Feb 23 2009
The new Libra™ HE from Coherent, Inc. (Santa Clara, CA) (Nasdaq: COHR) is a one-box ultrafast, Ti:Sapphire amplifier that delivers significantly higher pulse energy and shorter pulsewidth than earlier Libra models, while still offering the convenience and cost advantages associated with these popular laser systems. Specifically, the Libra HE produces pulse energies of over 3.5 mJ at 1 kHz and a choice of either <50 fs or <100 fs pulsewidth models. The system is offered with a standard pulse repetition rate of either 1 or 5 kHz, at 800 nm.
Libra one-box amplifiers are extremely stable, integrated, turnkey systems containing a Vitesse, an industrial-grade, ultrafast oscillator and its Verdi pump laser, as well as the regenerative amplifier and its associated pulsed pump laser, the Evolution. The new Libra HE reaches higher pulse energies reliably and efficiently, and offers improved beam quality with M² <1.3 by using the company’s next generation, E-2 Engine™ regenerative amplifier design in concert with the high power capabilities of the Evolution pump platform. The integration of these high performance sub-systems ensures output stability of <0.5% rms
The high power and short pulsewidth of Libra HE will be useful for several power-hungry applications in photochemistry and photophysics. Examples include pumping multiple tunable OPAs for pump probe experiments, and ultrafast spectroscopy techniques such as CARS and fluorescence upconversion.