Optatec

The 11th Optatec international trade fair for optical technologies, components and systems will be held at the Frankfurt Exhibition Centre from 22-25 May, 2012.

Avantes

Avantes (www.avantes.com) will introduce its AvaSpec-RS spectrometer. Miniature spectrometers are versatile, portable and well appreciated by researchers and engineers worldwide.

Avantes has developed a configurable miniature spectrometer, allowing users to change the slit and connector easily. This microspectrometer can be adapted to changing needs, whether the user requires higher throughput or higher resolution. This is enabled by a proprietary Avantes ultralow stray light optical bench technology. Due to this technology, the stray light performance is up to five times better, combined with thermal and mechanical stability. The Avabench-RS optical bench technology is now available in all Avantes UV/VIS/NIR AvaSpec spectrometers.

AvaSpec spectrometers include a choice of 13 different standard gratings, 10 different detector options and many more options and accessories. The application areas for Avantes spectrometers and optical products include industrial, chemical, petrochemical, geology, biomedical, semiconductor, light measurement, agriculture and food processing technology.

Coherent

Coherent (www.coherent.com) is presenting its new structured light laser portfolio. Coherent will continue its expansion within the machine vision market by direct distribution of its own structured light product line.

With a market presence of over 20 years, Coherent’s structured light laser technology stands out through its diversity of services. The built-in powell lense and the diffractive optical elements providing line and dot matrices structures are all made of high quality glass, thus guaranteeing an excellent intensity distribution. The rugged mechanical design ensures an outstanding beam pointing stability of <10 µRad/°C.

An internal voltage and heat protection plus a potential-free housing ensure an increased lifetime. Thermoelectrically cooled lasers (UV-VIS-NIR) enhance wavelength stability up to 0.25nm/°C.

ID Quantique

ID Quantique (www.idquantique.com) will be showing photon-counters based on avalanche photodiodes in Geiger mode for the visible and infrared regions. It also will display Telecom short-pulse laser sources (id300).

The id100 is a photon counter based on silicon APD for VIS wavelength. id210 near-infrared photon counter with 100MHz trigger rate is an advanced system for single photon detection at telecom wavelengths, i.e. 1310nm and 1550nm. Photons can be detected with probability up to 25 per cent at 1550nm, while maintaining the dark count rate at low levels. A timing resolution as low as 250ps can be achieved.

The id220 is a single-photon detection module built around an InGaAs/InP passively quenched avalanche.

Laser Components

Laser Components (www.lasercomponents.com) will be exhibiting its Gaussian mirrors, also known as graded reflectivity mirrors (GRMs), at Optatec.

The mirrors' special coating is characterised by a degree of reflection that falls off in a Gaussian-shaped curve starting from the centre of the optic. Gaussian mirrors are used, in particular, as output couplers in unstable resonators where they help to reduce the beam divergence at high pulse energies. This makes them interesting for a wide range of applications, including military.

Ocean Optics

Ocean Optics (www.oceanoptics.com) is known for its highly configurable miniature spectrometers and will be showcasing several new products at the show.

Ocean will be showing off its second generation flagship product QE65000, called QE65-Pro. This high end miniature spectrometer is known for its high dynamic range and excellent signal to noise ratio. It has added more new gratings, improved thermal stability for harsh environments, and user exchangeable slits.

Ocean will also be demonstrating a new version of the MayaPro family, the MayaPro-VISNIR. This back-thinned detector based spectrometer has its detector and grating optimised for NIR responsivity, which makes it ideal for low-signal spectroscopy like 785nm Raman applications.

Qioptiq

Qioptiq’s (www.qioptiq.com) will be exhibiting its new laser module, the Nano 100 Series, compatible with the Linos Microbench.

The dimensions of this miniaturised system are adapted to the smaller Linos Nanobench system. The housing, while measuring only 25 x 25 x 40mm, contains not only the laser diode with collimation optics but also the controller. The maximum output power is up to 100mW. No additional power supply unit is necessary, because the module is powered over a USB connection. The USB port also provides a computer interface for monitoring and manipulating the operating parameters of the laser modules, which come with the Nano control software for Windows.