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Pulse Compression and Dispersion Compensation for Ultrafast Lasers

Learn how Highly-Dispersive Mirrors compensate for dispersion and compress pulse duration in ultrafast laser systems, which is critical for maximizing performance.

Join representatives from Edmund Optics, TOPTICA Photonics, and Rochester Institute of Technology for a virtual discussion about the key benefits of ultrafast lasers and how they are revolutionizing fields as diverse as brain imaging and glass polishing.

Master the fundamentals of ultrafast lasers and how to choose optics that can withstand their high powers and short pulse durations.

The short pulse durations of ultrafast lasers lead to broad wavelength bandwidths, making ultrafast systems especially susceptible to dispersion and pulse broadening.

Specialized coatings can minimize thermal lensing in ultrafast laser systems, which are particularly susceptible to detrimental thermal effects.

The short pulse durations of ultrafast lasers make them interact with optical components differently, impacting the optic’s laser damage threshold.

The industry standard method for quantifying reflectivity does not tell the whole story

Ultrafast highly-dispersive mirrors are critical for pulse compression and dispersion compensation in ultrafast laser applications, improving system performance.

Mounting flat mirrors by their edges in a kinematic mount imparts stress onto the mirror surface. This results in distortion and reduced quality of the reflected wavefront, which is especially noticeable when using high-quality mirrors. Stemmed mirrors, on the other hand, are mounted from a smaller diameter “stem” protruding from the back of the mirror, resulting in significantly reduced stress on the mirror surface, high stability, and cost reduction and can be used as a replacement for a more expensive and complex kinematic mount and a conventional mirror.

Schwarz Mirrors eliminate stray light using black, engineered fused silica substrates that maintain desired characteristics while absorbing unwanted light.

Industry-leading laser optics are more available than ever before through the partnership of UltraFast Innovations and Edmund Optics.

Mirrors are commonly used to fold or compact an optical system.

Learn about Edmund Optics' ultrafast laser optics capabilities in this interview with Tony Karam from the PhotonicsNEXT Summit in January 2021.

Schwarz Mirrors minimize unwanted stray light using an opaque, engineered fused silica substrate that absorbs light that would otherwise be transmitted.

Edmund Optics® manufactures thousands of precision aspheric lenses per month in our asphere manufacturing cell that operates 24 hours a day

Ultrafast lasers have revolutionized a number of application spaces, but optical components for these systems face a unique set of challenges that must be overcome to maintain high pulse quality and maximize performance.

Advances in laser technology have made it possible to produce pulses ranging from a few femtoseconds to tens of attoseconds. Learn more at Edmund Optics.

Edmund Optics' panel of laser optics experts discuss why the industry standard of measuring transmission to infer the reflectivity of high reflectivity laser mirrors doesn’t tell the whole story.