm range, e.g. as a ring laser with 70 mJ at 50 Hz.
Tm:YLF slab laser crystal
Serves as a pump source for Ho:YLF slab amplifiers with 330 mJ pulses at 50 Hz.
Nd:YLF laser crystal
Material for diode-pumped Q-switched TEM00 high-power lasers with 10 mJ pulses at 5 kHz.
Optical fiber / fiber optics
Used for fiber lasers, SBS measurements in fibers and spatially separated telescope/electronics configurations of up to 5 m.
Sites
Göttingen
DEDevelopment, manufacturing, sales
- Lot size
- One-off builds and small series
- Materials
- Laser crystals (Ho:YLF, Nd:YLF, Tm:YLF), optical fiber, fiber optics
- Development laboratories for laser and lidar technology
Products and components
Inside the production
Industries
Processes & technical limits
| Processes | Tolerance | Max. part | Weight | Lot size | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wind lidar module LiTra S (wind measurement up to 10 km distance)Engineering | – | – | – | – | – |
| Wind lidar module LiTra S+ (compact wind lidar, demo unit offered)Engineering | – | – | – | – | – |
| Wind lidar module LiTra L (remote wind measuring)Engineering | – | – | – | – | – |
| Wind lidar module LiTra HSR (remote wind measuring)Engineering | – | – | – | – | – |
| Laser development and custom special builds (lasers, optical remote measurement/lidar,Engineering | – | – | – | – | Lasers in the eye-safe wavelength range, single-frequency pulsed lasers |
| Development and manufacture of an SBS measurement station with wind lidar module (stimulatedEngineering | – | – | – | – | Optical fiber |
| Single-frequency Q-switched 2064 nm Ho:YLF high-power laser (fiber-laser-pumped ring laser,Engineering | – | – | – | – | Ho:YLF, Tm:YLF, Fiber laser |
| Diode-pumped Q-switched TEM00 Nd:YLF high-power laser (10 mJ pulses at 5 kHz)Engineering | – | – | – | – | Nd:YLF |
| Planning and consulting, maintenance and conversion of lidar systems at the customer's siteEngineering | – | – | – | – | – |
| Custom modifications of own units (example: special build for MPI Hamburg with up toEngineering | – | 5 m (separation telescope/fiber optics - | – | – | Fiber optics |
| 5-beam AIRflows airborne lidar (wind measurement from aircraft, project with KIT)Engineering | – | – | – | – | – |
| XXL lidar demonstrator WindRamp II (long-range wind lidar, 37 km measured range)Engineering | – | – | – | – | – |
Additional services
Reference customers
Company history
- 2014
Founded by Dr. Christoph Bollig; first orders in planning, consulting, maintenance and modification of lidar systems
- 2015
Start of the first hardware development for wind lidar; move into GöTec (Göttingen Technology and Start-up Centre)
- 2019
Article about the company in brand eins (April 2019 issue)
- 2020
Start of the WindRamp research project to develop a long-range wind lidar (~30 km) with Abacus Laser as the main project partner
- 2024
Contribution to the KIT project AIRflows (airborne wind measurements)
- 2025
Participation in the European Lidar Conference (ELC 2025) in Warsaw and EGU 2025 in Vienna; presentation of the 5-beam AIRflows airborne lidar; PhotonicNet membership
- 2026
Installation of the WindRamp II demonstrator at ForWind Oldenburg (record range 37 km); expansion with a lease agreement for additional space at Hans-Adolf-Krebs-Weg 6 on the North Campus in Göttingen