Lambda Photometrics Blog

Maestro Touch Screen Laser Power & Energy Monitor

2011-05-11T10:13:00.000Z

Check out the new video of the Gentec Maestro in action.

Field Sales Engineer Vacancy

2011-04-08T08:33:00.000Z

We are looking to recruit a Field Sales Engineer to join our Photonics Group, with specific responsibility for sales of laser systems and laser accessories from our well-rounded portfolio of respected suppliers. Building on existing business, the successful candidate will be expected to generate increased sales from both existing and new customers and spearhead growth of this important area of the company's business.

For more information, see the full press release

New Rubidium master clock scores a perfect 10

2011-03-25T11:19:00.002Z

Stanford Research have just launched their new Rubidium atomic master clock, the Perfection-10 for audio/video professionals.

Competing systems are usually designed around third-party off-the-shelf Rubidium clocks, whereas the core of the Perfection-10 is a proven ultra-stable rubidium oscillator specifically designed and manufactured by Stanford Research Systems. By designing and building the oscillator in-house, SRS are able to craft an instrument perfectly matched to the demanding requirements of audio master clocks, for an affordable price.

The Perf-10 has a great spec, check it out:

Atomic stability and accuracy
Eight 10MHz 75ohm outputs
±0.05 ppb accuracy
10 year ageing < 5ppb
Ultra-low phase noise: (<-155 dBc/Hz @ 10kHz)
Compatible with any device accepting a 10MHz input (including Antelope™ and dCS™ equipment)
Optional 12VDC redundant power input with automatic switchover

For more information or a quote, get in touch

dynaFiZ Dynamic Metrology removes turbulence & vibration

2011-02-02T09:33:00.002Z

If you're involved in optical metrology, you've probably come across problems with air turbulence and vibration. Trying to isolate your instrument, particularly if you are working in a noisy environment can be a time consuming task.

That's where the dynaFiZ from Zygo comes in. The dynaFiZ is a highly optimized optical instrument designed for use in noisy environments. Its high light efficiency optical system and high power HeNe laser source enable it to operate at high camera shutter speeds that "freeze" out vibration. This set up also allows it to provide real-time analysis of Zernike polynomials and a movie mode captures wavefront changes over time.

If you are interested in the dynaFiZ, check out the full dynaFiZ Dynamic Metrology press release for more details and contact information.

MAESTRO: Touch Screen Laser Power & Energy Monitor

2011-02-01T12:47:00.005Z

It's been a while in development, but we are proud to say it's finally here; the MAESTRO touch screen laser power & energy monitor.

We saw the MAESTRO in action at the Photonics West show and it's really impressive. The 5.6" full colour touch screen makes it really fast and easy to use and means you don't have to go ploughing through a whole bunch of menus and sub-menus to find the function you are looking for.

Another nice function is being able to show either single or dual graphs, along with the other display modes (power or energy digital, scope, needle and averaging). Click the link below for the latest updates and full specs

MAESTRO Touch Screen Laser Power & Energy Meter Specs

How rugged is your laser?

2010-05-10T09:48:00.006Z

Often laser users find they spend half their precious research time aligning their laser or tweaking the harmonics.

Well, Quantel Big Sky Lasers are different. They are designed to be rugged and to keep alignment no matter what you through at it. In this video, we strapped a Big Sky Ultra (with 2nd harmonic) to a paint shaker and it coped just fine thanks very much.

Sure, it's unlikely that you'll ever attach your laser to a paint shaker, but these tests show just how rugged and reliable these lasers are. You will forget all about alignment and tweaking and the laser will sit there quietly doing its job.

For more info, see our Nd:YAG lasers page

The SR1 Audio Analyser Makes Waves at AES!

2008-10-13T09:22:00.057Z

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the 125th AES convention in San Francisco on 3rd-5th October 2008, to witness the launch of the new SR1 Audio Analyser from Stanford Research Systems (SRS).

With many years of success in the scientific instrumentation and test & measurement markets, SRS have been able to produce a high-end product at a low-budget price. The SR1 is targeted at the flagship AP2700 Series from Audio Precision, and provdes a similar specification at a fraction of the cost.

The SR1 contains an embedded PC for stand-alone operation, and is a dual domain (analogue & digital) instrument with true two channel FFT analysers. The full specification set is included as standard - without the need for a long list of extra cost options required to configure your basic instrument.

SRS also used this opportunity to launch the SR10, SR11 & SR12 family of audio switches for use with the SR1. Members of the SR1 design team were on-hand at AES to help with detailed technical discussions, and we were all pleased at the universally positive reaction. Comments included “thanks for injecting some real competition into this market”, “you’ll have great success with this”, “this specification for such a low price is incredible”.

This has to be one of the most enjoyable exhibitions I've been involved with. It was great to be present for the launch of a new product into a new market, to witness the high level of interest and universally positive reponse, and of course to have the chance to look at all that tempting pro-audio kit!

The first SR1 units are due to ship in January 2009, and if you would like more information please visit our new dedicated Audio Analyser website http://www.audioanalyser.co.uk/. If you have any questions, just let us know. We look forward to talking to you about the SR1!

Audio Analyser UK website launched

2008-10-08T09:15:00.004Z

After a lot of hard work (blood, sweat and some tears) we have now launched a microsite dedicated to the Audio Analyser

The site provides all the latest news, specifications and product information for the SR1 Audio Analyser, and we'll shortly be adding application information, product demonstration videos and much more.

Analysing Audio Signals

2008-10-03T15:57:00.003Z

Fantastic news this week as Stanford Research have now launched the SR1 Audio Analyser.

The SR1 is a dual-domain analyser that consists of a high high-performance waveform generator with an array of analyzers that operate symmetrically in both the analog and digital domains.

The waveforms generator can produce sine, synchronous burst sine, noise (white, pink, and filtered), standard intermodulation test signals (SMPTE, CCIF, DIM), square waves, arbitrary waveforms (ASCII and .WAV), ramps and multitone waveforms.

The array of analysers include:

Time Domain Detector for measuring Amplitude, Crosstalk, and THD+N

Single-Channel FFT and Dual-Channel FFT Analyzers providing live spectral displays with full zoom and heterodyne capability.

Two-channel FFT analyzer for true single-shot frequency response measurements

THD Analyzer for frequency selective THD measurements

IMD Analyzer for standard audio distortion measurements including SMPTE, CCIF, and DIM

Histogram Analyzer displays live histograms of input signal amplitudes and probability distributions

Multitone Analyzer for fast single-shot measurements of a variety of audio parameters including Level, Frequency Response, THD+N, THD Total Distortion, Noise, Crosstalk, and IMD.

We're very excited by this product as it's got a very impressive spec at a great price.

We'll add more details as soon as we get them.

Zygo surface metrology

2008-02-11T13:03:00.000Z

We recently held a successful Zygo seminar on high performance optical surface profiling at the NPL, giving over 50 industry and academic participants an opportunity to gain a better understanding of how Zygo metrology tools can help characterise surfaces and improve R&D and manufacturing processes. Zygo provide two basic tools, one based on scanning white light interferometry and the other on Fizeau interferometry and we often get asked which one should be used for a particular application or what's the difference between the two? So here I will provide a brief explanation.

The Zygo NewView scanning white light interferometer is a general purpose surface metrology tools designed to cope with most surface topographies and textures. Depending on the quality of light reflection from the surface it will allow measurement of surfaces from a very small field of view (0.22 mm square) but with high magnification (100x) to a large field of view (22 mm square) with very low magnification (0.5x). This makes the NewView very versatile for measuring surfaces ranging from super smooth all the way to poorly reflecting surfaces with roughness values of tens of microns. Typical applications range from highly polished diamond machined surfaces such as contact lens moulds to embossed paper and rough coatings from screen printed materials. When measuring rough surfaces best results are achieved with a high magnification setting on the tool which means that "stitching" of several fields of view is required to observe a large area of several to tens of mm square.

The Zygo GPI is a Fizeau interferometer using a laser light source, it relies on a comparison of the surface under test with a reference optical surface, allowing measurement of flat or spherical components. The field of view is typically large from 4" diameter and more but the surface needs to be reflective and typically shiny to the naked eye to ensure enough laser light reflected off the surface can make its way back into the instrument. The GPI uses a similar camera to the NewView and with the larger aperture this means it will have a lower optical resolution than can be achieved with the NewView. Surfaces are measured on the GPI to determine form rather than roughness and typically this includes optical components and shiny diamond machined parts such as contact lenses and orthopaedic hip joints where the departure of the surface from either flat or sphere is no more than a few microns.

For more information take a look at: http://www.lambdaphoto.co.uk/products/140.003

Physik Instrumente UK website launched

2008-02-07T10:32:00.000Z

We have now launched a dedicated UK website for Physik Instrumente's high precision positioning systems at www.physikinstrumente.co.uk

The idea behind the website is to provide detailed information on PI's positioning products and applications that are of particular interest to UK customers. It will also list UK events and provide comprehensive contact details and information of PI's UK contacts.

Hopefully this will prove to be a valuable resource of information to those interested in all aspects of high precision positioning and gives a more local flavour and back up to PI's main website, www.physikinstrumente.com.

Lambda Roadshows - Coming to a University near you

2008-02-05T10:42:00.000Z

Over the past 6 months or so, we have been organising Photonics & Positioning Technology exhibitions (or Lambda Roadshows) at University sites throughout the UK.

So far these have proved extremely popular; our academic customers are able to discuss their applications with our product specialists, get hands-on demos and see new developments in the photonics & positioning fields.

It seems people are reluctant to visit the larger exhibitions and these onsite, smaller exhibitions offer convenience and a personal touch not possible at a huge exhibition.

I'll soon post some pictures on here of the exhibition at the ORC at Southampton University, (6th Feb 08) and below is a list of future dates.

N.B. If you'd like a Lambda Roadshow to visit your University, then please contact us.

6th Feb 08 - ORC, Southampton University

27th Feb 08 - The Clarendon Lab, Oxford University

5th Mar 08 - The Photon Science Institute, Manchester University

22nd Apr 08 - School of Physics, Heriot-Watt University

24th Apr 08 - Physics Department, St Andrews University

Big Sky Laser now Quantel (USA) - It's official!

2008-01-24T10:48:00.000Z

Big Sky announced this week that they are officially changing their name to Quantel (USA). We often get asked by customers about the difference/relationship between Quantel and Big Sky and it used to be very confusing, so hopefully the change will simplify matters.

A little history: Quantel purchased Big Sky back in 1998 and Big Sky has been a 100% subsidiary of Quantel since then. At that time, the decision was made to keep the Big Sky name which was well known throughout the laser community. We were lucky as we were the UK representative for both Quantel and Big Sky, so it was an easy transition for us!

Hopefully now that there is only a single company name it will end any confusion.

See Quantel's range of Nd:YAG lasers here

Science Technology & Innovation Exhibition - Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

2007-05-14T13:15:00.000Z

We recently attended an exhibition at RAL which went very well. We would like to thank the staff at Rutherford who attended the exhibition and made it a success.

On our stand we displayed some SRS test & measurement equipment, a range of PI nano and micro positioning systems and some of our laser products. Below is a small picture taken Adrian Piddington (on his camera phone) of our stand.

Imaging, Photonics and Optical Technology (IPOT) 2007

2007-02-24T14:28:00.000Z

We attended IPOT again this year and displayed a range of our machine vision and high-precision positioning products. Below are some pictures I took of our stand and the equipment we were demonstrating.

Our stand (Machine Vision)

Our stand (High-Precision Positioning)

Demo (SICK-IVP camera)

Demo (PI PZT linear drive Open loop)

Demo (PI miniature diving board!)

Demo (more PI stuff)

Demo (PI hexapod)

Photonics West 2007

2007-01-31T17:39:00.000Z

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get to Photonics West. However both Matthew Ball and Ken Middleton went along representing Lambda and by all account it was a great show.

Below are some pictures, kindly taken by Matthew Ball.

The San Jose McEnery Convention Center, which will be familiar to visitors to the show. This year there were more than 1,000 exhibitors and 17,000 visitors! I think everyone agreed it was a very busy show and exceeded expectations. You can read more about what happened here

This is a picture of the EOLITE Boreas fibre laser. It was being shown on Quantel & Big Sky's stand as Quantel have an agreement to sell the EOLITE system. To the right of the Boreas you can see an Ultra and power supply for the Brio, both of which are compact Nd:YAG lasers.

Some exicting new products were on display on Gentec-EO's stand. Gentec have recently released two new laser power/energy monitors. The SOLO2 (left) is an updated version of their SOLO laser power & energy monitor and features a far bigger screen than the old SOLO. The UNO (right) is a low-cost laser power monitor, which is economical, simple to use and features the same large screen as the SOLO2.

Introduction

2006-11-03T12:47:00.000Z

Welcome to the blog for Lambda Photometrics. We will soon be adding some content here. Please feel free to contact us.