Coherent has released the Cube 640 Diode Laser System, which delivers 20mW of output at 640nm from a pigtailed fibre optic cable.
Because the fibre optic assembly is laser-welded, the Cube 640 always maintains constant output power, regardless of changes in operating or storage temperature, throughout the entire lifetime of the device. The Cube 640 is offered with two output options. In the first, the single mode, polarisation preserving, 0.12NA (numerical aperture) fibre is terminated with an industry standard FC connector, while the second terminates in collimation optics to yield a 1.1mm diameter beam, with an impressive beam quality factor of M²<1.1.
Because the Cube 640 is a hands-free system that never requires realignment and has stable output power throughout its lifetime, it is a particularly attractive replacement for HeNe and other free space, fibre-coupled lasers. For example, it is especially well suited for bioinstrumentation applications such as flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, medical imaging, high-throughput drug discovery and genomics. In particular, it eliminates all static alignment, beam geometry and polarisation-related issues for the OEM during system construction, as well as for the end user when performing laser replacement. This new laser also offers the same performance and convenience features as other products in the Cube series. These include the ability to be directly modulated at frequencies of up to 150MHz digital and 350kHz analogue, low noise (<0.2 per cent rms from 20Hz to 10MHz) and small 100 x 40 (3.9 x 1.6-inch) mounting area, same as the standard Cube.