Coherent has introduced the Libra HE, a single-box ultrafast Ti:Sapphire amplifier, delivering higher pulse energy and shorter pulsewidth than previous models in its Libra range, while still offering the convenience and cost advantages associated with these popular laser systems. The Libra HE produces pulse energies of more than 3.5mJ at 1kHz, and offers a choice of either <50fs or <100fs pulsewidth models. The system is offered with a standard pulse repetition rate of either 1 or 5kHz, at 800nm.
Libra single-box amplifiers are stable, integrated, turnkey systems containing a Vitesse - an industrial-grade, ultra-fast oscillator - and its Verdi pump laser, as well as the regenerative amplifier and its associated pulsed pump laser, the Evolution. The new Libra HE reaches higher pulse energies reliably and efficiently, and offers improved beam quality, with M² less than 1.3, by using the company's next generation E-2 Engine regenerative amplifier design in concert with the high power capabilities of the Evolution pump platform. The integration of these high performance sub-systems ensures output stability of less than 0.5 per cent rms.
The high power and short pulsewidth of Libra HE will be useful for several power-hungry applications in photochemistry and photophysics. Examples include pumping multiple tunable OPAs for pump probe experiments, and ultrafast spectroscopy techniques such as CARS and fluorescence upconversion.