03/09
Spotlight on Solus Technologies Meridian laser offers unprecedented performance flexibility, reliability and value
Elliot Scientific have recently been appointed to distribute the new and exciting Semiconductor Disk Laser range from Solus Technologies. The UK designed and manufactured Meridian lasers operate in the 1.9 to 2.5 µm wavelength range with excellent beam quality and high powers.
Meridian
Recent developments have extended the performance of these lasers to shorter wavelengths and in conjunction with frequency doubling can provide outputs in the visible at wavelengths not currently addressed by more conventional laser types. Applications for this type of laser range from lab-based high-resolution sensing and spectroscopy through to industrial laser marking of plastics as well as niche areas like free space optical communications and bio-medical imaging. The Semiconductor Disk Lasers (SDL) from Solus Technologies are hybrid products that combine a DPSS pump laser and a semiconductor diode laser. This optical pumping technology overcomes the limitations of poor beam and spectral quality normally associated with diode lasers to provide the following performance advantages:
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High power Compact size High efficiency Excellent beam quality Pulsed and CW operation Extensive spectral coverage and control
The SDL technology offers an unprecedented level of performance flexibility, reliability and value in one package. Meridian is Solus Technologies’ flagship laser. It is available for the 1.9 to 2.5 µm wavelength range with an output power up to 100 mW. Options include tunability up to ± 100 nm and single frequency operation. The scalability of SDL technology also allows for custom designs that can push the power up to 1 watt. Whatever your requirements, Meridian will meet the challenge. For more information on the Meridian laser, please contact Elliot Scientific. Product datasheets and a White Paper that describes the advantages of Semiconductor Disk Lasers are available for download from our web site.
World Record 80 Attosecond Laser Pulse Achieved — See inside sales@elliotscientific.com
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Schott Glasses are lined up Elliot Scientific launch own brand filter range We have launched our own range of low-cost high-quality glass filters for use in research and industry. Six product groups are now available that encompass:
• Neutral Density Filters in both absorptive Schott ® glass and metallised optical flats • Dichroic Filters in RGB and CMY colours • Long, Short & Band Pass Filters manufactured from Schott ® world-renowned glasses The new stock filters come as 1/2” and 1” diameters plus 2” squares. Alternative sizes and other custom performance specifications can be manufactured on request.
New Anti-vibration Tables keep lightweights afloat ULF Isolation Workstation is ideal for sensitive equipment up to 90 kg A new ultra-low-frequency (ULF) Vibration-Isolation Workstation for lighter loads has been introduced to the UK and Ireland on behalf of Kinetic Systems by Elliot Scientific. The 2800 Series LLHP is designed to meet the exacting requirements of sensitive equipment weighing in the 50 kg range (90 kg max). The tabletop - with or without mounting holes - is normally a lightweight aluminium extruded core 76 cm square and 5 cm thick, but it can also be constructed from a variety of other composite cores on request. The proprietary trifilar pendulum mounts and Active-Air suspension used in the table’s construction provide exceptional horizontal axis vibration isolation that outperforms mechanical systems, and a high level of isolation in the vertical axis. Isolation efficiencies of 96% vertical and 97% horizontal (at 10 Hz and above) are typical. The compact and ergonomic design of the 2800 Series incorporates automatic levelling and low natural frequencies (1.1 Hz along horizontal axis and 1.4 Hz along vertical axis), making them ideal for supporting atomic force microscopes, analytical balances and so on. The new table can be configured for Class 100 cleanroom compatibility and fitted with a variety of accessories to increase user comfort. These include padded armrests, overhead equipment shelves, monitor stands and power outlets for example. The Kinetic Systems workstations available through us are proven performers in the semiconductor processing, telecommunications, aerospace engineering and medical research fields.
Congratulations to our Recent Prizewinners... Well done to our prize winners from our last three competitions: TomTom SatNav Photonex ‘08 Prize Draw iPod Annual Survey Prize Draw T-shirt Hidden Word Competition
Fabien Bernard, National University of Ireland Josip Milanovic, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light Dr David Childs, University of Sheffield
Hidden Word Answer: The picture showed a pattern of round and square glass filters. If the circular filters were taken to be dots, then it follows the squares were dashes, and so the code is broken and the hidden word is revealed as Morse.
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Carrier Envelope Phase Stabilisation Essential as Ultrafast Lasers are pushed towards shorter pulses Key applications in time-resolved atomic physics, non-linear optics and XUV generation are continuing to push ultrafast lasers towards shorter pulses. Durations under 5 fs are now available from commercial lasers with pulse energies approaching the mJ level. In fact, lab-based experimental non-linear techniques have further reduced pulse durations to the sub-femtosecond regime.
Key Applications
As these short pulses are only a few optical cycles long, control of the relative position of the optical cycle within the carrier envelope of the light pulse is essential. Elliot Scientific offers lasers equipped with the best in carrier envelope phase stabilisation from technology-leader Femtolasers Produktions GmbH.
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Attoscience & Femtochemistry Time resolved ultrafast spectroscopy TW & PW ultrafast amp front-ends Coherent THz, XUV & X-ray generation High Harmonic Generation
The short pulses generated by using their techniques as a starting point enabled researchers to achieve the ground-breaking time-domain measurement of travel time differences between conduction band electrons and more localized 4f-electrons in a tungsten crystal[1]. A measurement only made possible by using lasers that run a stable carrier-envelope-phase uninterrupted for several hours. In time-resolved work, the high photon energy of x-ray pulses that can be generated by their lasers confer the opportunity to study deeper-lying states, while the short wavelengths can be used in x-ray scattering experiments to examine structural analysis on a femtosecond time-scale. Femtolasers Produktions are quite rightly proud that researchers have since attained a world-record pulse duration of only 80 attoseconds (0.08 fs)[2] using their equipment. The full product range of Femtolasers can be viewed in detail on our website.
References: [1] A. Cavalieri et al. Nature Letters Vol 449, (2007) p. 1029 [2] E. Goulielmakis et al. Science 320 (2008) p.1614
Laser Optics Boosted: New 88-page FEMTO-OPTICSTM Catalogue Now Available A significantly expanded catalogue of optics for fs laser applications from Femtolasers is now available for download from our website. Accurate compression and dispersion management is an essential prerequisite in any fs laser application, so broadband low-dispersion optical components are required for manipulating pulses. As these requirements often go beyond the capabilities of standard optical components, the FEMTO-OPTICS™ product family has been tailored to respond to the optical needs of the femtosecond laser community. FEMTO-OPTICS™ are optimized for fs pulse manipulation. Transmission optics are as thin as possible, AR-coatings are ultra broadband and metallic mirrors have low-dispersion dielectric overcoatings. Femtolasers ensure their focusing optics and waveplates are also optimized, both in terms of group delay dispersion and chromatic aberrations. Contact us now. Elliot Scientific's laser team is ready to discuss applications and offer advice.
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DNA search ends with UV-VIS-NIR Microspectroscopy Valuable time saved looking for viable crystals Elliot Scientific has recently introduced the Craic Technologies QDI 2010™ UV-VIS-NIR Microspectrometer to researchers in the UK and Ireland. This new model incorporates the latest technological advances in optics, spectroscopy and software to deliver the best performance in a microspectrophotometer to date. Yet it retains the ease-of-use for which CRAIC instruments are renowned. The expanded measurement range of the QDI 2010™ now allows for deep UV, visible and NIR transmission, absorbance, reflectance, emission and fluorescence spectra to be captured seamlessly at the touch of a button while still observing via eyepieces or a high-resolution digital imager. Sample size can be sub-micron to well over 100 microns. Measurements are non-destructive and the spectral data returned is unmatched.
UV Microscopy aids X-ray Crystallographers Typical applications for the instrument are found in semiconductor and flat panel manufacturing, forensic science, photonics and organic chemistry research. Now, however, the QDI 2010™ is being brought to bear on the study of DNA. X-ray crystallography is commonly used to study DNA structure, requiring the growth of crystals that are stable and free from protein contamination. Spotting DNA crystals among others using normal microscopy is difficult and measuring their viability impossible, but as DNA readily absorbs light at 260 nm UV microscopy can be used to identify a crystal and then qualify it by using its microspectra to measure the DNA concentration. This procedure saves valuable time by only selecting viable crystals for the next step of a growth procedure. The QDI 2010™ has also found use in computer hard disk research and production. To increase capacities, the drive manufacturers are shrinking read/write heads to squeeze more bits out of the exotically coated aluminium platters. Consequently, trace amounts of organic and inorganic contaminants in components are extremely important to find, but difficult to detect. Inspection by optical microscope will not show any contamination affecting the product as many are invisible to the naked eye. CRAIC Technologies has configured the QDI 2010™ to both locate and identify contaminants non-destructively. The location is done by spectral imaging using ultraviolet microscopy, identification is by the integrated analytical capabilities of UV-VIS-NIR microspectrophotometer. The QDI 2010™ system is the first ever to combine both UV microscopy and microspectroscopy in a single tool. It can also be upgraded to enable ultraviolet, visible and near infrared reflectance, transmittance and fluorescence microscopy and microspectroscopy. For more information or a quote on this versatile instrument, please contact us by telephone or email.
Upcoming Events: Come and visit us at the following trade shows... June 2nd-4th CLEO | IQEC & PhotonXpo: Baltimore - Booth 1029
June 15th-18th Laser World of Photonics: Munich ...we look forward to meeting you. sales@elliotscientific.com
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