Thirty-eight years of pulsed power

Origin of Directed Energy

Directed Energy (DEI) was founded in 1987 as Directed Energy, Incorporated by George Krausse, Dave Adamson, and Ron Sherwood. The goal was simple; bring RF Power MOSFETs to the industry and provide uncompromising performance through our patented DE-Series low inductance, high speed, high power density package. As we worked with customers we realized that there was also a need for system and module products that provided high power and/or high voltage pulses at high speed. We developed the instrument product line to fill satisfy this need and help customers fulfill their end requirements without the need to develop, manufacture or maintain this niche technology.

Designing the original DE-Series package to achieve the extreme performance improvements meant using our patented low inductance design along with BeO, Aluminum Nitride ceramic components along with other specialized materials. As the technology became more widely accepted, we realized that many markets that were not currently using our device would benefit from the high performance of our package design but we would have to find a way to reduce the cost (and later remove BeO).

Acquisition by IXYS in 2000

During this time, one of our best suppliers of silicon die was IXYS Corporation, whose die we used in many of the original DE-Series devices. We approached IXYS with a proposed partnership to reduce cost by taking our packaging concept to a more traditional semiconductor manufacturing process. After discussing the idea the IXYS management team responded with an offer to purchase Directed Energy and on May 16th, 2000 Directed Energy, became a wholly-owned subsidiary of IXYS.

The DEI brand continues to serve customers around the world with pulsed laser diode drivers and high voltage pulsers in bench-top, rack-mount, and module configurations to address a broad spectrum of customer needs. We feature a Lab to Launch program that allows us to work closely with customer development teams to reduce overall development costs by leveraging our expertise in pulsed power. The end result is an OEM module or instrument that is tailored to the needs of the customer’s application or product.

Return to Private Ownership in 2018

In 2018 Littelfuse purchased IXYS and the merger of the two companies allowed Stephen Krausse the opportunity to acquire Directed Energy and return the pulsed laser diode drivers, current sources, and high voltage pulser instruments and modules to private ownership. Our Colorado facility was able to once again focus exclusively on challenging High Current and High Voltage products. The agile company remains focused on customer service, research and development, and logistics.

Acquired by Berkeley Nucleonics in 2021

In 2021Q1, the Directed Energy product lines were acquired by Berkeley Nucleonics Corporation (www.berkeleynucleonics.com). Berkeley Nucleonics (founded in 1963) is a leading provider of signal source and analysis products with the widest range of signal generators available from a single manufacturer. Berkeley Nucleonics offers Light Pulse Generators (450nm – 1580nm), Pulse and Digital Delay Generators with <10 picosecond jitter and timing, Arbitrary Waveform Generators (50MHz – 4GHz), RF/Microwave Signal Generators (3 – 41GHz), Vector Signal Generators (full custom modulations), NIM Tail Pulse Generators and Power Supplies, Multi-Channel/Multi-Trigger Delay Generators ( up to 45 Volts) and now….High Voltage / High Current Signal Generators (up to 10,000V / 450Amp).  Berkeley Nucleonics and Directed Energy are committed to continuity of the existing lines as well as investing in R&D to address a growing list of custom requirements. The Berkeley Nucleonics / DEI application team in available on the Berkeley Nucleonics Website Chat from 6:00AM – 6:00PM PST or by email at support@berkeleynucleonics.com. We look forward to working with you!