Research
Boyd Rochester Laboratory Facilities
Dr. Robert Boyd has four fully outfitted research laboratories at the Institute of Optics of the University of Rochester. These laboratories are each equipped with multiple 4’x8’x2’ (or larger) optical tables and light-darkening safety currents, which facilitate the simultaneous operation of multiple laboratory experiments. These laboratories contain all the necessary equipment to conduct state-of-the-art experiments in the fields of nonlinear optics of new photonic materials, quantum imaging, plasmonics, high capacity quantum key distribution, and nanophotonics.
The following is a list of the laser system which support this research effort:
(1) Spectra-Physics Tsunami Ti:sapphire Laser (Pumped by an ~10 W Spectra Physics Millenia laser) Center Wavelength: 790 nm Pulse duration: 80 fs Pulse repetition rate: 82 MHz Average Power (for a 6W TEM-00 pump): 440 mW Peak Power ~75 kW; Energy per Pulse: 5.5 nJ
(2) Spectra-Physics Spitfire Ti:sapphire Amplifier (pumped by Evolution-X and seeded by Tsunami) Center Wavelength: 800 nm Pulse repetition rate: 1 kHz Energy per Pulse: 330 µJ Pulse Duration: <130 fs Spectra-Physics OPA 800C Optical Parametric Generator - Service call May 31 st with expected performance - Signal 1.1 µm 6 µJ; 1.3 µm 18 µJ; 1.6 µm 12 µJ - Idler 1.7 µm 13 µJ; 2.08 µm 10 µJ; 2.5 µm 3 µJ Note: This laser system is approximately 18 years old and its performance has diminished from the factory specifications. This key laser system will need to be replace in the near future as some components are no longer supported by the vendor.
(3) EKSPLA PL2143A Nd:YAG Laser System Pulse repetition rate: ~10 Hz Pulse duration: ~30 ps Energy per Pulse: 36 mJ at 1064 nm; 18 mJ at 532 nm; 9 mJ at 355 nm The 355 nm laser output is used to pump: EKSPLA PG401 OPG to produce 30 ps pulses at the following wavelengths Signal: 420-650 nm 1 mJ; Idler 900-1850 nm 140 μJ
(4) Continuum SLI-10 Nd:YAG Laser Pulse repetition rate: ~10 Hz Pulse Duration: 2 – 40 ns Energy per Pulse: 450 mJ We also have the following capabilities in the area of quantum optics and quantum information.
(5) An ONDAX 405 nm laser, which can provide a source of polarization-entangled photons based on parametric down-conversion in pp-KTP.
(6) A QKD system capable of encoding many bits of information per photon. Information is encoded on a highly attenuated beam from a HeNe laser using the orbital angular momentum (OAM) states of light, and the detection is performed using an array of Geiger-mode avalanche Photodiodes (Perkin Elmer SPCM-AQRH-14-FC).
(7) Toptica DL PRO 780 tunable laser system for accessing the rubidium resonance lines at 780 and 795 nm: 765-805 nm; 50 kHz linewidth; > 50 mW.
(8) Toptica Boost TA 780 Amplifier, to provide with laser #7, > 1W output from 762 to 792 nm.
(9) Milennia V laser which is capable of providing 2.5 W CW output at 532 nm.
(10) Coherent Innova 90 CW Argon Ion Laser Output wavelengths – 528.7; 514.5; 496.5; 488; 476.5 nm.
The following instruments are available to characterize the spectrum of various light sources:
(1) Ocean Optics USB2000 – 340 nm to 1030 nm with 1.3 nm resolution
(2) Ocean Optics NIR spectrometer – 950 nm to 1650 nm with 2 nm resolution
(3) Hewlett Packard HR86142A Optical Spectrum Analyzer 600 nm to 1700 nm; 0.06 nm spectral resolution; suitable for CW sources only.
(4) Bristol Instruments 871B-Vis Wavemeter – 375 nm to 1100 nm pulsed or CW sources with < 1 pm resolution +/- 225 MHz uncertainty
(5) Jobin Yvon 0.5 m Spectrometer – 300 nm to 1100 nm; 0.2 nm resolution
(6) Spex 0.25 m Spectrometer – 300 nm to 1100 nm; 0.4 nm resolution.
The following spatial light modulators (SLM) are available to control the transverse structure of the various laser light sources:
(1) Quantity 2 – Hamamatsu X13138 LCOS-SLM: 1280x1024 pixels; 256 greyscale; 400- 700 nm; 60 Hz.
(2) Meadowlark HSP 1920-6000-1300-HSP8: 1920x1152 pixels; 600-1300 nm; 422 Hz; 400W/cm 2 power handling; 88% diffraction efficiency.
(3) Santec SLM-200 LCOS Spatial Light Modulator: 1920x1200 pixels; 450-1600 nm; 1024 gray levels; > 80% reflectivity.
(4) Holoeye Pluto 2 VIS-020 SLM: 1920 x 1080 x 8 µm pixels
(5) Quantity 2 – Cambridge Correlator SDE 1024 SLMs The following are some of the laboratory camera systems:
(1) ICCD: Princeton Instruments: 1024 x 1024 pixel; 12.8 µ square pixels 130 ke-well; dark current 2 e-/p/sec
(2) FLIR Blackfly BFS-U3-32S4M-C camera
(3) Amscope HD200UP-VM Camera with a Navitar 1-6245 Adapter tube, 4x Zoom Body tube 1-60833
Adaptive Optics Instrumentation:
(1) Thorlabs WFS20-7AR Shack Hartmann Wavefront Sensor - CMOS 7.2 mm x 5.4 mm camera; 1120 frames per second - 400-900 nm AR; 150 µm microlens array; λ/60 accuracy;
(2) Boston Micromachine DM32-35-UM01 Deformable Mirror - 32 actuators; 400 μm pitch; - <75 μs response time; 3.5μm movement;
(3) Optics in Motion LLC OIM5002 Fast Steering Mirror - 2” diameter Al coated mirror; 400-700 nm R>85% λ/4 flatness; 5 ms/1 mrad step; 650 Hz.
Additional specialized laboratory equipment:
(1) Newport UTS100CC DC motorized linear translation stage
(2) Quantity 2 - Velmex Linear Stepper Motor Stages:
(3) Gentec-EO PE5B-Ge-D0 (pJ range) and QE8SP-MT-D0 (microJ range) pulse energy detectors.