Technical Details of Laser Glasses and Components
Laser glasses and components from SCHOTT are suitable for diode, solid-state and gas lasers, covering a multitude of wavelengths and pulse lengths. In all cases, they reflect SCHOTT’s reputation for delivering the highest quality components with a range of properties that suits your laser applications.
Active Laser Glass
SCHOTT offers active laser glass with phosphate and silicate base compositions.
Silicate based laser glass
LG-680 is the classic laser glass that features a high cross-section, high ultraviolet transmission, and high resistance to solarization. This glass is commonly employed in high-repetition rate solid-state laser systems.
Phosphate based laser glass for high energy applications
LG-750,LG-760,LG-770 have been developed to meet the needs of the high- energy solid-state laser community. All three glasses exhibit a high laser cross- section, a low non-linear refractive index, and thermal characteristics. All are available in a form free of all metallic platinum particles or other inclusions that can exhibit laser damage.
Phosphate based laser glass for high power and ultra-short pulse applications
APG-1 is aphosphate glass with enhanced thermal mechanical properties desirable in high-average power applications. The broad emission bandwidth of these materials has been utilized in femtosecond regime laser systems. The lower gain cross-section and the long low concentration emission lifetime have made this glass of interest in applications limited by amplified stimulated emission and/or intended for excitation by diode lasers.
Phosphate Laser Glass for High Power Applications at 1.00 μm
APG-760 is the next generation of our advanced laser glasses with increased thermo-mechanical properties. It is recommended to be used as active material in laser systems with high repetition rates.
Phosphate ´Eye-safe´ laser glass for 1.5 μm emission
LG-940, LG-950, LG-960 is an Er- and Yb-doped phosphate-glass for use in flash lamp or diode-pumped laser systems. It has a very low dn/dT, good thermal properties and a very high emission cross-section. Typical applications are laser range finding and medical lasers.
Broadband laser glass
BLG-80 is a Neodymium – Ytterbium doped phosphate laser glass with very broad emission spectrum usable in laser systems with pulse compression. It also offers possibilities for tuning the laser emission wavelength within the broad emission spectrum.
| LG-680 | LG-750 | LG-760 | LG-770 | APG-1 | APG-760 | BLG-80 | LG-940 | LG-950 | LG-960 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emission Peak Wavelength (nm) | 1,060 | 1,054 | 1,054 | 1,053 | 1,054 | 1,54 | 1,055 | 1,533 | 1,533 | 1,534 |
| Emission Width (nm) | 36 | 26 | 24 | 25 | 28 | 29.2 | 40.6 | 40 | 53 | 42.9 |
| Radiative Lifetime τRad [μsec] | 361 | 347 | 323 | 350 | 361 | 376 | 327 | 9,400 | 8,600 | 11.0 |
| Emission Cross Section
σem [10–20 cm2] |
2.5 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 3.2 | N/A | 0.7 | 0.7 | 6.7 |
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| Refractive Index n1054 nm | 1.560 | 1.516 | 1.508 | 1.500 | 1.526 | 1.5328 | 1.5491 | 1.522 | 1.515 | 1.544 |
| Nonlinear Refractive Index n2 | 4.3 | 3.0 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 3.1 | 3.01 | 3.68 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.6 |
| dn/dTrel (1060 nm, 20° – 40°C) [10–6/°C] | 2.9 | -5.1 | -6.8 | -4.7 | 1.2 | 1.9 | -3.8 | -3.6 | - | - |
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| Density ρ [g/cm3] | 2.54 | 2.83 | 2.60 | 2.59 | 2.63 | 2.70 | 2.93 | 3.04 | 2.92 | 3.14 |
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Thermal Conductivity (25°C), [W/(m ・ K)] |
1.19 | 0.49 | 0.57 | 0.57 | 0.78 | 0.76 | 0.53 | 0.51 | 0.63 | 0.65 |
| Thermal Expansion α(20-300 °C) [10–6/°C] |
10.18 | 13.01 | 15.04 | 13.36 | 9.96 | 8.9 | 13.1 | 11.96 | 12.90 | 10.0 |
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| High Energy Application | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| High Power/Ultrashort Pulse | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||
| Eye safe | ✓ | |||||||||
| Medical/cosmetic applications | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||
| Material processing | ||||||||||
| Rangefinders | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||
| LIDAR | ✓ | |||||||||
| Analytics | ✓ | |||||||||
Laser Cavity Filter Glasses S7000, S7005 and S7010N
SCHOTT produces three types of laser cavity filter glasses: S7000, S7005 and S7010N.
- S7000 is a clear, cerium-doped glass usable as laser cavity material. It is also available to serve as a cut-off material.
- S7005 is a laser cavity material with 5% doping of samarium oxide (Sm2O3), and is typically used for tube walls thicker than 6 mm.
- S7010N is a laser cavity material with 10% doping of samarium oxide. This glass is recommended for most applications.
SCHOTT offers a complete line of these commercial silicate filter glasses and can produce a full range of doping levels for specific applications.
For specifications please view our ‘Laser Cavity Flow Tubes & Filter Glasses Datasheet’ in the download section.
Mechanical Properties
Active laser glasses are available as fully finished components, such as rods, slabs and discs, manufactured according to customer specifications.
For specifications and typical values of our laser components please view our ‘Laser Cavity Flow Tubes & Filter Glasses Datasheet’ and ‘Ultraprecise and Long-Lasting Laser Glass Components’ in the download section.
Edge cladding glass
Edge cladding glass is used for active laser materials to absorb light from spontaneous and amplified spontaneous emission. These effects are reducing laser efficiency and can damage the active materials.
For specifications please view our ‘Edge Cladding Glass Datasheet’ in the download section.
Quality
Contract Melting
SCHOTT recognizes that laser customer needs are not only limited to available glasses. For this reason, SCHOTT maintains a program of custom test melting on a contract basis. In doing this, SCHOTT can provide glass samples suitable for characterization of optical, physical, and laser properties, as well as for fabrication of small optics and devices, allowing you to take advantage of our vast knowledge of glass. If requested, SCHOTT will also produce your glass composition.
Quality Assurance
Quality control is based on statistical process control, as well as rigorous final inspection of the finished component. Glass properties are measured for every melt, while our measurement instruments include a broad range of interferometers and microscope interferometers, spectro-photometers, autocollimators, physical property test systems, vision systems, and a laser test bed.
