English

Scientists use glass to create femtosecond lasers

692
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
  • Topcon Announces the Launch of LN-50 3D Laser

    Earlier this month, before the annual Intergeo conference held in Germany, Topcon Positioning Systems announced the latest member of its robot total station series. This California based company launched the LN-50 3D laser in early October, marking their latest layout navigator, which has a range of 50 meters.They pointed out that this latest scanner is specifically designed for homebuilders, mech...

    2023-10-25
    See translation
  • Rapid and convenient preparation of small-sized metal nanoparticles using microchip lasers

    Liquid pulse laser ablation is a reliable and versatile technique for producing metal nanoparticles in solution. Its advantages include no reducing agent, simple operation, high purity, no need for purification steps, and environmental processing conditions, making it the preferred method for traditional metal NP preparation.The widespread adoption of PLAL in scientific and industrial research has...

    2024-01-30
    See translation
  • STMicroelectronics and Metalenz collaborate to promote the popularization of metasurface optical devices

    STMicroelectronics (ST), a developer of semiconductor technologies and Metalenz, which creates metasurface optics, have announced a new license agreement.The companies intend to broaden ST’s capability to use Metalenz IP to produce advanced metasurface optics based on ST’s manufacturing platform combining 300mm semiconductor and optics production, test and qualification. (Any) fiancial details of ...

    07-18
    See translation
  • Strengthening the market position: LILA integrates ADAM Lasertechnik

    Laser Integration Laser Applikation (LILA) GmbH is taking over ADAM Lasertechnik on April 1, 2025 and will continue to run the company as part of an external succession plan. This means that not only the expertise but also the proven technology of 3D laser welding with wire feed will be retained.“We are delighted to have found an industry-experienced partner in LILA GmbH, who will continue the bus...

    03-13
    See translation
  • Laser ablation helps to trace the origin of medieval metals

    Archaeologists have long wondered why the people of Anglo Saxon England began using more silver coins and fewer gold coins between 660 and 750 AD. Researchers in Europe now say they have developed a method to help find the answer. This technology combines laser ablation with traditional trace element analysis to match the isotopic abundance of silver bars in coins with known sources of metal ores ...

    2024-04-13
    See translation