Fiber laser with adjustable pulse energies, repetition rates

Calmar Laser recently updated its Cazadero femtosecond fiber laser system with adjustable pulse energies and repetition rates to give users greater flexibility in controlling pulse repetition rates for different application requirements. The Cazadero femtosecond fiber laser chirped pulse amplifier (FLCPA) generates high-energy (20 μJ) ultrashort <500 fs) pulses with repetition rate of 100s of KHz, variable up to 4 MHz, in 1000-1030 nm wavelength. It incorporates a 25 MHz passively mode-locked seed fiber laser sampled down to >50 KHz pulse rates, time-stretched by frequency ("chirped") for amplification through a high power fiber amplifier stage at lower peak intensity. Output beam roundness is better than 80% and M2 < 1.2, the company says. Tailoring pulse energies with enough repetition rates to ensure throughput is critical for optimal material removal in laser micromachining and medical/surgical applications, and fully controlling the timing of the pulses is crucial for safety, quality, reproducibility, and reliability, the company notes. For Calmar Lasers' Cazadero, parameters are selected via a hex switch on the laser controller's front panel or a computer interface on the back panel.