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• NIF

  Monday, June 07, 2010

  This year the laser industry is celebrating 50 years since the Theodore Maiman demonstrated the first working laser at Hughes Research Laboratory. I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Maiman at a trade show many years ago as well a brief visit to the laboratory at Hughes Research Laboratory (HRL) overlooking Malibu, California where the demonstration took place. At both Photonics West and CLEO this year there were displays of lasers old and new celebrating the birth of the laser and the 50 years of innovation since that changed many lives and brought about an industry that continues to thrive today.

   

  While attending the CLEO trade show in San Jose, California last month I learned that Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) was providing tours of the NIF facility which contains the world’s largest and highest energy laser https://lasers.llnl.gov/ . Since Livermore is relatively close to our home base I thought why not organize a field trip with some like minded people in the laser industry to continue the celebration of the half century mark of laser.

   

  I was able to contact LLNL and set up a tour very quickly. We were very fortunate to have one of the laser Physicists from the lab conduct the tour which allowed our group to get a much more detailed technical presentation than I would imagine would be possible otherwise. The abbreviation by which the lab is known, LLNL, we were told by our tour guide, really means; Lasers, Lasers, Nothing but, Lasers.

   

  The facility itself is quite impressive covering the size of a large football stadium. Ground was broken on the facility in 1997 and the construction was completed in March 2009. The goal for the laser portion of the facility is to generate 1.8 mega joules of UV laser energy to the target. There were a number of technical hurdles that needed to be overcome to make this happen including the manufacture of large plates of the phosphate glass for the amplifiers, growth of very large KDP crystals and development of large aperture optical switches just to name a few. You can read more on the seven wonders of NIF on the LLNL web site https://lasers.llnl.gov/about/nif/seven_wonders.php .

   

  Our group was impressed not by only the immense size of the facility and the laser itself but also the engineering and design work that went into the project to make the facility a reality. Clearly there are many talented engineers and physicists that have worked and continue to work on this project that should be proud of what they have accomplished. We have certainly come a long way since that first Ruby laser was demonstrated at HRL fifty years ago.

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  Posted by: Philip Crowley

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• LASOS

  Wednesday, April 14, 2010

  As you can see from our list of manufacturing partners we have the great pleasure of interacting with a wide variety of international companies. We also have a wide diversity of customers from different cultures that we support as well. We are often asked to provide more details about our partners so I thought this might be a good subject for my blog.

   

  I try to visit all of the manufacturing facilities that support our business. It gives me the opportunity to meet the people and see the size and scope of operations behind the name. One of my first such visits was to LASOS in Jena, Germany. LASOS has an interesting history, it is the result of the merger of the former Siemens gas laser business and the former Zeiss laser business. If you have purchased any of these products you might notice the old Siemens part nomenclature, LGK-7628 for example.

   

  Jena is located in the eastern part of central Germany 2 hours east of Frankfurt. It is part of the free state of Thuringia and boasts one of the largest Universities in Germany. Jena is very much an industrial center for optics and laser technology having both Carl Zeiss and Schott glass works founded here. Today there are a number of optical and laser companies including LASOS.

   

  When I visited the first time I stayed a bit outside of Jena in Weimar. While most people know this name from the Weimar Republic, a name, never used at the time by the way, to describe the first German liberal democracy, the town was also home to two of the great German writers, Goethe and Schiller. After a historic tour of Goethe’s home I had a chance to taste the best bratwurst I have ever had.

   

  My visit to LASOS was impressive starting with the many gas pump down stations for the gas lasers as well as the new clean rooms, purposely built for the expanding diode and solid state laser production. The factory is well organized, clean and open. The visit allowed me to meet many of the engineers, quality and production people that provide the support needed to deliver a quality product.

   

  While I enjoyed my visit, I was anxious to get on my way and find a stretch of autobahn with no speed limit!

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  Posted by: Philip Crowley

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  Tags laser LGK LASOS