Birkeroed, Denmark--Supercontinuum white-light laser source manufacturer NKT Photonics will demonstrate the world's first tunable deep-UV supercontinuum-powered light source at LASER World of Photonics 2013 in Munich, Germany. When you combine the EXTEND-UV with the SuperK EXTREME supercontinuum laser (http://www.laserfocusworld.com/articles/print/volume-48/issue-03/features/all-fiber-designs-extend-supercontinuum-sources-into-the-mid-ir-region.html), the main output is a single tunable UV line that can be placed anywhere in the 270-400 nm range. The line is typically 3-15 nm in width with a pulse length of 20-40 ps and the output is linearly polarized. The repetition rate can be adjusted on the fly in the 2-80 MHz range, and power levels are on the order of 10-100 µW. The tuning of the UV line is fully automatic and can be controlled from either the source or a computer.
The deep-UV range is important for many applications like intrinsic fluorescence from proteins as well as UV excitable probes. The collimated output enables tight focusing and the fast pulses, down to 20 ps in length with variable MHz-range repetition rate, making it ideal for lifetime measurements and studies of ultrafast photochemical processes (http://www.laserfocusworld.com/articles/print/volume-47/issue-10/world-news/sub-femtosecond-sculpted-light-transients-probe-the-atom.html).
Like large solid state lasers, NKT says the source provides tunability and short pulses but at a fraction of the cost and with the robustness and reliability of fiber lasers. Compared to UV LEDs, the supercontinuum-powered EXTEND-UV provides superior wavelength coverage, beam quality, tunability and pulses that are an order of magnitude shorter.
"We are very excited about showing this new deep-UV source at LASER as it combines many of the best features of the different existing UV sources on the market into a single robust and reliable fiber laser that is very cost effective compared to e.g. Ti:Sapphire solutions,"says Christian Poulsen, CTO of NKT Photonics.
The SuperK EXTEND-UV features supercontinuum pass-through ports enabling the user to access the entire spectrum (400-2400 nm) from the SuperK EXTREME for other experiments. In this way, the SuperK EXTEND-UV can act as a hub in a multi-experiment environment, where the different parts of the spectrum is routed to the different setups through the unique SuperK CONNECT broadband fiber delivery system.
Hamamatsu Photonics is integrating the system with their sub-picosecond resolution STREAK cameras to create an ultrafast fluorescence lifetime measurement setup capable of capturing time-resolved spectra with high sensitivity and speed. The combined system will be on display at the Hamamtsu booth no. 303 in Hall B2 at LASER. The SuperK EXTEND-UV will be demonstrated live at the NKT Photonics booth no. 461 in hall B1 at LASER World of Photonics Munich, May 13-16, 2013.
SOURCE: NKT Photonics; http://nktphotonics.com/files/files/PR_NKT_Photonics_demonstrates_World’s_first_tunable_deep-UV_supercontinuum-powered_laser_at_LASER_2013.pdf
IMAGE: A tunable, deep-UV supercontinuum light source can be adjusted from 270-400 nm and will debut at LASER World of Photonics Munich. (Courtesy NKT Photonics)