White Papers and Case Studies
-
Reducing Production Waste With Laser Profiling And Characterization
1/25/2017
A critical component in a laser manufacturing process is the understanding of which process parameters or key control characteristics must be measured and how they will relate to product quality and waste. A laser profiling system can be a great benefit for characterizing and identifying which variables affect product quality and waste minimization. Unfortunately, many companies realize this too late and incur more expenses and extended downtime than necessary when trying to implement the system near the end of the process. This article dives into a method of using in-house tools, like laser profiling, to characterize and optimize a process in advance so that product quality and process variability may be understood and maintained.
-
Project Overview And Passive Component Development: Integrated Disruptive Components For 2µm Fiber Lasers (ISLA)
1/18/2017
The ISLA project was a research and development project with the goal of developing “building block” components of compatible and self-consistent active and passive fibers, fused fiber couplers and combiners, fiber-coupled isolators, modulators and high power pump laser diodes. This project also intended to develop a CW, a pulsed and a short pulse laser demonstration laser for use in applications testing. This paper delivers an overview of the project, the results from G&H work on developing passive components for 2 µm fiber lasers, and the research efforts on different isolator materials with the largest Verdet constants to be used in 2 µm isolators.
-
Developing Mid-IR Fused Fiber Couplers
1/18/2017
Increasing use of fiber lasers and fused fiber technology for industrial, medical, and sensing applications has led to the development of fused fiber devices in all-fiber system architectures. This article demonstrates G&H efforts developing single-mode fused couplers in a ZBLAN fiber in the mid-IR range.
-
Benefits Of Acousto-Optic Devices For Operation With 2mm Fiber Lasers
1/18/2017
Fiber lasers operating in the 2 µm region with a large mode area in an “eye safe” region of the spectrum are attractive to many applications such as laser machining and biomedical systems. G&H has made recent developments in acousto-optic modulators and tunable filters that are specifically optimized for fiber systems operating at or around 2 µm. This article discusses the important consideration of the choice of interaction medium, such as acousto-optic devices, especially for the polarization behavior of the device when used in a fiber system.
-
How To Chop Diode Laser Beams Electrically At High Speed With Low Noise
8/23/2016
It is often necessary to have an understanding of how to chop a laser beam. Chopping diode lasers electrically is actually less costly and much simpler than doing so mechanically. This white paper walks through the process of chopping a diode laser beam at high speeds and low noise.
-
Reimaging UV Laser Beam Profiling
6/30/2016
Ophir-Spiricon offers three families of UV converter products designed for the indirect measurements of UV laser beam profiles. This application notes compares and contrasts each family, and covers their basic specifications and applications.
-
University Research Team Faces Challenges Of Measuring Multiple Lasers
6/30/2016
There are often times where several laser sources must be tested, validated, or qualified for a particular project. Unfortunately, by the time scientists realize that these measurements need to be made, the laser systems are typically already in place, the experiments are ready to be conducted, and any delays could be counterproductive. Therefore, laser measurement equipment needs to be cost effective, commercially available, easy to use, quick to set up, and operate at a high level of performance. This application note describes the challenges a university had in measuring three different lasers, and how they solved this problem with the Ophir-Spiricon XC-130 InGaAs beam profiling camera.
-
High Power Industrial Laser Applications: New Solutions To Old Problems
4/1/2016
The advanced scalability, high beam quality, and wall-plug efficiency of fiber lasers in particular have made high-power lasers a common tool for commercial use. This paper discusses the concepts of proper monitoring and correctly defined laser parameters in industrial laser applications.
-
Solving A Difficult Military Beam Alignment Task
4/1/2016
Laser systems used in the periscope of a nuclear-powered submarine providing on-board instrumentation that offers accurate pitch, yaw, and roll data. As a result of the critical nature of this information, the burden is placed on the quality of the laser beam, its size, its shape, and its intensity.
-
Frequency Comb Research Advances Using Tunable Diode Lasers
8/12/2015
The discovery of the optical frequency comb and the breakthrough work of Hänsch and Hall in refining the frequency comb technique have revolutionized the field of scientific metrology. In this application note, we will look more closely at how the so-called “microcombs” are generated and what the role of external cavity diode lasers (ECDLs) is in the microcomb generation process. We will briefly discuss how the microcomb is evolving into a compact, versatile tool with increasing application, for example, in the field of molecular spectroscopy. Although still maturing, the field of microcombs has the potential to transform various other disciplines, leading to compact comb generation platforms with numerous applications.