Technology

Our products are based on the latest innovation in laser technology.

K2 Photonics produces revolutionary dual-comb lasers, a type of ultrafast lasers producing two output beams, from nearly the same components as a single laser, with one key difference: each beam runs at nearly identical repetition rates, but with a controllable difference.

These light sources represent a new class of ultrafast lasers with the potential to revolutionize laser measurement applications. With our lasers it becomes easy to utilize the power of optical frequency combs. Our products are delivered in a compact package that is well suited for integration into full measurement systems.

The underlying laser technology was pioneered at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Our lasers are based on industry-proven ultrashort pulse generation methods and engineered to be robust against environmental disturbances. They are well-suited for practical deployment in industrial or research applications.

Illiustration of the pulse structure from a single-cavity dual-comb laser. Two pulse trains are emitted at different repetition rates: frep,1 and frep,2. The two outputs are spatially separated.

Dual-comb lasers offer a unique advantage over traditional lasers for rapid optical delay scans since they do not require any moving parts. This is achieved by creating two pulse trains with slightly different repetition rates, resulting in a continuous scan of the optical delay between them. The range of the scan is determined by the inverse of the repetition rate, while the scan speed is determined by the difference between the repetition rates of the two pulse trains. Depending on the specific laser parameters, scan ranges of over 10 ns and scan speeds exceeding 100 kHz can be achieved.

Thanks to its single-cavity architecture and common-noise suppression, K2 Photonics’ dual-comb lasers can achieve femtosecond-level precision on the time axis throughout the optical delay sweep. With an optical delay step as small as a few femtoseconds, the laser can precisely capture ultrafast phenomena for a wide range of applications.

K2 Photonics employs solid-state laser technology to create their single-cavity dual-comb laser system, resulting in an ultra-low intensity noise at high frequencies. With relative intensity noise (RIN) typically below -160 dBc/Hz for frequencies above 1 MHz, this low noise floor is crucial for rapid-sampling applications, as most signals of interest lie at high frequencies. The use of solid-state laser technology in the K2 Photonics system offers higher signal-to-noise ratio measurements for our end users, allowing for greater sensitivity and precision in their experiments.

Thanks to K2 Photonics’ single-cavity dual-comb laser technology, two output beams can be generated directly from a single laser, without the need for synchronization electronics. This approach is much more compact than traditional methods, which require two ultrafast lasers and additional locking electronics. Moreover, the dual-comb laser’s constantly scanning pulse trains eliminate the need for mechanical optical delay stages in measurement systems, further reducing the size and complexity of your instrument.

Let's explore the most innovative possibilities of laser technology.

Contacts

info@k2photonics.com
+41 43 883 32 43

K2 Photonics AG
Hardturmstrasse 161
8005 Zurich
Switzerland

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