Thorlabs is a New Jersey based manufacturer of photonic tools and systems. Our products range from optics and opto-mechanical positioning components to sophisticated optical imaging systems. An international company with over 650 employees, Thorlabs has manufacturing and sales offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Sweden, Japan, and China.

Founder, Alex Cable, worked at Bell Labs early in his career as a technician/engineer. In 1989, Alex left Bell Labs and formally founded Thorlabs. Over the ensuing 22 years the company continued to grow its product offering and its customer base. The Thorlabs catalog offers over 15,000 products to our broad based photonics customer base, 95% of those products are manufactured in one of the Thorlabs entities. 70% of the Thorlabs products are manufactured in the United States.

Thorlabs serves the needs of researchers and engineers worldwide; including the investigators of novel optical problems, designers and of users of optical apparatus of all kinds, and educators and businesses who harness the power of photonics. Customers include the National Labs, universities, medical research facilities, commercial laser companies, the military, defense companies, and both large and small photonics manufacturers worldwide.

Thorlabs has experienced double digit growth in each year of existence. As photonic devices push into new markets, Thorlabs’ plan is to enter early with support equipment and services that are required to ensure the ultimate success of our customers.