Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials > Infrastructure > Current instrumental equipment > Techniques of Optical Research

Techniques of Optical Research


Instrumental equipment of laboratories of quantum and nonlinear optics

  • Femtosecond (fs) laser system with an amplifier (Coherent Mira 900-D + RegA 9000 + OPA 9400 + SHG) pumped by a couple of 10 W DPSS lasers. It generates fs impulsed (90-300 fs) and/or ps impulses (3-5 ps, oscillator only) tunable in the region of 700-900 nm (amplifier only in the range of 750-850 nm) with a maximum energy of 22 nJ (oscillator at 86 MHz) and/or 4 μJ (amplified at 100 kHz). OPA and/or SHG serve a conversion of wavelengths in the region from 350 to 2300 nm. Responsible person: Ondřej Haderka.
  • Femtosecond laser system with a cavity dumper (Coherent Mira 900-F + Pulse Switch + SHG/THG) pumped by a 5 W DPSS laser. It generates fs impulses (90-200 fs) tunable in the region of 710-900 nm with a maximum energy of 80 nJ (at 50 kHz) with an optional repeating frequency. SHG/THG serves for a conversion of wavelengths to the second and the third harmonics (355-450 nm, 240-300 nm). Responsible person: Ondřej Haderka.
  • Nd:YAG Q-switched laser (Ekspla NL201 + THG/FHG). It generates ns impulses (typically of 7 ns) at a wavelength of 355 nm (200 μJ) and 266 nm (80 μJ) with repeating frequencies in the range of 0-2500 Hz.
  • Device for fibre interferometry at the level of individual photons (MZ and/or HOM home-made interferometers with a visibility of up to 99.7% and stability of up to π/1000 over a period of < 5s, equipped with an automatic active recalibration for other periods).
  • Device for measurement of laser power in the continuous and/or pulse regime (over 10 kHz) in the power range from 10 nW to 100 W. Lower laser powers can be measured accurately by counting-photons methods.
  • Device for time-resolved counting of photons in the wavelength range of 400-900 nm and time resolution of >400 ps.
  • Cameras with a single-photon sensitivity based on iCCD and/or EMCCD technology with a spatial resolution of up to 1 MPx achievable on a chip with a dimension of 13 mm x 13 mm in the wavelength range of 400-900 nm.
  • Device for absorption and emission spectral analysis performed in the range of 200-900 nm with a single-photon sensitivity and resolution of down to 0.1 nm.
  • Devices for time and spectral analysis of time signals – LeCroy WavePro 7200A digital oscilloscope (20 GSa, 2 GHz) and Agilent spectral analyser (9kHz-3GHz).

Fundamental devices of laboratory of statistical and wave optics

  • Frequency light modulator (Holoeye LC2002 – dimension: 800 x 600 pixelů, pixel span: 32 μm, Fill Factor: 55%, panel dimension: 21 x 26 mm, colour depth: 8 Bit, signal format: VGA, SVGA). It enables an amplitude (with a contrast ratio of 1000:1 at 633 nm) and/or phase (with a phase shift of 2π at 532 nm) modulation of passing light
  • Imaging and analytical system with C-MOS cameras enabling a synchronous reading (EPIX PIXCI SV9M001M) – resolution: 1280(H) x 1024(V) pixels at maximum, 4(H) x 4(V) pixels at minimum, pixel dimension: 5.2 µm x 5.2 µm, sensitivity: 2.1 V/lux-sec, colour profile: monochromatic
  • Set of optical and optomechanical elements (manufactured by ThorLabs and Eksma Optics firms), optical tables (for example, Melles Griot StableTopTM250) – antivibration table with a working desk dimension of 1500 mm x 2500 mm x 310 mm (WxLxH), holes with M6 threads separated by 25 mm, air-damped supports
  • Ar-Ion laser source (Coherent Innova Sabre R DBW10/2). It generates a linearly polarized laser beam (100:1), CW, water-cooled, optical power: MLVS = 10 W, 514 nm = 5 W, 488 nm = 4 W, MLUV = 2 W, 351 nm = 0,6W, 363 nm = 0,6 W, beam diameter at 1/e2: 2,1 mm (514 nm), 1,7 mm (351 nm).
  • He-Ne laser source (Melles Griot 25 LHP 928). It generates a linearly polarized laser beam, CW, optical power: 35 mW at maximum, beam divergence at 1/e2: 0.68 mrad, beam diameter at v 1/e2: 1.24 mm.

Partial equipment of laboratory of quality testing of optical surfaces

  • Laser scanning confocal microscope of LEXT OLS 3100 type – a modern device for non-contact and non-destructive imaging and measurement of sub-micron surface structures. It provides a magnification in the range of 120 – 14 400 times. A maximum achievable resolution is 120 nm in a lateral direction and 40 nm in a vertical direction. Beside 2D imaging, LEXT also provides a 3D scanning of sample surfaces in real colours with a subsequent reconstruction of the topographic map skenování povrchů vzorků v reálných barvách s následnou rekonstrukcí topografické mapy, enabling thus the measurement of height characteristics of samples including determination of roughness parameters.
  • NanoTest NT600 – an universal modular measuring system for measurement of nanomechanical and nanotribological properties of thin layers and films (local mechanical properties). The device enables to  measure the hardness, evaluate the elastic module, adhesion, fatigue, fracture and/or dynamical properties of thin layers and films. Measurements can be performed at elevated temperatures of up to 500 °C, when the sample and the diamond indentor are separately heated.
  • Lambda 850 spectrometer –  double-beam spectrometer for UV/Vis region with a monochromator made up of a holographic grating with 1440 lines/mm for measurement in the region of 175-900 nm with a resolution of 0.5 nm and wavelength-setting accuracy of ±0,080 nm; beam splitting is provided by a chopper with a frequency of 46 Hz. Light source is made up of a combination of a tungsten and deuterium lamp and a R6872 photomultiplier is used as a detector. The device is intended for measurement of spectral characteristics of reflectance and transmission and determination of solution properties.
  • Meopta SF-1 spherointerferometer – device for measurement of a shape of optical surfaces. By means of a He-Ne laser, the device determines the shape of convex and concave surfaces of lenses, mirrors and other optical elements. Accuracy of the measurement of surface shape achieved by this device is λ/10.
  • CASI scatter meter – a device for non-contact measurement of light scattered from materials, especially from optical surfaces that are polished with a nanometer roughness. The device is equipped with He-Ne and Ar lasers with a wavelength of 633 nm and 325 nm, respectively. Utilizing these two wavelengths, the device can determine the entire field of back-scattered light (BSDF) and subsequently evaluate the RMS roughness of a surface having a value down to 1 Å.
  • Form Talysurf Series 2 device (manufactured by Taylor Hobson firm) – contact induction profilometer for 2D and 3D mapping of solid surfaces. Beside its basic function (calculation of parameters of roughness), this device provides complex information on a surface due to its high resolution capability. The device operates in three vertical ranges (0.832 mm, 0.167 mm and 0.333 mm) with an extraordinary resolution in a given direction (1.6 nm, 3 nm or 0.6 nm).  Talymap program, being an accessory tool, offers a series of functions capable of imaging the surface by various procedures (2D photosimulation, 3D axonometry with an option to choose the view angle), analysing the selected profile or surface, expressing several special functions such as Abbott–Firestone curve or a size of carrying surface. Due to its high resolution and measurement accuracy, this device can be also used to measure the thickness of thin layers or the shape, radius and gradient of tiny details of a surface and/or accurate components.