Acoustooptics

An acoustooptical modulator and a high frequency driver are the basic components of the instruments summarized under this generic term. The area of application, however, varies depending on the instrument:

The modelocker PulseDrive transforms your cw laser into a pulsed laser system with very stable, fast pulses showing a high repetition rate which is often required for time resolved spectroscopy.

The pulse picker PulseSelect and the cavity dumper PulseSwitch reduce the repetition rates of your highly repetitive ultrafast laser system. This is relevant for time resolved measurement of samples with long life spans, e.g. samples with a long flourescence disaggregation time or for the measurement with time resolved single photon count. PulseSelect is well suited for a variety of laser systems with different pulse and wavelength ranges. The PulseSwitch is used for reducing the pulse repetition rates while simultaneously increasing the pulse energy with certain laser systems (e.g. Ti:Sa lasers).

The APE frequency shifter DFD allows for a defined shift of the laser frequency of narrow-band laser systems as used in nuclear experiments with laser traps.

AOM: The acoustooptical modulator modifies the intensity of the laser beam. For example, it is used as an acoustooptical chopper for Lock-In detection systems. Its advantage over mechanical choppers is a higher modulation frequency. Besides, it doesn’t generate mechanical vibration as it doesn’t contain flexible parts, which could have negative effects on the signal detection. In analog operation the laser intensities can be adjusted at will and be time modulated.