A series of mirrors for broadband operation in Ti:sapphire ultrafast lasers have >99.7% reflectivity from 650 to 1100 nm, and minimal group velocity and third-order dispersion. They can be designed for angles of incidence from 0° to 45°, usually on fused silica substrates with 0.25 to 3 in. diameters.
REO
Boulder, CO
www.reoinc.com
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PRESS RELEASE
11/15/10
Broadband Mirrors for Ultrafast Lasers
REO, a leading manufacturer of high volume precision optical solutions, has introduced a new series of mirrors that support very broadband operation in Ti:S ultrafast lasers. Specifically, these mirrors offer high reflectivity (>99.7%) from 650 nm to 1100 nm, as well as minimal group velocity dispersion (GVD) and third order dispersion (TOD), thus enabling near transform-limited pulse performance over the entire Ti:S tuning range. Coatings for these optics are fabricated utilizing ion beam sputtering (IBS). This technology delivers the refractive index and layer thickness precision necessary to reliably meet both performance and GVD/TOD specifications, and also produces a fully densified film with exceptional long term environmental stability.
These high reflectors can be designed for operation anywhere in the 0° to 45° angle of incidence range, and are typically supplied on fused silica substrates over the 0.25" to 3" diameter range. Nominal surface flatness for these mirrors is λ/10 at 632.8 nm, and surface quality is 10-5. REO can also readily customize the center wavelength, bandwidth and dispersion characteristics of these coatings, and can fabricate these mirrors on a broad range of custom substrate materials and sizes.
This type of high performance, broadband optics are key to enabling the next generation of widely tunable ultrafast laser oscillators for demanding applications such as multi-photon excitation microscopy, seeding terawatt amplifiers, and CEP-stabilized systems. In particular they support the new generation of one-box laser oscillators where wavelength tuning and other output parameters are adjusted in a simple push-button operation rather than by physically exchanging cavity optics with limited bandwidth.
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Posted by Lee Mather
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