Tag: laser

Mirrors and lenses for multiphoton microscopes

There’s been an interesting discussion on the Confocal listserv, and we’ll quote some of that discussion below. We’ve always used protected gold and silver mirrors for our multiphoton systems. That’s still what we recommend…



Laser power modulation: EOMs and AOMs

Fast laser power modulation in 2p systems is typically done with a Pockels cell. Conoptics sells one that is optimized for common Ti:Sapph systems, and that’s what many people end up using.

Pockels cells are a…



Driving a green laser pointer with MicroManager

Reminder: green laser pointers have a ton of IR in them. It needs to be filtered out if you don’t want it. See this old (2011!) Labrigger post.

I.e., Paul and Kurt are right (see…



Ripple noise on PMTs in 2-photon imaging – Part 2

The recent post on ripple noise generated some comments and additional discussion. Go check out the comments on that post. For example, Peter Rupprecht shared some snapshots an oscilloscope display showing the signal from the…



DIY 1060 nm fiber laser

For less than $13,000, you can build your own fiber laser and get pretty nice images with it.



Coolant lines for lasers

Many lasers have baseplates with channels through which chilled water is pumped to dissipate heat and stabilize the temperature of the system. I haven’t had much trouble with the chillers and baseplates of Newport/Spectra-Physics systems. However,…



Inexpensive IR viewer options

From Benjamin Judkewitz:

I needed an IR viewer to see a Ti:S beam and was really surprised to find that most viewers still sell for > 1000 € (or $). Visualizing NIR used to be really simple…



Photonics Handbook online reading

When you run out of catalogs to read, Photonics has some nice short articles. It’s all pretty basic, not too complicated. Good for training (e.g., Optical design software, Fiber lasers)



Time-bandwidth product

Ultrafast pulses are formed through interference of different wavelengths of light. Think of Fourier transforms, and how pulses can be generated through constructive and destructive interference of wavelengths with aligned phases. These wavelengths are close to the center wavelength, and spread over a wavelength bandwidth….



Controlling a bunch of servos

A friend just asked a quick question: How can I make a bunch of cheap (not fast) laser shutters? Here’s a quick answer: For motors, servos are pretty easy to use. Put a piece of black…



Damage thresholds and Ti:Sapph lasers

Recently, a moderately expensive optical element got fried at Labrigger. During the postmortem, we revisited our power and energy calculations, and our LIDT (laser intensity damage threshold) calculations.

LIDT calculations remind me of radiation-health physics (e.g.,…



Smartport for open source handheld laser control

Wicked Lasers makes laser pointers. High quality, high power laser pointers that can be repurposed for other applications. In fact, some of their lasers should probably never be used as pointers (e.g., this 2 watt 445…



Autocorrelator for under $5k

Autocorrelators can be used to measure the pulse width of ultrafast lasers. This can be useful for troubleshooting dispersion in your 2-photon imaging system and generally troubleshooting laser issues. They are big ticket items and often cost…



Pulsed laser power part 2

In a previous post, we discussed how peak power is computed. Although Ti:Sapph laser manufacturers typically quote the average power, peak power is the more relevant quantity for two photon excitation. Here’s a graph showing how…



50% off at Edmund Optics

If you’re like most people, you can get the vast majority of your holiday shopping done at Edmund Optics. They’re having a Cyber Monday sale this Monday, November 26th. Use code Cyber12 at checkout.

Here’s the deal,…