Coherent Introduces Highest Power Ultrafast Amplifier System

A new Ti:Sapphire ultrafast laser amplifier from Coherent, Inc. delivers over twice the power of any comparable product.  Specifically, the Legend Elite Duo-HP offers over 15 Watts of output power, and the highest pulse energy (up to 10 mJ) currently on the market for a kHz class, thermoelectrically (TE) cooled amplifier.   Legend Elite Duo-HP can be configured to provide output pulse durations of <25 fs, <35 fs, <130 fs, or 0.5 ps to 2 ps with repetition rates in the range 1 kHz to 10 kHz.

Thermal gradients and consequent thermal lensing in the Ti:Sapphire crystal present significant design and performance challenges at output power levels higher than a few Watts.  Until now, the only viable solution has been to cool the Ti:Sapphire crystal to cryogenic temperatures.  Legend Elite Duo HP avoids the cost and complexity of cryo-cooling by using improved TE solid-state cooling, together with a Ti:Sapphire crystal and mounting interface shaped to maximize cooling efficiency and reduce thermal gradients.  As with the standard Legend Elite Duo, this new system incorporates two stages of amplification – a regenerative amplifier followed by a simple single-pass amplifier. This approach ensures superior beam quality, stability and efficiency compared to designs based on multi-pass amplification.

Applications for the Legend Elite Duo-HP span several areas of research. Examples include time-resolved spectroscopy using multiple optical parametric amplifiers (OPAs), THz generation, and high-field physics.

Founded in 1966, Coherent, Inc. is a Russell 2000 Index company and a world leader in providing laser-based solutions to the commercial and scientific research markets.  Please direct any questions to Steve Butcher, product line manager, at (530) 889-5272.  For more information about Coherent, including product and financial updates, visit our website at http://www.Coherent.com.

About the Author
Steven Glover is a proud member of the LIA staff. When he is not at work he is actively involved in several charitable efforts.
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