Alpes Lasers External Cavity Laser Kit User manual
External Cavity Laser Kit User’s Manual
Version number 1.0.6
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2018 ALPES LASERS SA
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COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
This manual can be copied and distributed under the following conditions: the work
must be attributed in the manner specified by the author or licensor, and cannot be
altered or transformed.
WARRANTY
1. The customer must control the incoming deliveries and inform ALPES LASERS
about incomplete shipments or defective goods within 30 days after delivery.
ALPES LASERS warrants that the products respect the performance set forth in
the quotation, provided that the product is used according to ALPES LASERS
recommendations described in the datasheet included in the shipment.
2. Defective products will be replaced during the 2 years following delivery.
3. All other claims such as purchase refund, product reconditioning or damage of
any nature, be it direct, indirect or consequential, are expressly ousted.
4. The customer is aware of laser products being devices with a statistical rate of
failure. Depending on the use made of this product, it is the customer’s respon-
sibility to use caution, redundancy and appropriate technical measurement to
ensure the final product’s proper operation.
5. In case of discrepancy between the manual and terms written in the order con-
firmation, the order confirmation prevails.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Avenue des Pâquiers 1
2072 St-Blaise
Switzerland
Telephone: +41 32 729 9510
Fax: +41 32 729 9519
Email: inf[email protected]
Web site: http://www.alpeslasers.ch
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2018 SA iii
DOCUMENT VERSION
This is Version 1.0.6 of the manual, published on March 26th, 2018. It supersedes
version 1.0.5 of the manual, published on September 12th, 2016. The following mod-
ifications have been applied since the publication of version 1.0:
Date of publication Version number Changes
16/09/2015 1.0.1 Added fig. 2.5 and related information.
25/09/2015 1.0.2 Fixed caption of fig. 1.2
14/10/2015 1.0.3 Added fig. 1.1.
11/3/2016 1.0.4 Change of address
12/9/2016 1.0.5 Added Fig. 2.1
3/26/2018 1.0.6
Added § 2.1, changed drawing to reflect
internal part changes
iv ECLK user’s manual v1.0.6
Preface
This manual is a reference tool for personnel using the ALPES LASERS External Cavity
kit. Its purpose is to provide the customer with sufficient information to carry out nor-
mal installation and operating procedures. It is not intended to replace or supersede
any local directive. Table 1 gives a summary of the content of each chapter.
CAUTION:
All personnel must read and understand this manual before attempting
to operate ALPES LASERS QCLs or electronic device. Failure to follow
safety instructions could result in death or serious injury.
Chapter Content
Safety Warnings and Safety instructions
1. Description General description of the product
2. Operation Operation guide
3. Maintenance Installation and alignment guidelines
4. Connector Specifications Description of the connectors
Table 1: Structure of the QCL User’s Manual.
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Safety
ALPES LASERS electronic equipment operates at high voltages and includes a LASER
that may cause serious injury if not handled properly. The guidelines in this document
follow as closely as possible the IEC 60825-1 International Standard for safety of laser
products.
IMPORTANT:
This document provides general safety instructions. Site specific safety
regulations on electricity and lasers must be followed if they supersede
the recommendations in this manual.
When working with the External Cavity, some potential hasards include environ-
mental, electrical or radiation due to LASER; they are explained in more detail in sec-
tions 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3. The access to potentially dangerous operations is not controlled
and is left to the supervision of the owner.
IMPORTANT:
Any personnel working directly or in the surroundings of ALPES LASERS
equipment must read carefully and understand the safety issues
discussed in this chapter.
1 General safety considerations
If any of the following conditions exist, or are suspected, do not use the instrument
until safe operation can be verified by trained service personnel:
•Visible damage
•Severe transport stress
•Prolonged storage under adverse conditions
•Failure to perform intended measurements or functions
If necessary, return the instrument to ALPES LASERS for service or repair to ensure
that safety features are maintained.
vii
2 Notation
The use of DANGER, WARNING and CAUTION notation in this manual is in compli-
ance with the SEMI standard S-13-02981; their definition is given below. They may
also be used to alert against unsafe practices.
DANGER:
Indicates an immediate hazardous situation, which, if not avoided,
may result in death or serious injury.
WARNING:
Indicates a potentially hazardous situation, which, if not avoided,
may result in death or serious injury.
CAUTION:
Indicates a potentially hazardous situation, which, if not avoided,
may result in minor or moderate injury or property damage.
The use of IMPORTANT and Note notations is defined below.
IMPORTANT:
Contains instructions or practices associated with maintenance and operation
of the Starter Kit. Highlights specific actions or steps to be followed in order to
avoid defeating equipment functionality or cause product damage.
Note: contains instructions or practices associated with maintaining the Starter Kit.
Clarifies issues needing the reader’s attention.
1SEMI S13-0298: Safety Guidelines for Operation and Maintenance Manuals Used with Semicon-
ductor Manufacturing Equipment, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (Moun-
tainview, CA) 1998
viii ECLK user’s manual v1.0.6
3 Health hazard
There are three main sources of hazard associated with the Starter Kit:
•LASER radiation, detailed in section 3.1;
•electrical, detailed in section 3.2;
•environmental, detailed in section 3.3.
3.1 LASER radiation hazard
The eyes and skin are the body parts the most likely to be injured. Warnings for tasks
that may potentially adversely affect the health of the operator of a QCL are shown
below.
WARNING:
Never insert shiny objects in the LASER beam path: stray reflections
can be extremely hazardous to eyes and skin.
3.2 Electrical hazard
Work on live electrical circuits must be performed using all appropriate precautions
and site specific procedures. Those tasks must be performed by qualified service
personnel familiar with the wiring schematics of ALPES LASERS electronic equipment
only; electrical cabinets shall not be accessed during normal operation nor during
maintenance tasks.
DANGER:
Contact with the AC line can cause death or serious injury: ramp
down power from all the equipment before attempting any
maintenance procedure.
3.3 Environmental hazard
Always consult the material manufacturer’s Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), pay-
ing close attention to dust and combustion by-products.
x ECLK user’s manual v1.0.6
4 Specific ECLK Warnings
Read the manual before operating the instrument.
DANGER:
Invisible laser radiation. Avoid direct eye exposure. Class 3R laser
product.
IMPORTANT:
Pay attention to the wire polarity when installing a new QCL chip. Applying a
voltage of the wrong polarity may cause irreparable damages to the laser chip.
Note: Optical gratings can be easily damaged by moisture, fingerprints, aerosols,
or the slightest contact with any abrasive material. Gratings should only be handled
when necessary and always held by the sides. Latex gloves should be worn to prevent
oil from fingers from reaching the grating surface. Do not attempt to clean a grating
other than by blowing off the dust with clean, dry air or nitrogen, or by using specialized
polymer films. Scratches or other minor cosmetic imperfections on the surface of a
grating do not usually affect performance and are not considered defects.
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2018 SA xi
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Contents
Preface v
Safety vii
1 General safety considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
2 Notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
2.1 Symbols and labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
3 Health hazard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
3.1 LASER radiation hazard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
3.2 Electrical hazard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
3.3 Environmental hazard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
4 Specific ECLK Warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
1 Description 1
1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 System overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 Laser module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.4 Grating module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2 Operation 7
2.1 Quick Start Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.1.1 Unpacking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.1.2 Computer communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.1.3 Temperature Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.1.4 Pulser Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.1.5 Rotation-stage Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.1.6 Laser Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.1.7 Optional: Alignment Tweak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.2 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.3 Graphical user interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.3.1 Connection and login . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.3.2 Server administration screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.3.3 Instrument control screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.3.4 Shut down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3 Maintenance 17
3.1 Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.2 QCL chip installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.3 Back lens alignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
xiii
1. Description
1.1 Introduction
Alpes Laser’s line of External Cavity Laser Kit (ECLK) is designed for single-mode op-
eration with wide spectral tunability. The ECLK consists of a quantum cascade laser
(QCL) gain chip, a grating-tuned extended optical cavity in Littrow configuration, laser
drive electronics, an Alpes Lasers TC-3 temperature controller, and a graphical user
interface software. The kit is delivered pre-aligned and ready to use. Additional gain
chips with different wavelength coverage and/or output power can be purchased from
Alpes Lasers and installed in the instrument by the user. In the case of purchasing a
gain medium only, initial alignment and calibration steps are necessary. Characteri-
zation data are supplied with every kit and gain medium.
The ECLK is compatible with the Alpes Lasers line of Broad Gain QCLs which tune
over up to 30% of their center wavelength. The gain medium is prepared in form of
antireflection (AR) coated Fabry-Perot cavity, soldered to an aluminium nitride sub-
mount and to a copper carrier. The temperature is actively regulated by a heatsink
assembly that includes a thermoelectric element and water cooling for improved heat
dissipation. The laser is driven by an Alpes Lasers S-2 pulsed driver. The graphical
user interface allows for automatic wavelength tuning.
The back facet beam is collimated with an ashperical collimator lens onto a diffraction
grating mounted on a motorized rotation stage. The first order diffracted beam is fed
back into the gain chip. The laser frequency is tuned by rotating the grating. The front
facet (output) beam is collimated by another asperical collimator and is collected at
the front side of the kit after passing through a one-inch-diameter AR coated output
window.
For improved performance, the kit can be operated in a purged atmosphere. The
electrical connectors and plugs for water cooling and gas purging are found at the
back panel of the ECLK.
1
Chapter 1: Description
IMPORTANT:
Make sure that the laser enclosure is purged with dry air or nitrogen when you
operate the laser below the dew point. The enclosure is not hermetically sealed
and condensation may cause irreparable damages to the laser chip.
Notice
The present kit is based on Thorlabs’ Tunable Laser Kit and many parts are com-
patible between the two kits. In particular, the ECLK is compatible with Thorlabs’
optomechanics for mode-hop-free tuning.
Necessary equipement:
•Computer
Other recommended equipment:
•For installation of new gain chip: mid-infrared detector, or better yet, imaging
system
•For wavelength calibration: mid-infrared spectrometer, e.g. Fourier Transform
Infrared (FTIR) spectrometer
1.2 System overview
The CAD drawing of the system enclosure is shown in Fig. 1.1, including the output
port positioning. The internal element are identified in the exploded view of Fig. 1.2.
2 ECLK user’s manual v1.0.6
1.2 System overview
52 47 1
308
220
78.50
78
Figure 1.1: Alpes Lasers External Cavity Laser Kit - closed view.
(1) Enclosure base and (2) lid (same outer dimensions and compatible with
Thorlabs TLK-E),
(3) Base Module (same outer dimensions and compatible with Thorlabs TLK-
BM),
(4) Laser Module,
(5) Drive Electronics (Alpes Lasers S-2 pulsed QCL driver),
(6) Grating Module.
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2018 SA 3
Chapter 1: Description
5
2
3
4
6
1
Figure 1.2: Alpes Lasers External Cavity Laser Kit - open view.
1.3 Laser module
(1) Laser heatsink assembly,
(2) Thermoelectric cooler,
(3) Sockets for water cooling,
(4) Laser carrier attached by its (6) screws,
(5) Laser submount,
(7) Back aspheric collimating lens in (8) a holder and (9) its screws
(Thorlabs 390037; EFL = 1.873 mm, WD = 0.723 mm),
(10) Focus adjuster and its (11) screws and (12) adjusting knob
(Thorlabs TLK-FM1; moving dist. 0.3 mm),
(13) Contact plate and its (14) screws,
(15) Front aspheric collimating lens (Thorlabs C037TME; EFL = 1.863 mm, WD
= 0.34 mm),
4 ECLK user’s manual v1.0.6
1.3 Laser module
Figure 1.3: Laser module.
(16) Thread mount,
(17) Front lens holder attached by its (18) screws,
(19) Temperature sensor socket.
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2018 SA 5
Chapter 1: Description
1.4 Grating module
Figure 1.4: Grating module.
(1) Goniometer (Thorlabs GN05/M), (2) Adapter plate, (3) Motorized continuous
rotation stage with motor controller (Xeryon XRT-U 30), (4) Blazed diffraction grating
attached to its (5) frame, (6) Grating holder.
6 ECLK user’s manual v1.0.6
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