UniKLasers Limited, a leading manufacturer of high precision scientific laser instrumentation, has launched a second-generation series of its Solo 640 range of laser equipment,offering greater precision and feature enhancement in areas reliant on single frequency laser technology such as high-resolution Holography, Interferometry, Raman and Brillouin Spectroscopy.
SOLO 640 Series Single Frequency red laser at 640 nm delivers 1000 mW output power designed for use in areas of innovation R&D for applications across Holography, Interferometry and Brillouin Scattering
UnikLasers has incorporated a new range of enhancements including advanced remote-control operation, extended power and wavelength stability, enabling more than eight hours of non-stop operation along a range of recently developed innovations including TEM00 beam quality, narrow linewidth <500 kHz, long-term wavelength stability <1 pm, integrated water cooling with an ultra-low noise chiller and small footprint remote control which can deliver power of 1000 mW.
Professor Fedor Karpushko, Chief Technology Officer, UniKLasers Limited, comments;
“High resolution holography, interferometry and Raman and Brillouin spectroscopy results depend on the single frequency nature and specifications of the laser being used. Developing a technology to produce highly stable ultra-narrow linewidth laser output in a wide range of wavelengths at high power, has demonstrated how our R&D capability has pushed the frontiers of laser instrumentation innovation to offer an exceptional industrial solution.
Moreover, the creation of holographic images depends on the power, stability and linewidth of a laser to give clear resolution with a deep field of view. The same is true for interferometry and Brillouin scattering, which has the added requirement for an output without side-bands to the main laser frequency peak.”
UniKLasers is already highly respected for its designs and manufacture of single frequency lasers in a wide range of wavelengths using a technique called Bragg Range Michelson Mode Selection (BRaMMS).
The technique replaces the end cavity mirror with Michelson interferometer, which incorporates Volume Bragg Grating (VBG) in one of its branches. This allows to select a single longitudinal mode of the laser cavity. The result is an ultra-stable laser output that is mode-hop and drift free and has a high spectral purity with linewidths < 0.5 MHz and <0.3 MHz (no external reference) in QT models, coherence lengths well over 100 m.
Since the VBG reflectivity is limited to a narrow bandwidth, the lasing wavelength can be selected anywhere within spectral range of the gain media. This increases the wavelength options available, which means fundamental wavelengths can be used rather than frequency doubled options, the increased efficiency leads to higher available power and reduced thermal management requirements.
With the wavelength being a function of cavity length, the spectral stability of the output is reliant on reducing fluctuations in the position of the end cavity mirrors. This is easily compensated for by using PZT feedback control of the cavity optical path. The feedback loop has the added benefit in that it allows for a fine tunability of the output wavelength, or alternatively locking the lasing wavelength to an external absolute reference.
In addition to applications in Holography, Interferometry, Raman and Brillouin Spectroscopy, UniKLasers expects to see the new Solo 640 range of laser equipment also used in Quantum and other emerging technologies.