Ultrafast lasers are typically defined as any pulsed laser producing pulse widths less than 10 ps (picosecond lasers), down into the femtosecond region (femtosecond lasers) and beyond, which are commonly referred to as ultrashort pulses (ultrashort pulse lasers).
‘Ultrafast Lasers’ is a term that can refer to a number of various types of lasers. However, for our purposes, we are referring to mode-locked fiber lasers. Our ultrafast lasers are produced by mode locking many phase-locked longitudinal modes from a broadband laser or a material with a large gain bandwidth. Because of this, mode locking induces a beat frequency which results in picosecond or femtosecond duration laser pulses. Furthermore, these ultrafast laser pulses are unique for their extremely high peak power and, combined with the ultrashort pulses, are ideal for a number of applications. For example: non-thermal ablation, micromachining, and non-linear spectroscopy including CARS and two-photon microscopy.
Picosecond Lasers – Picosecond Lasers emit laser pulses with a pulse duration in the picosecond range (one-trillionth of a second, or 10 -12 seconds). Given a particular value for pulse energy, the laser pulse’s peak power increases as the pulse duration gets shorter. So, a laser with shorter pulses, such as a picosecond laser, can achieve much higher peak powers when compared to longer pulsed nanosecond or millisecond pulsed lasers.
Femtosecond Lasers – Femtosecond lasers emit optical pulses with a pulse duration below 1 picosecond, in the femtosecond range. A femtosecond (fs) is one quadrillionth (one millionth of one billionth) of a second or 10−15 seconds. Since lasers producing less than 10 ps pulses are considered Ultrafast Lasers or Ultrashort Pulse Lasers, femtosecond lasers fall firmly in this category.
We offer a selection of ultrafast mode-locked lasers with pulse widths as short as 100 femtoseconds (100fs) and up to 10 picoseconds (10ps). They produce a peak pulse energy up to 60 microjoules (60µJ) and pulse repetition rates up to 80 MHz. These lasers are typically available in the near infrared wavelength region. However, frequency doubling allows the generation of visible outputs in the green spectral region. With many options and customization capabilities, we’re sure to have a solution for your unique problem.
RPMC is your Ultrafast Laser Supplier! We have supplied many fiber-based femtosecond laser systems to various researchers, laboratories, and materials science development teams around the country. Often, the researchers we work with don’t have extensive laser experience, and rely on us to help them choose the best laser for their application or project.
The higher peak powers provided by shorter pulsed lasers result in faster removal rates within the same material, as more energy is transferred to the material in less time, and less energy can absorb in the surrounding material, generating less heat. These lasers, with high peak powers (often several megawatts), cause the atomic bonds of the material to break. This break is referred to as a Coulomb explosion, which is a ‘cold processing’ (athermal ablation or non-thermal ablation) method, as opposed to a more conventional thermal ablation method inherent to longer pulsed lasers (e.g., nanosecond pulsed lasers).
In contrast to non-thermal ablation, traditional thermal ablation relies on localized heating of the material, resulting in the melting, and vaporization of the material’s molecules and atoms. This processing technique is detrimental to certain laser applications. Femtosecond lasers have certain technical advantages versus picosecond lases. However, picosecond lasers tend to have much more attractive pricing, while still offering high peak powers and high average powers in a less complicated system.
Ultrafast Lasers are perfect cold ablation of many materials, such as plastics, polymers, PET, composites, glass, diamonds, ceramics, metals, and various coatings. Ultrafast lasers can even perform well with layered substrates. Cold ablation allows for high-precision material removal without heating surrounding area. Thus, ultrafast lasers will not produce heat affected zones (HAZ) or significant material splatter recast. Another benefit provided by ultrafast lasers is the reduction or elimination of any post-processing or cleaning.
In recent years, femtosecond fiber lasers have started replacing bulkier, more complicated, water-cooled ti sapphire lasers. These air-cooled ultrafast fiber lasers, take up less space and allow you to place the controller in a rack mount, for example, while positioning the smaller laser head right where you need it.
At one-tenth the volume, twice the power, and half the cost, our fs Fiber Lasers are perfect replacements for old, outdated Ti:Sapphire lasers. With useful wavelengths like 920, 1040, and 1064nm, you aren’t paying extra for unnecessary wavelength tunability. With a compact, air-cooled, maintenance-free design, and an industry-standard beam height, you’ll see a fast ROI with less downtime and more room to breathe after easily dropping one of these plug-and-play fs Fiber Lasers into your old Ti:Sapphire laser footprint.
The Alcor series is the most advanced femtosecond fiber laser emitting at 920 nm or 1064 nm, designed explicitly for multiphoton microscopy, with the 920-1 & 920-2 providing the best performance on the market with ultrashort, clean pulses, all at a competitive price. Our lasers offer high pulse energy, short and clean pulses, and ultimate peak powers. With an ultra-compact, robust, and air-cooled design, our lasers are highly stable and reliable with low maintenance. Our XSight and FLeX fiber external modules allow for precise power control and gating and GDD precompensation. The Alcor series provides a complete and reliable solution for multi-photon microscopy, with seamless OEM integration.
The ALTAIR series produces high average powers up to 20W and ultrashort femtosecond pulses of <150 fs (<250 fs for VERSA configuration) at a high repetition rate of 80 MHz (others available). Ideal for bioimaging/biophotonics applications such as multiphoton microscopy, the ALTAIR provides high stability and excellent beam quality due to its mode-locked fiber design. It offers a range of options such as GDD pre-compensation, custom wavelengths, harmonics, repetition rates, and more. With a simplified fiber design that requires little to no maintenance compared to DPSS and Ti:Sapphire counterparts, the ALTAIR is the preferred solution for both OEM and researchers in the microscopy and life sciences fields.
The ANTARES is a series of high-energy picosecond lasers designed for ease-of-use and integration in biophotonics and nonlinear spectroscopy applications. With a narrow linewidth, high repetition rate up to 80 MHz, excellent beam quality, and average powers from 1W to 40W at 1030 nm or 1064 nm, ANTARES is ideal for high-speed nonlinear spectroscopy applications such as CARS and FRET microscopy. Additional options include fine-tuning PRF synchronization, ultra-narrow linewidth, second and third harmonic options, custom repetition rates, and more.
The DIADEM series is a compact, versatile, air-cooled, high-energy, ultrafast femtosecond laser, operating at 1030 or 1064 nm for advanced micro-machining applications. Available with up to 40µJ of pulse energy, pulse widths down to ≈ 400 fs, an M² < 1.2, and single-shot up to 2MHz repetition rate, the DIADEM has many pulse control features such as adjustable pulse duration, selectable repetition rate from 40 MHz down to single-shot, or fine pulse energy tuning so that pulses can be emitted in various modes (on demand via external signal, burst of pulses with configurable pulse separation). A 1300 nm version is also available for deep brain imaging.
The NPS series of ultrafast lasers is the ultimate solution for OEM integrators and researchers working with nonlinear optics applications like OPO pumping and narrowband Raman spectroscopy. The NPS series boasts remarkable features such as up to 10W average output power, <7ps pulse width, and a 40MHz repetition rate. The transform-limited operation, with a spectral width of <0.3nm, and accurate central wavelengths make these lasers a suitable candidate for highly efficient amplification by Nd-doped DPSS amplifiers.
The SIRIUS series is a very compact, high-energy hybrid ultrafast laser for advanced micro-machining applications and supercontinuum pumping, offering over 60µJ and > 5 W @ 1064 nm, with pulses below 10 ps from single shot to 1MHz and an M² of < 1.2. SIRIUS is a fully configurable laser offering various pulse generation modes: selectable pulse durations and repetition rates, burst, gating and fine energy control. This laser series is specifically designed to allow for ergonomic and user-friendly operation. Also available in green or UV wavelengths, SIRIUS is ideally suited for selective ablation, electronics, and photonic applications.
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