Class 5 Photonics
Class 5 Photonics, founded in 2014 in Hamburg, Germany, manufactures ultrafast, high-power femtosecond laser systems based on OPCPA and HHG technologies, serving academic research institutions and the semiconductor industry across multi-photon microscopy, attosecond science, and EUV metrology applications.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersHamburg, Germany
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Class 5 Photonics does
Class 5 Photonics is a Hamburg, Germany-based manufacturer of ultrafast, high-power femtosecond laser systems founded in 2014 as a spin-off from the DESY Synchrotron Research Center and the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research. The company specializes in optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) and high-harmonic generation (HHG), producing laser systems spanning wavelengths from deep-ultraviolet (200 nm) through visible and near-infrared to mid-infrared (16.2 µm) and terahertz. Its product portfolio includes the White Dwarf family (multi-photon microscopy variants for 2P/3P imaging, dual/hybrid configurations, TPA nanolithography, high-energy few-cycle output, and an Attodriver for XUV attosecond pulse generation), the ARGO modular spectroscopy suite with multi-pass cell post-compression, the Supernova flagship for highest pulse energies, Black Dwarf micromachining lasers, THORA 2050 nm Ho:YLF gigawatt lasers, and the Moonlander HHG-based XUV source for metrology.
The company sells primarily to academic and government research institutions (Rockefeller, EMBL Heidelberg, Max Planck Institutes, Columbia, Yale, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Sorbonne, UCL, University of Hong Kong, Ulsan UNIST) and to semiconductor industry partners (ARCNL Amsterdam for photoresist research, MEGA EUV consortium with DESY/Amphos targeting 13.5 nm lithography metrology). Its go-to-market is enterprise field sales through a quote-based process with 6-9 month delivery cycles and milestone-based payments (60% on order, 30% on commissioning, 10% on delivery); professional services are billed at daily rates of 2400 EUR/2900 USD. The company maintains a small specialist team (approximately 11 employees as of January 2020), operates a single Hamburg headquarters at the Start-Up Labs Bahrenfeld, and has been recognized with the SPIE Prism Award and Laser Focus World Innovators Award. In May 2026, Class 5 Photonics was acquired by Light Conversion, a Lithuanian ultrafast laser manufacturer, to combine OPCPA expertise with PHAROS and CARBIDE Yb-pump lasers and establish a global sales and service network; the Hamburg operations and management team continue under the new parent structure.
Class 5 Photonics firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Class 5 Photonics
- Legal name
- CLASS 5 PHOTONICS GmbH
- Website
- https://class5photonics.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Class 5 Photonics, founded in 2014 in Hamburg, Germany, manufactures ultrafast, high-power femtosecond laser systems based on OPCPA and HHG technologies, serving academic research institutions and the semiconductor industry across multi-photon microscopy, attosecond science, and EUV metrology applications.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Class 5 Photonics industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Ultrafast Laser Systems
- NAICS
- Semiconductor Machinery Manufacturing (333242)
- SIC
- Optical Instruments & Lenses (3827)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Optoelectronic Emitters (LED/Laser/VCSEL) (HDAHALAL)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Quantum Sensor Components & Subsystems (Lasers, Vacuum, Photonics, Diamond/NV, MEMS) (HDAGAHAM), Optics & Laser/Light Engine Components (Lenses, Galvos, Laser Modules, UV Engines) (IMAAAIAC)
Keywords
Where Class 5 Photonics is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Hamburg
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Class 5 Photonics business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Laser System Sales: Sale of ultrafast laser systems including OPCPA systems, HHG sources, and multi-photon microscopy lasers. Products are complex scientific instruments with delivery periods of 6-9 months and milestone-based payment terms (60% on order, 30% on commissioning, 10% on delivery).
- Professional Services: Installation, commissioning, technical support, training, and on-site personnel services. Charged at daily rates (2400 EUR/2900 USD for service, 2000 EUR/2300 USD for Europe/North America travel).
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Custom laser systems - quote-based pricing |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels6 records
Class 5 Photonics product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Class 5 Photonics designs and manufactures high-power ultrafast femtosecond laser systems based on optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) and high-harmonic generation (HHG) technologies. Their product portfolio includes the White Dwarf series, ARGO tunable laser suite, Supernova flagship OPCPA, Black Dwarf micromachining lasers, THORA Ho:YLF gigawatt lasers, and Moonlander XUV/HHG sources. Systems cover wavelengths from deep-UV (200 nm) to mid-IR (16.2 µm) and are sold to scientific research institutions and semiconductor industry customers globally.
Product overview
Class 5 Photonics is a Hamburg-based ultrafast laser system manufacturer that builds pioneering lasers from extreme ultraviolet to terahertz, based on optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) and advanced nonlinear optical technologies including high-harmonic generation (HHG). The product portfolio consists of multiple laser system families: the White Dwarf series (2p, 3p, TPA, HE, Attodriver, Dual, Hybrid variants) for multi-photon microscopy, micromachining, and attosecond science applications; the ARGO suite (OPCPA and MPC modules) for advanced spectroscopy with UV to mid-IR coverage; the Supernova flagship OPCPA for highest pulse energies; the Black Dwarf series for micromachining; THORA Ho:YLF gigawatt lasers for mid-IR applications; and Moonlander XUV/HHG sources for metrology. The systems are powered by core OPCPA technology refined over more than a decade, with modular designs enabling flexible configurations for demanding scientific and industrial applications.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- White Dwarf: Tunable OPCPA laser systems for multiphoton microscopy, including 2P and 3P variants
- Supernova
- Black Dwarf
- ARGO
- Moonlander
- THORA
- Class 5 Bridge
Products and services
- White Dwarf 2p Femtosecond laser for two-photon high-speed volumetric imaging, designed for 2-photon microscopy applications with wavelengths at 920 nm or 960 nm, up to 5 W average power, and repetition rates up to 5 MHz.
- White Dwarf 3p Femtosecond laser for three-photon deep-tissue imaging at highest frame-rates, operating at 1300 nm and 1700 nm wavelengths for 3-photon microscopy applications.
- White Dwarf TPA Most powerful laser for two-photon absorption (TPA) nanolithography, enabling high-precision microfabrication processes.
- White Dwarf HE Few-cycle OPCPA system for fundamental research with tunable high energy output, designed for scientific applications requiring high peak power.
- White Dwarf Attodriver OPCPA system specifically designed for XUV attosecond pulse generation, supporting attosecond science research applications.
- White Dwarf Dual Dual-channel femtosecond laser system operating at 1300 nm with 5 W per channel, featuring 50 fs pulse duration for simultaneous 2P and 3P imaging or switchable outputs.
- White Dwarf Hybrid Optimized for hybrid microscopy with simultaneous 2P and 3P imaging capabilities, featuring dual wavelength outputs at 960 nm and 1300 nm.
- ARGO OPCPA Multi-color tunable OPA laser suite providing wavelength outputs from deep-UV (200 nm) to mid-IR (16.2 µm), with market-leading conversion efficiency (8% at peak for ARGO 800, up to 13% for ARGO 2000), 300 W/3 mJ pump pulse energies, and repetition rates up to 1 MHz.
- ARGO MPC Multi-pass cell post-compression system for Yb-lasers, achieving pulse compression factors up to 10× with output down to <30 fs, delivering 100 W/1.5 mJ (up to 300 W on request) at 1030 nm with SHG (515 nm) and THG (343 nm) options.
- Supernova Flagship high-power OPCPA system for highest pulse energies, featuring mid-infrared capabilities at 2 µm wavelength, scalable to 100 W average power with mJ-level pulse energies, designed for water-window HHG and advanced spectroscopy applications.
- Black Dwarf 2p Laser system designed for 2P voltage imaging and micromachining applications, combining voltage imaging capabilities with precision material processing.
- Black Dwarf High-power femtosecond laser system for micromachining applications, delivering the peak power required for high-precision material processing and fabrication.
- THORA 2050 High-energy 2050 nm Ho:YLF gigawatt laser for mid-IR OPCPA, high-harmonic generation (HHG), and advanced spectroscopy applications. THORA 2050 Ultra model delivers pulse energies above 100 mJ at 1 kHz with 2.1 ps pulse duration and 46 GW peak power.
- Moonlander High-harmonic generation (HHG) based XUV source for advanced metrology and ultrafast science applications, demonstrating HHG efficiency at 13.5 nm EUV wavelength with µW-level XUV output.
Quantifiable outcome
- Trusted by 30+ neuroscience labs worldwide with growing list of publications in top-tier journals
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Class 5 Photonics
Customer profileNamed customers14 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Class 5 Photonics technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
Feature6 records
Class 5 Photonics partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.
- Light ConversioncoreLight Conversion, a Lithuanian ultrafast laser manufacturer originating from Vilnius University Laser Research Centre (1994), acquired Class 5 Photonics in May 2026. Both companies share similar scientific backgrounds and technology-driven approaches, both originating in research environments. The acquisition combines Class 5's OPCPA expertise with Light Conversion's CARBIDE and PHAROS femtosecond lasers to provide complete end-to-end solutions for customers.
- DESY (Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron)coreDESY is the research center where Class 5 Photonics originated. Class 5 is a spin-off from DESY Synchrotron Research Center in Hamburg and GSI Helmholtz Centre. Company continues collaborative projects with DESY on EUV sources and photon science.
- MEGA EUV Project ConsortiumflagshipMEGA EUV is a collaborative project involving DESY, University of Hamburg, Class 5 Photonics, and Amphos GmbH along with semiconductor industry partners. The project develops next-generation Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) light sources at 13.5nm wavelength for semiconductor inspection and materials research, targeting 600W average power and sub-50 fs pulses.
- X-PIC Project ConsortiumflagshipEuropean Horizon 2020 project (Grant No. 964588) developing EUV and Soft-X-Ray Photonic Integrated Circuits (XPICs). Partners include Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), and INCDTIM Cluj-Napoca. Goal is to bring meter-long EUV setups to centimeter-sized integrated chip devices.
- Amphos GmbHcoreGerman laser manufacturer providing InnoSlab lasers for MEGA EUV project. Partnership in development of kilowatt-class Yb:YAG laser systems for high-power EUV generation.
- ARCNL (Advanced Research Center for Nanolithography)coreARCNL in Amsterdam contracted Class 5 to build Supernova OPCPA at 2µm wavelength for water-window HHG to investigate photoresist chemistry for modern chip-making. First 50 kHz repetition rate soft X-ray source being developed.
- Aalen University - Center for Optical TechnologiescoreFirst ARGO system installed at Aalen University as ultrafast pump-probe laser system for Light-Matter Interaction research group. Professor Anne Harth providing feedback on 22 different ultrafast pump-probe modes.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Class 5 Photonics competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Spectra-Physics (MKS Instruments): Established US ultrafast laser division (Solstice, Mai Tai, Empower) within MKS Instruments, serving scientific and OEM markets. Competes broadly across Class 5's multiphoton and spectroscopy use cases with much larger scale.
- NKT Photonics: Danish photonics company offering femtosecond fiber lasers (Origami, aeroPULSE) and supercontinuum sources. Comparable in serving neuroscience and materials science research markets with ultrafast sources.
- Coherent: Global photonics incumbent offering a broad ultrafast laser portfolio (Monaco, Astrella, Vitara) plus semiconductor equipment. Competes with Class 5 in multi-photon microscopy pump lasers and OPCPA front-ends; broader scope and substantially larger scale.
Direct peers
- TRUMPF Scientific Lasers: German manufacturer of high-power femtosecond and picosecond lasers (TruMicro, FemtoFiber). Comparable scientific customer base and complementary ultrafast technology positioning to Class 5's OPCPA offerings.
- EdgeWave GmbH: German manufacturer of ultrashort-pulse solid-state lasers (Innoslab-based) for micromachining and scientific markets. Comparable German ultrafast laser competitor serving both industrial and academic applications.
- Amplitude Laser Group: French ultrafast laser specialist (Tangerine, Satsuma, Pulsar) serving scientific and industrial markets with high-energy femtosecond systems. Direct overlap with Class 5 in attosecond, multiphoton, and OPCPA applications.
- Light Conversion: Lithuanian ultrafast laser manufacturer (PHAROS, CARBIDE, ORPHEUS) that acquired Class 5 in May 2026. Directly comparable: same scientific customer base, complementary femtosecond/OPCPA technology stack, and shared Vilnius University / DESY-GSI research heritage.
- M Squared Lasers: UK-based developer of ultrafast Ti:Sapphire and OPA systems for microscopy and spectroscopy. Overlaps with Class 5 in multi-photon microscopy and attosecond applications.
- KMLabs: US ultrafast laser company (Halcyon, XUUS) focused on OPCPA and HHG-based EUV/XUV sources for attosecond science and semiconductor metrology. Closest direct technology peer to Class 5 on HHG/EUV source development.
Emerging players
- Menlo Systems: German femtosecond laser and frequency comb specialist, also rooted in Max-Planck/MPQ spin-off heritage. Comparable in scientific positioning and German ultrafast optics ecosystem, with overlap on OPCPA-pumped spectroscopy tools.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Class 5 Photonics social profiles
Digital presenceClass 5 Photonics financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Class 5 Photonics leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Class 5 Photonics funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Class 5 Photonics M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Class 5 Photonics
What does Class 5 Photonics do?
Class 5 Photonics designs and manufactures high-power ultrafast femtosecond laser systems based on optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) and high-harmonic generation (HHG) technologies. Their product portfolio includes the White Dwarf series, ARGO tunable laser suite, Supernova flagship OPCPA, Black Dwarf micromachining lasers, THORA Ho:YLF gigawatt lasers, and Moonlander XUV/HHG sources. Systems cover wavelengths from deep-UV (200 nm) to mid-IR (16.2 µm) and are sold to scientific research institutions and semiconductor industry customers globally.
Is Class 5 Photonics a public or private company?
Class 5 Photonics is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Class 5 Photonics founded?
Class 5 Photonics was founded in 2014. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Class 5 Photonics based?
Class 5 Photonics is headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does Class 5 Photonics make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Laser System Sales are the primary driver. The others are professional Services.
Who are Class 5 Photonics's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Spectra-Physics (MKS Instruments), NKT Photonics and Coherent. Direct peers are TRUMPF Scientific Lasers, EdgeWave GmbH, Amplitude Laser Group, Light Conversion, M Squared Lasers and KMLabs. Menlo Systems is listed as an emerging player.
Does Class 5 Photonics have an API?
No public API is recorded for Class 5 Photonics.
What industry is Class 5 Photonics in?
Class 5 Photonics's product category is Ultrafast Laser Systems. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAHALAL, Optoelectronic Emitters (LED/Laser/VCSEL), with a secondary code of HDAGAHAM, Quantum Sensor Components & Subsystems (Lasers, Vacuum, Photonics, Diamond/NV, MEMS). Its NAICS code is 333242 and its SIC code is 3827.