chanelink logo
CHANELINK
English

Scientists use glass to create femtosecond lasers

1118
2023-09-28 17:12:33
See translation

Image source: Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland

 

Science and Technology Daily, Beijing, September 27th (Reporter Zhang Jiaxin) Commercial femtosecond lasers are manufactured by placing optical components and their mounting bases on a substrate, which requires strict alignment of optical components. So, is it possible to manufacture femtosecond lasers entirely from glass? According to the latest issue of Optics magazine, scientists at the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland have successfully achieved this, with lasers no larger than credit cards and easier to align.

Researchers stated that due to the lower thermal expansion of glass compared to traditional substrates, it is a stable material. Therefore, they chose glass as the substrate and used commercial femtosecond lasers to etch special grooves on the glass to accurately place the basic components of the laser. Even in precision manufacturing at the micron level, the grooves and components themselves are not precise enough to achieve laser quality alignment. In other words, the reflector is not fully aligned, so at this stage, their glass device cannot be used as a laser.

So, researchers further designed etching to position a mirror in a groove with micro mechanical bending, which can locally twist the mirror when irradiated by femtosecond laser. By aligning the mirror in this way, they ultimately created a stable, small-scale femtosecond laser.

Despite its small size, the peak power of the laser is about 1 kilowatt, and the time to emit pulses is less than 200 femtoseconds, which is so short that light cannot pass through human hair.

This method of permanently aligning free space optical components through laser material interaction can be extended to various optical circuits, with extreme alignment resolutions as low as sub nanometer level.

 

Reprinted from：LDWORLD

Related Recommendations

  • New research on achieving femtosecond laser machining of multi joint micromachines

    The team of Wu Dong, professor of the Micro/Nano Engineering Laboratory of University of Science and Technology of China, proposed a processing strategy of femtosecond laser two in one writing into multiple materials, manufactured a micromechanical joint composed of temperature sensitive hydrogel and metal nanoparticles, and then developed a multi joint humanoid micromachine with multiple deformat...

    2023-09-15
    See translation

  • E-22 uncertainty optical frequency divider

    The time/frequency unit is the most accurate among the seven basic units, so many measurement studies that pursue ultra-high accuracy and sensitivity will be transformed into frequency measurements to achieve higher measurement accuracy and sensitivity. For example, by measuring the relative changes in the ratio of different atomic transition frequencies, ultralight dark matter can be detected or ...

    2024-02-27
    See translation

  • University of Würzburg creates' world's smallest pixel '

    The emergence of smart glasses is a product of the new era of technology and is widely regarded as a key technology for the future. However, due to technological limitations, applications are also restricted. In addition, if the size of high-efficiency luminescent pixels is reduced to the wavelength of emitted light, their use will also be limited by traditional optics.Now, physicists at Julius-Ma...

    10-29
    See translation

  • Cannon-Brookes spotlights Singapore with SunCable solar

    Billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes' plan to export clean energy from Australia to Singapore via a 4,200km undersea cable has gained new momentum after taking control of the stalled project.Cannon-Brookes' Grok Ventures has completed its acquisition of SunCable from the government and is advancing talks with authorities in Singapore and Indonesia, the investment firm said on Thursday. The revised plan...

    2023-09-08
    See translation

  • GZTECH Global Headquarters and Advanced Light Source R&D and Production Base Launch Construction

    On June 10th, the construction of GZTECH's global headquarters and advanced light source research and development production base was launched. Rendering of GZTECH Global Headquarters and Advanced Light Source R&D and Production Base The project is located in Donghu Comprehensive Bonded Zone, with a total construction area of approximately 40000 square meters. It will integrate GZTECH's i...

    06-13
    See translation