Picosecond YAG has active Q-switch

17 Jun 2002

A UK company claims it has developed the first commercially available actively Q-switched picosecond YAG laser.

From Opto & Laser Europe magazine

A UK firm is selling actively Q-switched Nd:YAG lasers that produce 750 ps pulses.

Advanced Optical Technology (AOT) says its systems are the first of this kind to be made commercially available.

Using a proprietary electro-optic switch in the diode-pumped scheme, AOT's Clive Ireland told Optics.org that the switch design is optimized using a new material.

The systems could be useful for applications in which both short pulses and external timing synchronization are needed. Existing passively modelocked YAG devices can emit shorter pulses, but synchronization is difficult. Acousto-optically switched YAGs, on the other hand, are synchronizable, but their pulse duration is typically restricted to at least 10 ns.

"The much-reduced thermal input from our short pulses will open up a number of important high-precision micromachining applications," said Ireland. In a collaboration with UK sister company Leysop and Raicol Crystals in Israel, AOT's lasers recently produced 750 ps pulses at a 75 kHz repetition rate and with 750 mW average power, says Ireland.

By early 2003 he expects to have a system emitting 1 W average power with 500 ps pulses and very low jitter. As well as micromachining, the systems are of use in illumination and ranging applications. Ireland also points out that the switching technology works in the visible range, and that harmonic generation has "excellent efficiency".

AOT's entry-level model, which has an average power output of 200 mW, is available on the market for USD 18 000.

Author
Michael Hatcher is technology editor of Opto & Laser Europe magazine.