Features

Wavelength Ranges from 770 nm to 1650 nm
Collimated Free Space Ouptut Beam
Instantaneous Linewidth of 120 kHz (Typical)
USB 2.0 Interface
SM1 and 30 mm Cage System Compatible
Suitable for Spectroscopy and Interferometry

Thorlabs' INTUN Series of Tunable Lasers are designed for demanding applications such as spectroscopy. With four models spanning the wavelength range from 770 - 1650 nm, this family covers the widest spectral range of any of our tunable products. These truly continuously tunable lasers are optimized for step and measurement applications, offer mode-hop-free operation, and have a convenient USB 2.0 interface.

Item #	TL780-B	TL980-B	TL1300-B	TL1550-B
Wavelength	780 nm	980 nm	1320 nm	1550 nm
Optical Power	>5 mW	>5 mW	>20 mW	>20 mW
Tuning Range	15 nm	25 nm	>100 nm	>110 nm
Tuning Speed Continuous	0 - 15 nm/s	0 - 15 nm/s	0 - 50 nm/s	0 - 50 nm/s
Spectral Linewidth	150 kHz Max*
Fine Tune Resolution	0.1 pm		0.2 pm

* Measurement at 1 ms

The heart of the INTUN system is based on the same technology used in the high performance PICO D tunable laser. These tunable lasers (TLS) have an external cavity design (ECL) to enable a wide mode-hop free tuning range.

All lasers in the INTUN family have reduced spontaneous emission to further improve the laser performance. The INTUN has an SM1-compatible thread on the output port and mounting holes for our 30 mm cage system to allow ease of use with our optomechanical equipment. The output is a collimated free-space beam. The INTUN B has the means to lock the wavelength to an external wavelength reference such as a gas cell or a frequency comb. This product is a complete turnkey solution without the need for additional electronic boxes. Contact Sales-TQE@thorlabs.com for more information on this application.

All INTUN lasers have means to lock to an external reference if ultra high stability is needed. Also, all models have a digital wavelength control input that can be used to modulate and fine tune the wavelength.

INTUN TL780-B offers high output power at 780 nm and can be used for rubidium experiments.

Laser Specifications

All values are typical unless otherwise specified.

Item #		TL780-B	TL980-B	TL1300-B	TL1550-B
Wavelength		780 nm	980 nm	1320 nm	1550 nm
Optical Power		>5 mW	>5 mW	>20 mW	>20 mW
Tuning Range		15 nm	25 nm	>100 nm	>110 nm
Tuning Speed Continuous		0 - 15 nm/s	0 - 15 nm/s	0 - 50 nm/s	0 - 50 nm/s
Wavelength Resolution	Controlled Mode	12 Bits of Wavelength Range
	Free Step Mode	0.5 pm	0.5 pm	1 pm	1 pm
	Fine Tune Mode	0.1 pm	0.1 pm	0.2 pm	0.2 pm
Wavelength Repeatability		1 pm
Absolute Wavelength Accuracy		± 50 pm
Wavelength Stability (1h/24hr)		± 2 pm / ± 10 pm
Power Resolution		25 µW
Spectral Linewidth		150 kHz Max*
Effective Linewidth		1.5 MHz
Coherence Control		1 GHz or 2 GHz
Side Mode Suppression Ratio (SMSR)		45 dBc min
Signal To Source Spontaneous Emission Ratio (SSE)		70 dB/nm**
Signal To Source Spontaneous Emission Ratio (STSSER)		65 dB
Relative Intensity Noise (RIN)		-140 (dB/Hz)
Optical Output		Free-Space Collimated Beam

* Measurement Time <1 ms. ** Appication Dependent

Electrical and Interface Specifications

Parameter	INTUN-B
DC Input	+48 V/20 W
Analog Modulation Input	2 V_p-p
Analog Wavelength Output	0 - 4 V
Electrical Connectors
DC Input Voltage	Rear Panel Socket
Digital Status	0 - 5 V
Interlock	DB9
Communications	USB 2.0
Analog Inputs	BNC
General
Operating Temperature Range	15 to 30 °C
Dimensions	242 mm x 87 mm x 142 mm

Applications

Characterization of Optical Components
Spectroscopy
Polarization Measurements
Real-Time Process Monitoring
General R&D Heterodyning

Heterodyne and Interferometry

Optical Heterodyne and Interferometry are some of the new important measurement techniques that benefit from Thorlabs continuously tunable lasers. Requirements for these high precision measurements include smooth continuous tuning, high accuracy, low noise, and narrow line width. The patented motor design enables a highly constant tuning speed. The constant sweep speed (low acceleration) makes these lasers suitable for interferometric and heterodyne measurements. The acceleration during sweep (variation in the tuning speed) is measured using a wavelength locker (low finesse Etalon). The wavelength locker signal provides evenly spaced peaks (clock) in the frequency space (k-space). There are several methods to acquire data which enables the calculation of the tuning speed and the acceleration. One method is to use the k-space clock to determine the tuning speed and the time fluctuations of the k-space clock to determine the tuning speed variations (acceleration). In the figure below we have used, in addition to the k-space clock, the knowledge of the finesse of the Etalon to improve the time resolution of the measurement. When using the knowledge of the finesse, the time resolution of the measurement of the tuning speed and acceleration is limited to the sampling frequency rather than the k-space clock.

Spectral Monitoring

The ECL tunable lasers provide an outstanding building block in spectral measuring and monitoring. The waveform shows an HCN (Hydrogen Cyanide) scan using Thorlabs ECL Technology.

For more information, please contact our Tech Support Team.

The INTUN-B model comes with a LabVIEW™ software package that enables the user to control the laser via a computer. The software package contains a standalone graphical user interface, (GUI), and drivers that can be run from within Labview. The GUI will be installed as an exe file along with required LabVIEW™ RTE, a LabVIEW™ functions library (freeware), accessed from the Windows™ start menu.

With the user interface you can set the optical power and wavelength in the Main tab. In the Parked tab you can tune the wavelength in three different modes, which allows you to reach high wavelength accuracy. In the Sweep tab you can tune between two different wavelengths with a desired tuning speed. In the Dither tab you can control the digital dither function or choose the external analog dither. In the Status tab the status signals are shown. Note that the laser will remember its instructions and will continue with its task even if the computer is disconnected. Below is a screen shot of the graphical user interface.

It is also possible to make your own specific control programs for the laser. A set of LabVIEW drivers is included on the CD and is also available on Thorlabs homepage. Dynamic link library drivers (DLL) are available upon request. Also, a USB 2.0 interface manual is available upon request and contains all information needed to control the laser from any programming language.

All communication to the laser is done via USB 2.0.

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Posted Comments:
Poster: apalmentieri	Posted Date: 2010-01-04 11:32:56.0
A response from Adam at Thorlabs: In response to my earlier post, I have been informed that we are working on a new version of the manual that contains more information about the drivers and how to access them. These should be up on the web soon. Please also note that the software CD contains readme files that points out how to access the driver functions, (tree.vi), and the example.vi. Within the tree.vi all functions are grouped according to functionality with names that points out the purpose/function. The example.vi shows how to write a typical program.

Poster: apalmentieri	Posted Date: 2009-12-31 10:14:41.0
A response from Adam at Thorlabs: I took a look over the manual and have made a few corrections on the typographical errors. I have sent this over to Thorlabs Quantum Electronics(they manufacture the lasers) and asked them to make these corrections. I also recommended that we make the RS232 commands more readily available to the customers like yourself(either by adding them to the manual or the website). Please note that our Thorlabs Quantum Electronics division can provide the necessary .dll and/or Labview drives for custom-made programs. If you are interested in this option, please contact techsupport@thorlabs.com since no email address was provided in this feedback. I will post more feedback when I find out the necessary changes that can be made.

Poster:	Posted Date: 2009-12-30 11:55:07.0
Include more information in the manual - its pretty useless (with typos). Apparently there are internal documents detailing the rs232 commands - why not give customers/users access to all available information on the product? The labview drivers are also not very well documented at all. Right now there is a program that allows you to step in increments of 0.005nm. A program that would allow a more truly continuous scan would be very useful (using a combination of step and fine-tune controls). I suppose that this is true for all the intun + pico model lasers.