What is a picosecond laser?

What is a picosecond laser?

A laser with a pulse width of picoseconds is referred to as a picosecond laser.

Diode-pumped Nd:YAG or Nd:YLF lasers using acousto-optic modulation mode-locking are now the standard source for generating picosecond pulses.
Since the energy of the individual pulses output from the oscillator is quite low, a regenerative amplifier is often required to amplify them. In commercially available lasers, the resonant cavity is usually folded several times to shorten the total length of the system.
To obtain short pulses, a short resonant cavity and a high modulation frequency are required, and a single pulse needs to be separated by a bubbleglass box; the length of the cavity is a compromise between these two requirements.


Characteristics
      -Repetition frequency from 100 kHz to 1000 kHz
      -Ultra-short pulse width
      -Excellent beam quality M² < 1.3
      Reliable hands-free operation
      -Tight, robust, fully sealed design
      -PC control + remote control panel
      -Single-phase power supply drive
      -No external water cooling required


APPLICATIONS
      -Punching
      -Cutting
      -Moulding
      -Construction
      -Ablation
      -Micromachining



Laser micromachining technology is emerging as the technology of choice for a wide variety of micro- and fine-scale material processing applications.
In particular, a series of new advances in all-solid-state (DPSS) laser technology in recent years have rapidly transferred a large number of new speciality materials, which in the past could only be processed in the laboratory, to a wide range of full-fledged industrial production lines.
The revolutionary design incorporates a fibre optic seed source, which ensures ultra-high beam quality (M² <1.3) and high pulse energy stability (<1.5%).
At the same time all optical components are integrated in individually sealed modules, which are robust, reliable and meet the demands of 24/7 industrial use.
With a repetition frequency of up to 1000 kHz and no complex maintenance, which is particularly important in high-speed, high-precision and high-throughput material processing applications, the laser has quickly become the preferred choice for a wide range of industrial applications from its very inception.
All optical components are housed in a robust, precision-machined monobloc aluminium block, which can be used as a stand-alone module for customised solutions. The hermetically sealed construction ensures that the laser will operate reliably for long periods of time in production environments.
Hands-free operation is designed with an optimised layout, PC-based control, built-in self-diagnostics and advanced status reporting.
Outstanding beam quality makes it easy to focus the laser beam to the smallest spot size at different working distances, resulting in a laser energy density high enough to process almost any material.

Key Benefits:
The impressive advances in picosecond laser technology have made it a reliable tool for industrial microfabrication that was previously impossible to perform using other methods.
Picosecond pulse widths can be compared to electro-optical relaxation times and are short enough to "cold" ablate materials.
Picosecond lasers also have a number of advantages over femtosecond lasers with even shorter pulse widths, as the design of picosecond lasers is less complex due to the elimination of the need to broaden and compress the pulses for amplification, resulting in more cost-effective and reliable performance.
At the same time, picosecond pulses are still short enough for very precise and stress-free microfabrication.
Picosecond lasers are capable of micrometre-scale processing of virtually all materials, including, but not limited to:
      - Metals
      -Semiconductors
      -Diamonds
      -Sapphire
      -Ceramics
      -Polymers
      -Composites and resins
      -Photoresist materials
      -Films
      -ITO film
      -Glass
      -Solar Cells