Useful links  

How to's

How to Align Polarization Maintaining Fibers

Tools

Molecular, material constants

• DiRef - recent references on molecular spectroscopy, searchable by atom
• NIST Chemistry Webbook - gives Herzberg constants of diatomic molecules
• RADEN - Database of diatomic molecule energies
• webelements.com - clickable periodic table
• AIP vapor pressure - vapor pressure vs T
• NIST Ceramics Division
• MatWeb- Materials properties, densities, hardness etc.
• Steck Alkali Data -Extensive Data on some Alkali Atoms
• O-ring size chart

Free Software

• PDF 24 - Free software for creating PDFs
• Alibre Design Xpress - 3D CAD package (and it works very well)
• Molecule Programs - Robery Le Roy's suite of sweet software for molecule spectroscopy (pot'ls, FC, etc.)

Laser Resources

• List of Laser Dyes

Useful Websites

• Luxpop- Optics calculation applets backed by lots of material data
• [1]- How monochromators really work

Regular suppliers

• Physics Today Buyers Guide
• CERN Courier Buyer's Guide

Ablation targets, pressing, materials

• Semiconductor Wafer - semiconductor materials (link added by company)
• Sigma-Aldrich
• American Elements -- pretty much the whole periodic table
• Sophisticated alloys
• Plasmaterials
• Sputtering target suppliers
• Alfa aesar
• Process Materials
• Sputtering Materials Inc
• Refrac systems - Diffusion bonding, hot-pressing
• Cercom Ceramics

Hardware

• McMaster
• Copper and brass sales - THE copper and brass supplier
• MSC - When McMaster just won't do
• RAM mounts - Mounts for scopes and other instruments.
• S&W Coil - Magnet coils/wire
• Small Tube Products custom tubing, water-cooled magnet wire.

Optics

• Thorlabs
• CVI
• New Focus
• Newport
• Alpine Research Optics
• Casix - dirt cheap, long lead times?
• conoptics - Isolators
• Edmund optics
• Optosigma - windows
• Research Electro Optics - High end optics
• Advanced Thin Films - custom jobs
• EO tech - Isolators
• PI action - CCD cameras
• Semrock - Filters + MaxMirror
• Intor - cheap interference filters
• Uniblitz - shutters
• Andover - colored glass filters
• Omega - stock + custom interference filters
• Coherent - Tell them you want the 'Family Discount' & Get 20% Off all laser measurement products. For problems contact service manager: rose.medina@coherent.com (408) 764-4426
• OFR - fiber optics and isolators
• Technical Glass- Talk to Jack Watson and tell him Sarah sent you.
• Rubicon - Sapphire
• NEOS - AOMs
• Intraaction - AOMs
• Brimrose - AOMs, custom
• St. Gobain Crystals - custom crystalline optics
• Standa - mostly optomechanics
• Expla - laser systems, OPOs, some components
• Optometrics - diffraction gratings
• Argyle Optics - custom stuff might be cheap but standard optics are also custom made = expensive
• Vere Optics lab accessories
• Esco Products-unusually fast and inexpensive for custom optics jobs, proven reliable. Also good selection of stock optics

Laser Diodes

• Sacher
• Eagleyard - AR coated laser diodes
• Roither Lasertechnik - Laser diodes, LEDs
• Toptica - Lasers, AR Coated Diodes
• Intelite - Non-AR Coated Diodes, Sacher gets some of their diodes here before AR Coating
• Photonic Products - Laser diodes, will frequency-select on certain products.

  
  

Electronics

• Mouser Electronics
• Digikey
• Analog Devices
• Apex Microtechnologies - High Voltage/Power Op-Amps
• Lansing Instruments - Really Nice Enclosures
• Emco High Voltage - DC-DC Converters
• Allied Electronics
• L-Com - Cheap connectors/adaptors
• Powell Electronics - Hard to find/out of stock stuff
• Meritronics - Board Assembly

Ceramics

• Stratamet - will do small custom jobs. Talk to Mark Wesson. Tell him Sarah sent you.
• CoorsTek ceramic tubes etc.
• Kyocera - expensive
• Marketech - will do almost anything, but take ~1 week to send quotes
• Progressive Technology - ceramic tubes etc.
• LSP Ceramics - has many stock sizes of tubes and washers (even top hat washers).

Vacuum

• AVS Technical Resources - Useful calculator for conversion factors, pump/gauge ranges
• Varian
• LDS Vacuum Shopper - fast + cheap
• Duniway stockroom Cheap, good selection of used vacuum equipment
• Huntington
• Kimball physics - special (cool) chambers
• Kurt J. Lesker
• Sharon - custom chambers
• Key High
• vacuum generators Best quality UHV all-metal valves.
• MDC
• Insulator Seal - Feedthroughs
• Apiezon Greases and Waxes
• A & N Corp - Feedthroughs, flanges etc.
• frontier vacuum - Looks like good selection, pictures, seems pretty cheap...
• accuglass products - Unusually nice selection of feedthroughs, in-vacuum electrical connectors, hardware, etc. Prices better than Lesker.
• MPF Products - Similar to accuglass for electrical feedthroughs, but also has nice selection of viewports
• EVAC Vacuum - Unique! Standard QF/ISO hardware, but made out of glass(!), aluminum, etc.

Cryogenics

• Cryodepot
• Cryofab
• Janis
• Lakeshore Cryotronics - Cryotonics, funny name.
• Oxford Instruments
• Cryomech - Pulse Tubes PLEASE, JUST ONE!!! Thank you sir, may I have another?
• Calgon Carbon - Coconuts
• ESPI Metals - Will trade indium for money.

Quasi-Optical, Microwaves

• Photonics Innovation Center
• Thomas Keating Ltd

mm-wave Microwave Components

• Quinstar - Large selection of waveguide and coax, ask for Sage Kuno
• Miteq - Largest supplier (and stock) but more expensive

Detectors, PMTs

• electron tubes
• burle
• hamamatsu

Metals

• ESPI - expensive, but has everything
• Goodfellow
• Rembar- Good for Tantalum, Tungsten etc
• Hagstoz - Gold and precious metals, usually cheap
• Refining Systems - Gold and precious metals
• Hauser and Miller - Even cheaper gold and precious metals-Customer # 760971 (Yale)

Coatings, deposition

• AIMCAL - Assoc. of Metallizers, Coaters & Laminators FAQ
• Spectrum coatings>
• Helia Photonics - Ion-assisted deposition
• Ionedge - IAD
• Thin Films Inc. - Sputtering, Evaporation, Lithography - flexible small shop
• Thin Film Labs - specialize in optical component coatings
• Koral Labs - thin film deposition + vacuum furnace stuff
• IJ Research - ceramics, deposition, lithography - flexible, associated with USCB, IIRC

Electroplating

• Paramount Metal Finishing - Rack Electroplating - reasonable prices
• AMZ Manufacturing - High quality electroplating
• Metal Finishing Technologies - Various plating services
• Epner Technology - Fancy gold electroplating - expensive, high-tech

Diamond-Turned Optics

• II-VI Infrared - good CO2 optics; possibly worst url ever
• Corning NetOptix - used to be OFC Diamond Turning
• Kugler - German precision optics company, ja.
• Kaleido Technology - in Denmark...

Heavy Duty Actuators and Motion Control

• Newmark Systems
• Arrick Robotics
• Parker Hannfin Motion Control
• Cyber Research Motion Control
• Techno Linear Motion Systems
• IntelLiDrives linear actuators, rotary tables, XY tables

Vibration Isolation

• EAR Specialty Composites ==> Jan's smelly Blue Stuff = #6309-0026

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