Melles Griot introduces advanced positioning technology (APT), a flexible positioning. The APT six-axis stage uses a novel patent-pending mechanism for multi-axis positioning. Guided alignment linkage pin technology combines the resolution and friction- and stiction-free performance of flexures with the increased travel and compact construction characteristics of bearing rails.
The 17 APT 600 stage uses modular, interchangeable manual differential or stepper-motor actuators on all axes. Axes may be equipped with internal piezoelectric actuators to provide linear resolutions of 1 nm and angular resolution of 0.1 arc sec. The APT stage has half the typical footprint of flexure devices and offers 12 mm of linear travel. A family of control electronics incorporates recent developments in digital signal processing and analogue hardware. The new benchtop devices have increased electronic bandwidth, synchronous movement, and internal analysis capabilities. Plug-and-play software and USB connections allow fast, out-of-the-box setup and configuration.www.mellesgriot.comThe ASE SMP-4010 is a compact amplified spontaneous emission module based on NP Photonics' fibre technology. Featuring high power delivered from a compact package, the ASE SMP-4010 suits a variety of sensing and spectroscopy applications and is a light source for fibre-optic gyros. It is also valuable as a light source for passive-optical-component testing, with broadband output across the telecommunications C-band (1525-1565 nm).
"A lot of similar incoherent light sources on the market today are either high power, high cost or low power, low cost," says Arturo Chavez-Pirson, ASE project manager. "Our ASE delivers the best of both worlds: it provides ample power for most sensing and testing applications and it is competitively priced."
NP offers 7-, 10- or 13-dBm versions of the ASE SMP-4010. Power stability for each version is ±0.01 dB. The module consumes <3 W of power while delivering stable broadband light via a singlemode fibre with a 250- or 900-µm-diameter jacket. Optionally, the spectrum can be flattened with a gain-flattening filter.www.npphotonics.comNewport Corp. released its new BSD Series of beam-steerers. These devices set laser beam height to precisely control the azimuth and elevation angles of the light beam that exits the periscope device. Beam-steerers have two fully adjustable mirror mounts that allow entering beams to be non-parallel to the table surface. The two mirror mounts used are the Newport Ultima mount series, which are then fitted with 45-degree mirror holders to hold two 25.4-mm diameter mirrors. By adjusting the bottom mirror, the incident beam can be centred onto the top mirror, which in turn can be adjusted to steer the beam to the desired location. Sliding clamps on a solid stainless steel post, 203.2 mm high when assembled, provide height adjustment with high stability. If a taller beam-steerer is required, an extension post can be attached. The beam-steerer can be securely mounted anywhere on an optical table by using the stainless steel clamping fork.
www.newport.com
Based on Limo Microtechnik's M3 technology, a new eight-channel micro lens array generation promises to yield significant reductions in coupling losses for all types of active and passive fibre and waveguide components. The refractive optical lens array collimates the beam of standard singlemode fibres. The customer can determine desired beam-shaping, around or any kind of elliptical shape. The fibres are reliably aligned to the M3. They lie in precisely positioned V-groove arrays. Made of special glasses to match the thermal expansion of material coefficients of the standard waveguide and semiconductor materials such as indium phosphide and lithium niobate. The high-stability assembly from Limo is claimed to be the only commercially available industrial-scale technique to provide fibre to waveguide coupling with mode-matching.
www.limo.de