Milton Keynes, UK, June 19, 2003. Pro-Lite Technology has released the NarrowSCAN dye laser from Radiant Dyes Laser & Accessories GmbH (Wermelskirchen, Germany), a family of state-of-the-art pulsed dye lasers used in advanced photochemical and spectroscopic research. The NarrowSCAN dye laser can be pumped by almost any commercially available Q-switched Nd:YAG or Excimer laser at up to 1J and provides short, nano-second pulsed outputs at up to 100Hz, widely tunable in the spectral range from 205 to 4500nm. The laser offers a combination of rugged design, flexible line-width configuration, advanced software control and proven long term stability.
The NarrowSCAN series provides a modular platform which accepts an additional power amplifier for the highest power applications and an oscillator which can be configured for the desired line-width, user-selectable from 0.02cm-1 to
3cm-1.
The NarrowSCAN-GR version is based on an oscillator with single 90mm diffraction grating that operates in a grazing-incidence mode with tuning performed by a mirror driven by a precision stepper motor. This configuration provides for wavelength tuning at constant line-width and results in a maximum specified bandwidth of 0.06cm-1, although in practice the GR delivers line-widths of 0.04cm-1. The flagship NarrowSCAN-DR employs a second diffraction as the tuning element and provides specified line-widths of 0.04cm-1, with a typical bandwidth of just 0.02cm-1.
Using an oscillator with integrated pre-amplifier and a second, power-amplifier, the NarrowSCAN can be pumped with up to 300mJ. For the highest power applications, the dye amplifier cuvette is replaced with a Bethune cell that supports pumping at up to 1J per pulse whilst retaining a high quality output beam.
The dye fundamental tuning range of 330 to 950nm can be easily extended using fully motorized and auto-tracked frequency doubling, tripling and difference mixing stages that are integrated within the body of the main dye laser for long-term alignment stability. The extended tuning provides access to the range from 205nm to 4.5 m.
The NarrowSCAN is equipped with many advanced features that set it apart from previous-generation dye laser systems. As standard, the laser is supplied with: software that is compatible with LabVIEW(tm) and Windows(tm) 2000; active temperature stabilisation of the resonator; a convenient remote control unit that allows for operation without the need for a PC; "plug-and-play" dye cuvettes that facilitate rapid access to an extended tuning range; and two, state-of-the-art Radiant dye circulators, one each for the oscillator and amplifier stages of the dye laser.
Optional features include: an opto-galvanic device for self-calibration of the dye laser wavelength; a device for active stabilisation of the laser wavelength; and a bandwidth monitor based on a sampling etalon.
The Radiant dye laser joins an expanding family of scientific lasers available from Pro-Lite. For those customers wishing to choose a complete dye laser system from a single supplier, Pro-Lite also provides a range of compact Nd:YAG and Excimer lasers suitable for pumping the NarrowSCAN. The company also supplies a range of medium to broad-band Optical Parametric Oscillators (OPOs) with linewidths from 4 to 60cm-1 for those researchers who prefer the convenience of all solid state tuning.
For more information, visit www.pro-lite.uk.com .
Laser Focus World