1-1
Chapter 1 Introduction
The Tsunami System
Titanium-doped sapphire (Ti:sapphire) is a solid-state laser medium capa-
ble of tunable operation over a broad range of near infrared (IR) wave-
lengths. The mode locked Tsunami
®
laser uses this laser medium and, with
properly chosen optics, delivers continuously tunable output over a broad
range of near IR wavelengths: from 690 nm to 1080 nm. It also produces a
range of pulse widths that are continuously variable from 80 ps to
< 50 fs—all with solid state convenience. Energy for the lasing process (the
“pump” energy) is supplied by a Millennia
®
series, continuous wave (CW),
diode-pumped, solid-state laser.
A Tsunami laser comprises five main elements:
• Ti:sapphire laser head
• Electronics module
• Purge filter/regulator unit (depending on system configuration)
•Chiller
Figure 1-1: The Tsunami Laser System (chiller not shown)
The laser head contains the Ti:sapphire rod and the optics that form the res-
onator cavity. The Model 3955 electronics module contains the heater and
rf driver circuits for the mode locker, as well as circuits for the Gires-
Tournois interferometer (GTI) which is required for picosecond operation.
The optional Model 3930 Lok-to-Clock
®
electronics module can be added
to any of the three systems to allow the output from the Tsunami to operate
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