Diffusion Bonded Crystals with High Damage Threshold

Co2+:MgAl2O4 Cospinel is a relatively new material for passive Q-switching in lasers emitting from 1.2 to 1.6 μm, in particular, for eye-safe 1.54 μm Er:glass laser, but also works at 1.44 μm and 1.34 μm wavelengths. Spinel is a hard, stable crystal that polishes well. Cobalt substitutes readily for magnesium in the Spinel host without the need for additional charge compensation ions. High absorption cross section (3.5×10-19 cm2) permits Q-switching of Er:glass laser without intracavity focusing both with flash-lamp and diode-laser pumping. Negligible excited-state absorption results in high contrast of Q-switch, i.e. the ratio of initial (small signal) to saturated absorption is higher than 10.

Cr4+:YAG (Y3Al5O12) crystal is ideal for passive Q-switch operation of Nd:YAG and other Nd3+ or Yb3+ doped laser crystals in the wavelength range of 900 nm to 1200 nm. Passive Q-switches or saturable absorbers provide high power laser pulses without electro-optic Q-switches, thereby reducing the package size and eliminating a high voltage power supply. A remarkable feature of Cr4+:YAG is the high damage threshold of >10 J/cm2@1064 nm, 10 ns. Its absorption band extends from 900 nm to 1200 nm and peaks around 1060 nm with a very large absorption cross-section.

KDP Potassium Dihydrogen Phosphate and KD*P or DKDP Potassium Dideuterium Phosphate are among the most widely-used commercial NLO materials, characterized by good UV transmission, high damage threshold, and high birefringence, though their NLO coefficients are relatively low. They are usually used for doubling, tripling and quadrupling of a Nd:YAG laser under the room temperature. In addition, they are also excellent electro-optic crystals with high electro-optic coefficients, widely used as electro-optical modulators, such as Q-switches, Pockels Cells, etc.

The Positive Meniscus Lenses are a convex-concave lens, but it is thicker at the center than at the edges. They are felt polished and are used universally in the ophthalmic industry where convention dictates that lens power be specified in Diopters. The Negative Meniscus Lenses are a convex-concave lens, but it is thinner at the center than at the edges. Otherwise description is similar to Plano Concave lenses.  

Laser Line Mirrors are used for beam-steering in demanding laser applications. Laser Line Mirrors are Optical Mirrors that have been designed for specific laser types or wavelengths.

Longpass filters are ideal for a variety of applications, such as gas monitoring, temperature, sensing, thermal imaging and motion sensing, etc. Longpass filters block shorter wavelengths and transmit longer wavelengths. Blocking can be from reflectance, absorption or a combination. Transmission in the pass band can be enhanced with an antireflection coating on the second surface.

Holmium-doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (Ho:YAG) is an important solid-state laser crystal. Due to the excellent physicochemical properties of theYAG matrix, it can withstand high thermal loads and is an important pumpsource laser crystal for mid-wave infrared lasers. At the same time, it is alsoan ideal light source for coherent Doppler wind radar, differentialabsorption radar, and laser rangefinders.

Beamsplitter Cubes are constructed by cemented two right angle prisms.  The hypotenuse of one prism is coated with polarization dielectric coating.