Albanova laser lab @ LLS

The Albanova laser lab has extensive capabilities for design, fabrication, characterization and applications of nonlinear optical materials, custom coherent light sources, THz time-domain spectroscopy, material processing using lasers, multifunctional optical fibers and others.

Key laser systems

CO2 lasers

Laser type: CW and pulsed CO2 lasers
Parameter summary: Repetition rate CW-50 kHz, Wavelength 9.2 -10.9 µm, Output power up to 60W.

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Lasers from Synrad and Taufenbach, suitable for material processing, annealing, additive manufacturing.

Impress 213

Laser type: Nd:YVO4, MOPA with 5HG
Parameter summary: Repetition rate 0.1-30 kHz, Wavelength 213 nm, Pulse length 7 ns, Pulse energy 15 µJ, Average power 170 mW at 11 kHz, beam M2<1.6

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Deep-UV pulsed source from Xiton. Suitable for applications in Raman spectroscopy, fabrication of fiber Bragg gratings, material structuring.

Legend

Laser type: Ti:Sapphire CPA
Parameter summary: Repetition rate up to 1 kHz, Wavelength 780 nm-950 nm, Pulse length 100 fs - 200 ps, Pulse energy 1 mJ @ 1 kHz, Average power 1 W


Tunable Ti:Sapphire chirped pulse amplifier system from Coherent. Can be operated in fs and ps transform-limited pulse regimes. Adjustable repetition rate up to 1 kHz.

Vitara

Laser type: Ti:Sapphire oscillator
Parameter summary: Repetition rate 80 MHz, Wavelength 810 nm, Average power 540 mW, Pulse bandwidth 125 nm, Compressed pulse length 12 fs


Ultrashort pulse Ti:Sapphire oscillator from Coherent. Used for seeding Astrella CPA system and as a sourrce for ultrashort reference pulses in pump-probe and THz spectroscopy.

Topas-Prime Plus

Laser type: Optical Parametric Amplifier
Parameter summary: Repetition rate 1 kHz, Wavelength 1160 nm-2600 nm, Pulse length 50 fs, Pulse energy 1.7 mJ signal and idler at peak, Average power 1.7 W

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Tunable optical parametric amplifier for time-resolved pump-probe spectroscopy, Mid-infrared generation.

Spitlight

Laser type: Nd:YAG, single-frequency Q-switched master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA)
Parameter summary: Repetition rate upto 100 Hz, Wavelength 1064 nm, Pulse length 10 ns, Pulse energy 200 mJ @ 100 Hz, Average power 20 W, Pulse bandwidth: transform-limited

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Injection-seeded, Q-switched diode-pumped laser from Innolas. Employed for generation of mid-infrared with optical parametric systems and THz. Suitable for LIDAR emitter prototyping.

Tsunami

Laser type: Ti:Sapphire oscillator
Parameter summary: Repetition rate 80 MHz, Wavelength 750 nm-1000 nm, Average power 1.5W @ 800 nm, Pulse length 80 fs

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Tunable Ti:Sapphire oscillator from Spectra Physics. A general purpose femtosecond source used for seeding chirped pulse amplifier, for THz time-domain spectroscopy and others.

Astrella

Laser type: Ti:Sapphire CPA
Parameter summary: Repetition rate 1 kHz, Wavelength 800 nm, Pulse length 33 fs, Pulse energy 7.5 mJ @ 1 kHz, Average power 7.5 W

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Short pulse Ti:Sapphire chirped pulse amplifier system from Coherent. A general light engine used to pump Optical parametric amplifiers, THz generation, filamentation and other applications.

Pulselas P-1064-150 HE

Laser type: Nd:YAG Q-switched oscillator
Parameter summary: Repetition rate 100 Hz, Wavelength 1064 nm, Pulse length 1 ns, Pulse energy 1.5 mJ, Average power 150 mW, polarization: linear


Compact, diode-pumped short-pulse Q-switched laser for material processing, laser breakdown spectroscopy and other applications.

DUV laser

Laser type: Single-mode frequency quadrupled Nd:YVO4 laser
Parameter summary: Wavelength 266 nm, CW pwoer 120 mW, M2<1.2


Verdi laser from Coherent, frequency quadrupled in an external ring cavity

Key experimental stations

Material laser processing lab

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  • Type of experiment: Glass preform fabrication, 3D laser printing, laser cutting and scribing, sample annealing
  • Description: 3D printing of structures in different glasses, composite glass-semiconductor preform fabrication and processing, material cutting and scribing
  • Beam parameters: CO2 lasers and CO laser with power up to 200W
  • Auxiliary equipment: Computerized precision high-speed translation stages, high-accuracy high-temperature measurements.
  • Contact person: Michael Fokine

Fiber Bragg grating writing station

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  • Type of experiment: Custom fiber Bragg grating fabrication in optical fibers
  • Description: Fabrication of custom fiber Bragg gratings and fiber optic components such as Fabry-Perot interferometers for lasers and distributed sensors
  • Beam parameters: Repetition rate 0.1-30 kHz, Wavelength 213 nm, Pulse length 7 ns, Pulse energy 15 µJ, Average power 170 mW at 11 kHz, beam M2<1.6
  • Auxiliary equipment: Home-built computer-controlled laser interferometer
  • Contact person: Michael Fokine

Nonlinear optics lab

  • Type of experiment: Nonlinear pulse compression, generation of near-, mid- and far-infrared ultrashort pulses using custom nonlinear materials, characterization of the nonlinear optical materials
  • Description: Design and realization of ultrashort pulse coherent sources from near-to far infrared using engineered nonlinear materials. Characterization of the nonlinear materials in terms of damage threshold, conversion efficiency, light-induced color-center dynamics.
  • Beam parameters: Pump energies up to 200 mJ, pulse lengths from 10 ns to 30 fs, repetition rate up to 1 KHz, adjustable
  • Auxiliary equipment: Spectrometers, frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG), cross-correlation FROG, autocorrelators, upconversion detectors, power meters
  • Contact person: Valdas Pasiskevicius

THz time domain spectrometry

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  • Type of experiment: Reflection and transmission THz spectroscopy using femtosecond pump-probe approach
  • Description: Home-built spectrometers suitable for measuring spectra of complex dielectric constant of any material within the spectral range up to 3 THz.
  • Beam parameters: Frequency range 3 THz, Dynamic range >50 dB, spectral resolution 5 GHz. Employs photoconductive antenna emitter and electrooptic detection.
  • Auxiliary equipment: Home-built computer-controlled fully automated system for data collection and parameter extraction.
  • Contact person: Valdas Pasiskevicius


Deep-UV laser lithography

  • Type of experiment: Laser interference lithography
  • Description: DUV laser interferometer for producing line patters below 500 nm over large sample areas.
  • Beam parameters: CW, wavelength 266 nm, power - 120 mW
  • Auxiliary equipment: Home-built laser interferometer
  • Contact person: Carlota Canalias

Laser development lab

  • Type of experiment: Development of custom lasers according to the requirements of an application, customization of commercial lasers to suit user's needs
  • Description: Design and prototyping of CW, Q-switched and mode-locked solid state and fiber lasers and amplifiers, design and realization of frequency conversion stages. The work is performed on a project basis.
  • Beam parameters: -
  • Auxiliary equipment: All design tools and equipment in the lab can be deployed as needed.
  • Contact person: Fredrik Laurell