High power femtosecond laser system

• Subject Area: Physical Chemistry
• Term: Funded in 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 526169114

A high-power femtosecond laser system (high-power laser system for short) is applied for that delivers ultrashort light pulses at a fixed wavelength in the spectral range from 400 nm to 2000 nm without further devices. The pulse width shall be between 30 fs and 400 fs with a repetition rate of at least 1 kHz. Preferably, the repetition rate can be changed up to 100 kHz. At the same time, the output power shall not drop. At 1 kHz repetition rate, the individual light pulses must have at least 2.5 mJ in the range from 375 nm to 850 nm, must have at least 3 mJ in the range from 850 nm to 1500 nm, and must have more than 3 mJ in the range from 1500 nm to 2000 nm. The spatial mode TEM00 of the light pulses must be better than M2 < 1.3. With these specifications, nonlinear OPAs and NOPAs can be operated to produce tunable femtosecond light pulses in the range of 270 nm to 15000 nm. These light pulses must have energies in the range of µJ so that pump-probe spectroscopy experiments can be performed with multiple beam copies (sample and reference beams). Polarization-resolved UV/VIS-pump IR-probe spectroscopy and IR-pump IR-probe spectroscopy are a major focus here. For this reason, quotes were also solicited from vendors with specifications of OPAs that can be driven with the high-power laser systems to demonstrate these capabilities. The high-power laser system should be as easy to operate as possible (turn-key), it should require as little maintenance as possible, and it should have the lowest possible overall energy consumption (sustainability). The high-power laser system is to be purchased as a replacement for a defective high-power laser system that had been used successfully for many years in high utilization. It delivered light pulses with 2.5 mJ energy at a repetition rate of 1 kHz and a pulse length of about 60 - 80 fs.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Hochleistungs-Femtosekunden-Lasersystem
• Instrumentation Group: 5700 Festkörper-Laser
• Applicant Institution: Freie Universität Berlin
• Leader: Professor Dr. Karsten Heyne