Thorlabs Acquires Ultrafast Laser Line

Photonics tools manufacturer Thorlabs Inc. has acquired the Octavius line of ultrafast lasers and ultrafast pulse characterization products from idesta Quantum Electronics (IQE).

The transaction will strengthen Thorlabs’ portfolio with lasers and diagnostics tools for the imaging and photonics industries and allow IQE to focus on the development of advanced synchronization and timing distribution products.

The Octavius family includes lasers with 85-MHz and 1-GHz repetition rates and pulse widths of less than 6 fs. The devices are ideal for photonic and biological applications. The Octavius-2P laser, currently under development, is designed for multiphoton microscopy.

IQE’s two-dimensional scanning interferometer, developed in collaboration with MIT, also is being transferred to Thorlabs. It enables the characterization of pulses of a few cycles by interfering neighboring spectral components with 50-attosecond spectral phase precision.

IQE was founded in April 2010 by professors Jim Fujimoto and Franz Kärtner from the Research Laboratory of Electronics at MIT, and Thorlabs founder and president Alex Cable. Since its inception, it has been a member of Thorlabs’ Strategic Partnership Program, which allows new companies to leverage Thorlabs’ resources during their early stages of growth.

For more information, visit: www.thorlabs.com