LE-0500 Pulsed Diode Laser

Continuously operating diode laser are available from a few milliwatt up to several hundreds of watt. They can also be operated in a pulsed mode, however the pulse power is slightly above the continuous power. Pulsed diode laser can only emit pulses but with extremely high peak power in the kilowatt range in a very short time of a couple of nanoseconds. Such diode laser are useful when a flash lamp like emission is required like for range finder, optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) or light detection and ranging (LIDAR).
This experiment is equipped with a pulse diode laser emitting at 905 nm with a maximum peak power of 70W and a pulse width of 100 nanoseconds. Both, the peak power as well the pulse width can be adjusted within a certain range. The students will study the parameter by displaying the timely behavior on a digital oscilloscope. The optical as well as electrical discharge pulse is monitored. The diode laser is operated by the discharge of a preloaded capacitor. The influence of the the charging voltage and discharge time on the emitted power is recorded and discussed. The optical property of the diode laser like spatial beam distribution is measured and with subsequent collimation formed to an almost parallel beam. Further on the polarization of the diode laser emission is measured using a polarization analyser.
With an optical power meter the energy per pulse is measured in micro Joule. The energy sensor as well as display unit are optional and needs to be ordered extra.