Asphere Measurement System

The AspheroCheck UP from TRIOPTICS (Weden, Germany) is designed with a completely automated measurement process that requires no manual interaction to accurately measure aspheres. Lenses with aspherical surfaces are frequently used in small, light, high-performance optics to reduce spherical aberration. While the decentration of an aspherical surface can be determined with the centration measurement that is also used for spherical lenses, determining a possible tilt requires an additional, off-axial test.

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UV Nanosecond Laser

The AVIA LX 355-20 from Coherent (Santa Clara, CA) is an economical new q-switched, diode-pumped solid-state (DPSS) laser that delivers 20W (at 50 kHz repetition rate) at 355 nm, a diffraction limited (M² <1.3) beam, and an expected lifetime of 20,000 hours. One advantage of the AVIA LX 355-20 is a shorter pulsewidth that reduces the heat-affected zone and enables higher precision processing of thinner materials. The AVIA LX 355-20’s compact size (140 mm x 110 mm x 620 mm), single-unit construction (combining laser, controller and pump diodes) and three-point kinematic mounting simplifies integration; the only user requirements are power (48 VDC) and cooling water.

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Tunable Pulse Stretcher and VBG Compressor

TeraXion (Quebec City, Canada) offers a matched tunable pulse stretcher and volume Bragg grating (VBG) compressor pair for ultrafast laser systems. The combination of the two components provides a high stretching-compression performance and a very small footprint. Volume Bragg gratings have a small form factor, but they present some phase errors that limit the quality of the compressed pulse. The TPSR compensates for these errors upstream, yielding a higher peak power. The pair is compatible with any type of chirped-pulse amplified (CPA) ultrafast laser system, whether bulk or fiber and available in three standard configurations for femtosecond and picosecond lasers.

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Fiber Optics Transmitter & Receiver

Link Electronics (Jackson, MO) has introduced the PFO-100-T&R, a compact, high-quality 3G/HD/SD-SDI or ASI fiber optics transmission system. This unit operates with single mode fiber optics cable or, multi-mode fiber optics cable can be requested for shorter transmission distances. The module is SDI pathological test compliant, and features a built-in equalizer, cable driver, and re-clocker. The combined PFO-100T (transmitter) and PFO-100R (receiver) are a matched pair for specific wavelengths, either the standard 1310 nm or any requested wavelength between 1270-1610 nm.

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High Refractive Index Coating

Fiber Optic Center, Inc. (FOC) (New Bedford, MA) has introduced High Refractive Index Coating for Optoelectronics, LEDs, Emissive displays, AL-2264, an optical polymer dissolved in an evaporative solvent that can be applied by simple methods, i.e. dip, spin coating, drawdown, printing, etc. Upon drying it creates a hard, durable, polymer coating with a refractive index of 1.64. It contains no metals and no nanoparticles. The standard concentration leaves behind an approximately 20u layer coating thickness (using a single dip coating process). The solvent is easily removed by baking at 100°C for 15 minutes.

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Low Distortion Optics Clip

Siskiyou Corporation (Grants Pass, OR) has expanded the range of adjustable optical mounts that are compatible with their unique, low distortion optics clip. Specifically, the company’s IXF.75 flexure series and IM.75 series kinematic mounts for 0.75" (or 19 mm) diameter optics are now supplied with this feature. The patent-pending Siskiyou optics clip is specifically designed to securely hold high flatness (e.g., optics with a flatness of λ/10 or better) components in optical mounts without significantly degrading their wavefront performance. This unique retaining clip also prevents lateral movement of the part, which is important for radiused components (e.g. lenses).

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Ultrashort Pulse Laser

Teem Photonics (Meylan, France) released its new laser MOFA platform with two versions: PicoOne which provides up to 100 kHz rep. rate, 30 kW peak power and 500 ps pulse duration; and PicoMega, which extends the rep. rate to 1 MHz with pulse durations as short as 100 ps. Both versions are available at 532 nm and 1064 nm option. The new laser combines passive-q-switching with fiber amplification to provide unique characteristics in a compact and rugged package. Applications cover Lidar, Micro-Machining and Instrumentation.

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Diode Lasers

Omicron (Rodgau-Dudenhofen, Germany) raised the optical output powers of its single-mode diode lasers LuxX, LuxX+, PhoxX+ and QuixX. Higher powers are now available at 473nm/300mW and 638nm/200mW. Also, the multi-mode diode based lasers of the BrixX HP series are now available with higher powers in the UV to the IR. 375nm/400mW, 445nm/5Watt and 638nm/1.8Watt are only some examples. In addition, Omicron has also increased the warranty period for all LuxX, LuxX+ and PhoxX+ single-mode lasers to 36 months without a limitation in working hours.

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