NIST’s Electro-Optic Laser Pulses 100 Times Faster Than Usual Ultrafast Light
September 28, 2018 | NISTEstimated reading time: 3 minutes
Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have used common electronics to build a laser that pulses 100 times more often than conventional ultrafast lasers. The advance could extend the benefits of ultrafast science to new applications such as imaging of biological materials in real time.
The technology for making electro-optic lasers has been around for five decades, and the idea seems alluringly simple. But until now researchers have been unable to electronically switch light to make ultrafast pulses and eliminate electronic noise, or interference.
As described in the Sept. 28 issue of Science, NIST scientists developed a filtering method to reduce the heat-induced interference that otherwise would ruin the consistency of electronically synthesized light.
“We tamed the light with an aluminum can,” project leader Scott Papp said, referring to the “cavity” in which the electronic signals are stabilized and filtered. As the signals bounce back and forth inside something like a soda can, fixed waves emerge at the strongest frequencies and block or filter out other frequencies.
NIST’s ultrafast electro-optic laser relies on this aluminum “can” to stabilize and filter the electronic signals, which bounce back and forth inside until fixed waves emerge at the strongest frequencies and block or filter out other frequencies. Credit: D. Carlson/NIST
Ultrafast refers to events lasting picoseconds (trillionths of a second) to femtoseconds (quadrillionths of a second). This is faster than the nanoscale regime, introduced to the cultural lexicon some years ago with the field of nanotechnology (nanoseconds are billionths of a second).
The conventional source of ultrafast light is an optical frequency comb, a precise “ruler” for light. Combs are usually made with sophisticated “mode-locked” lasers, which form pulses from many different colors of light waves that overlap, creating links between optical and microwave frequencies. Interoperation of optical and microwave signals powers the latest advances in communications, timekeepingand quantum sensing systems.
In contrast, NIST’s new electro-optic laser imposes microwave electronic vibrations on a continuous-wave laser operating at optical frequencies, effectively carving pulses into the light.
“In any ultrafast laser, each pulse lasts for, say, 20 femtoseconds,” lead author David Carlson said. “In mode-locked lasers, the pulses come out every 10 nanoseconds. In our electro-optic laser, the pulses come out every 100 picoseconds. So that’s the speedup here—ultrafast pulses that arrive 100 times faster or more.”
“Chemical and biological imaging is a good example of the applications for this type of laser,” Papp said. “Probing biological samples with ultrafast pulses provides both imaging and chemical makeup information. Using our technology, this kind of imaging could happen dramatically faster. So, hyperspectral imaging that currently takes a minute could happen in real time.”
To make the electro-optic laser, NIST researchers start with an infrared continuous-wave laser and create pulses with an oscillator stabilized by the cavity, which provides the equivalent of a memory to ensure all the pulses are identical. The laser produces optical pulses at a microwave rate, and each pulse is directed through a microchip waveguide structure to generate many more colors in the frequency comb.
The electro-optic laser offers unprecedented speed combined with accuracy and stability that are comparable to that of a mode-locked laser, Papp said. The laser was constructed using commercial telecommunications and microwave components, making the system very reliable. The combination of reliability and accuracy makes electro-optic combs attractive for long-term measurements of optical clock networks or communications or sensor systems in which data needs to be acquired faster than is currently possible.
The research is supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NIST and the National Research Council.
Suggested Items
Inkjet Solder Mask ‘Has Arrived’
04/10/2024 | Pete Starkey, I-Connect007I was delighted to be invited to attend an interactive webinar entitled “Solder Mask Coating Made Easy with Additive Manufacturing,” hosted by SUSS MicroTec Netherlands in Eindhoven. The webinar was introduced and moderated by André Bodegom, managing director at Adeon Technologies, and the speakers were Mariana Van Dam, senior product manager PCB imaging solutions at AGFA in Belgium; Ashley Steers, sales manager at Electra Polymers in the UK; and Dr. Luca Gautero, product manager at SUSS MicroTec Netherlands.
NetVia Group Acquires Direct Imaging from Mivatek
04/09/2024 | Miva TechnologiesMiva Technologies is pleased to announce NetVia Group, Irving, TX has acquired a new Miva 2400NG Dual Tray Direct Imaging System with 30-micron capabilities for inner, outer and soldermask imaging.
Teledyne to Acquire Adimec
02/13/2024 | TeledyneTeledyne Technologies Incorporated announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Adimec Holding B.V. and its subsidiaries.
Real Time with... productronica 2023: MivaTek Global Advances Technology With High-res Imaging System
12/08/2023 | Real Time with...productronicaMivaTek's Brendan Hogan talks about how the company employs Digitally Adaptive Rasterization Technology (DART) in their high-res imaging equipment. He also shares how the blurred line between semiconductors and microelectronics is driving broader application of the imaging process.
Keysight Enables Validation of Arbe 4D Imaging Radar Chipset
11/30/2023 | Keysight Technologies, Inc.Keysight Technologies, Inc. announces that Arbe has selected the E8719A Radar Target Solution (RTS) to test the Arbe 4D imaging radar chipset for automotive applications.