Centaur Pockels Cells
Made with the highest purity KD*P, grown in our own facilities, the Centaur Series™ Pockels cells provide reliable and high-quality performance with more than 98.5% transmission from 300–1100 nm.
Full Product Description- Optical material:
- KD*P
- Material purity:
- 99%
- Wavelength:
- 300–1100 nm
- Contrast Ratio:
- >4000:1
- Active Aperture:
- 8–25 mm
- Repetition Rate:
- 2 kHz
- Single Pass Distortion:
- <λ/10 @ 1064 nm
Product description
One of the challenges of manipulating laser pulses is handling the inherent high energies that can easily damage materials. Impurities in optical crystals are a severe limitation to the optical power that a Pockels cell can endure and that's why we grow the highest purity KD*P crystals (99%) for use in our Pockels cells.
The Centaur Series utilizes the finest strain-free, highly deuterated KD*P available on the market, grown in our facility in Cleveland, OH, USA. The low loss KD*P crystal, as well as high damage threshold solgel and dielectric AR coatings, results in high optical damage resistance Pockels cell, needed for reliable laser intracavity use.
The sealed, nitrogen-filled, compact design with ceramic apertures and premium UV-grade fused silica windows, wedged or plano parallel, ensures high transmission and contrast ratios over its long lifetime. The housing of the Pockels cell incorporates standard pin-type HV connectors that provide a quick connection for simplified system design and assembly.
The Centaur series is a dimensional drop-in replacement for the industry standard QX series Pockels cell.
Options
Threaded HV connectors
Applications
Q-switching, Pulse-picking, Power control
Key features
- Dimensional drop-in replacement for the QX series Pockels cells
- Intrinsic contrast ratio >4000:1 (37 dB intracavity loss when flashlamp-pumping)
- Voltage contrast ratio >3500:1 (34 dB pulse picking efficiency)
- LIDT >10 J/cm² (1064 nm, 10 ns pulse length, 10 Hz repetition rate)
- Nitrogen backfilled ensuring a long lifetime
Specifications
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Optical material | KD*P |
| Material purity | 99% |
| Wavelength | 300–1100 nm |
| Contrast Ratio | >4000:1 |
| Active Aperture | 8–25 mm |
| Repetition Rate | 2 kHz |
| Single pass insertion loss | <1%@1064 nm |
| Voltage contrast ratio (VCR) | >3500:1 @ 1064 nm (parallel polarizers) |
| Single Pass Distortion | <λ/10 @ 1064 nm |
| Capacitance (DC) | 6 pF |
| DC quarter-wave voltage | 3–5 kV @ 1064 nm |
| LIDT | > 10 J/cm² (1064 nm, 10 ns pulse, 10 Hz, 1 mm diameter) |
| Operating temperature | 15°–45° C |
| Storage temperature | -55°–85° C |
| Humidity | Non-condensing environment |
| Duty cycle | <5% |
Series specifications
| Typical specifications | CQX 8 | CQX 9.25 | CQX 12.3 | CQX 15.5 | CQX 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hard aperture diameter | 8 mm | 9.25 mm | 12.3 mm | 15.5 mm | 25 mm |
| 10-90% rise time (theoretical) into 50 Ω line | 0.8 ns | 0.8 ns | 1.1 ns | 1.1 ns | 1.1 ns |
