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In addition to stocking lamps for many common laser models, Kentek can custom-design and manufacture linear and hollow flashlamps for CW and pulsed applications.

Flashlamps can be made with the following materials:

Clear Fused Quartz (CFQ)

This quartz is the most cost-effective, general-purpose quartz available. It is a high-quality quartz made from natural quartz sand. Because it is made from natural resources, it does contain impurities. These impurities can cause broadband absorption if the quartz should solarize. Solarization appears as a purplish film distributed over the entire lamp envelope. The ionic impurities consist mostly of alkali earths, aluminum, and iron.

The UV cut-off is 210 nm which makes this quartz suitable as a UV lamp material. Solarization is part of the natural aging process.

Synthetic Fused Quartz (SFQ)

This is a synthetic quartz grown from SiCl4. It is volatilized in an oxyhydrogen flame or, if a hydroxyl-free quartz is needed, it is formed by electrical arc in an oxidizing atmosphere. This quartz does not solarize because of the absence of ionic impurities normally associated with CFQ. The type which is not hydroxyl free does have water absorption bands in the infrared. This type of quartz has the highest cost of all and the hydroxyl-free type costs are even higher.

It does have the lowest UV cut-off at 160 nm. This makes it suitable for dye lasers and deep UV applications.

Cerium Doped Quartz (CDQ)

This is a flame-fused natural quartz mixed with 6% Cerium Oxide. The natural sand is highly refined and, as such, does not solarize. Nor does it transmit short wave UV light. It also has the useful property of converting the absorbed UV light generated by the plasma to more useful longer wavelength light that can be utilized by laser rods. A boost in conversion efficiency up to 15% can be realized with Nd:YAG systems using this type of quartz.

The UV cut-off is 400 nm. This makes it useful for flashlamps but it is generally not recommended for CW krypton arc lamps due to the excessive wall loading.