Ultrafast dynamics experiments in physics, chemistry and biology, in condensed matter or gas phase require different types of ultrafast laser sources. Class 5 Photonics builds high-power optical parametric chirped pulse amplifiers (OPCPA) which are a powerful toolbox to deliver femtosecond pulses from
the XUV to MIR spectral range.

Some good news and some bad news… Just before the coronavirus disease arrived to Europe Class 5 Photonics shipped its very first system to Asia - namely South Korea. We are proud to reach the Asian market and to serve scientists world-wide with our high-power OPCPA systems made in Germany.

The shipped White Dwarf OPCPA is a compact (80 cm x 80 cm) one-box laser system incorporating a 40 W Coherent Monaco industrial laser and the Class 5 Photonics' high-power optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier (OPCPA). This unique combination provides turnkey access to few-cycle pulse widths < 9 fs at 800 nm, with pulse energies > 4 μJ and 1 MHz repetition rate, featuring excellent long-term output stability. The White Dwarf system is ideal for applications ranging from attosecond science to ultrafast electron diffraction and multidimensional spectroscopy.

Our little package already arrived at Korea and now the system is waiting for its installation in the Customer's lab. Unfortunately, the current situation of world-wide Corona infections, quarantine and travel bans will postpone the installation.  We are patient until then and look forward to rock the customer’s new lab when the White Dwarf OPCPA gets finally installed (we keep you posted).

Owing to their high second-order nonlinear susceptibility, organic crystals have gained tremendous interest as THz generators within the scientific community.  Recently, high-field THz generation in several organic crystals have been demonstrated by various research groups. The velocity phase matching condition is achieved using collinear propagating geometry. The phase matching condition is best fullfilled when the pump wavelength is in the IR range from 1400 nm to 1700 nm.  The absorption of the pump light in the crystals is reduced in this wavelength region, leading to an increased damage threshold, which enables higher pump fluences and hence a higher conversion efficiency.  

Our compact and versatile White Dwarf HE laser system is extended to a tunable, high power version centered at a wavelength of 1.55 µm with a pulse duration of < 36 fs making it an optimal source for THz generation with organic crystals.
In addition, an optically synchronized compressed probe pulse with a pulse duration of < 15 fs at 850 nm is available as a second output channel.

The White Dwarf HE is available with 10, 20 or 30 W output power.