Mar 10 2009
Coherent Inc. (Santa Clara, CA) (Nasdaq: COHR) has launched an infrared version of the company's award-winning Verdi™ family of solid state lasers, delivering 25 Watts of single-mode CW output at 1064 nm.
The new Verdi IR 25 laser has the same diode-pumped, solid-state (Nd:YVO4) unidirectional ring-resonator design as is standard in all industry-leading green Verdi lasers. Its single-longitudinal-mode output has uniquely low-noise (<0.04% RMS), narrow-linewidth (<2.5 MHz FWHM), and a coherence length greater than 60 meters. In addition, a piezo-actuated resonator mirror enables the output frequency to be tuned over a range >3.2 GHz and/or to be locked to an external reference cavity. The bandwidth for piezo control is DC to 20 kHz.
Outstanding beam-pointing stability (<2 µrad/°C) and beam quality (M²<1.1) eliminate the need for frequent adjustments of the beam and simplify laser alignment. Moreover, the natural stability of this single-mode design means that the output power can be smoothly varied over a 15W to 25W range without mode-hops. No other CW infrared laser offers this combination of power and stability. In addition, the output is linearly polarized with an extinction ratio greater than 100:1.
Applications for the Verdi IR 25 include optical trapping of atoms, where its low noise and mode-hop-free operation enables atom trapping for extended times. The high output power means a single Verdi IR laser can generate several traps simultaneously. Other applications include optical tweezers, optical/semiconductor material development and remote optical sensing. In addition, the low noise and high power make the Verdi IR 25 an ideal source for harmonic generation and pumping mid-infrared optical parametric oscillators (OPO) for high-resolution molecular spectroscopy.