Thermoplastic with diffuse high reflectance promotes increased powers and improved beam quality when used as a cavity reflector in lamp and diode pumped solid state lasers
Pro-Lite Technology, a specialist photonics distributor, has announced the availability of laser grade Spectralon from Labsphere, a thermoplastic with diffuse, high reflectance which promotes increased powers and improved beam quality when used as a cavity reflector in lamp and diode pumped solid state lasers and lamp pumped dye lasers.
Spectralon's combination of high reflectance (for example, >99% in the pump band of Nd:Yag at 808nm) and near-perfect diffuse reflectance provides laser engineers with a solution to the conflicting design objectives of high output energies combined with a high beam quality with reduced hot-spots.
Independent tests have shown that a flashlamp pumped Nd:Yag laser equipped with a Spectralon cavity reflector exhibits a 30% increase in slope efficiency and output energy compared with the same laser fitted with a ceramic chamber.
This gain results from the multiple reflections that take place within the chamber, amplifying the effects of differences in the reflectance of the pumping chamber.
Laser output power and energy are not always the most important considerations for laser designers.
For many applications in materials processing and scientific research, the quality of the laser beam is a priority. A laser equipped with a Spectralon cavity provides a significantly enhanced and more predictable beam quality compared with less diffusely reflecting materials as a direct result of the more uniform pumping of the laser medium.
The laser output parameters that are affected include: improved spatial uniformity; reduced non-symmetrical optical aberrations (coma and astigmatism); and reduced 'hot-spots'.
At the same time, a diffuse reflector will suffer from a much reduced risk of parasitic oscillations, allowing the designer to exploit the full output potential of the laser.
Spectralon is a thermoplastic that is machined according to customer-supplied drawings.
Pro-Lite welcomes enquiries for customised fabrication of laser cavity reflectors which are produced in the company's dedicated Spectralon machine shop.
