Purchasing advisor for optical delay lines with supplier directory and AI-based advice; ODL, variable delay, scanning, free-space, fiber delay lines (original) (raw)
Find all you need for professional sourcing of optical delay lines: a comprehensive expert-curated directory of suppliers, scientific and technical background information, and an interactive AI-based tool with guidance for a structured decision process.
NEW: Not only hardware can be listed here, but also consulting, software, training on optical delay lines, etc. – see the "offer types" below.
🌐 You appear to be visiting from North America. Many listed suppliers are based in this region, making the RP Photonics Buyer's Guide highly relevant for your needs.
Purchasing high-value photonics products is a substantial responsibility. Using a structured decision-making process and high quality supplier data helps a lot:
- Find all relevant suppliers (not limited to advertisers).
- Our interactive tool conveniently assists you in defining and applying your application-specific requirements.
Note that purchasing decisions based on just a few randomly picked suppliers and without carefully defined specifications are risky; therefore, we strongly recommend using our data and tool. See also:
- How Responsible Purchase Decisions for Expensive Goods Like Lasers Are Done
- Explanations on this purchasing tool
Go through the process:
1. Understand the technical background
It is important to sufficiently understand the technology before buying.
Use the comprehensive learning resources of RP Photonics:
If you need personal help, contact RP Photonics to get technical consultancy.
I feel that I sufficiently understand the technical background.
2. Define your requirements
It is essential to fully understand and clearly define your requirements before you purchase.
We recommend that you develop a list of clear specifications according to your specific needs, against which you can later check the suitability of found product offers:
To help you, we have already listed some aspects we recommend you consider when buying optical delay lines. Of course, there may be other aspects that are relevant to your specific case.
This list is for your own preparation, and can later (possibly in modified form) be used for quotation requests to suppliers.
I think that I am sufficiently informed about our requirements.
Otherwise, you will need to talk to your technical colleagues.
I consider the above list of specifications to be sufficiently complete, clear and accurate.
If you cannot sufficiently clarify your requirements, you may want to get technical consultancy from RP Photonics.
Insert these criteria when creating inquiry mails to suppliers with the buttons "Get quotation".
You find these buttons in the supplier list below or under "3. Find suitable suppliers".
3. Find suitable suppliers
We suggest three steps:
- Below, you can find our list of suppliers for optical delay lines. Use the checkboxes to mark possibly suitable suppliers.
- The selected suppliers will appear below this list, along with your list of specifications. You can then indicate which specifications they meet according to your research. (You should finalize your specifications before doing this.)
- Based on the results, you can finally choose a supplier that is hopefully a good enough fit.
Selected suppliers:
(none so far)
Decision
The most suitable supplier you found:
Comments, e.g. reasons for your choice, or things which still need to be checked:
4. Document the decision process
It is essential to document your purchasing process, not only its result (chosen supplier):
- You will find it easier next time.
- If something goes wrong, you can defend your decision by showing that you properly considered all important aspects. Or you see what needs to be done better next time.
Our interactive tool makes it easy: Fill out the form, and in the end print it to a PDF. Note that the document will show all sections (including those not currently shown on the screen), while omitting some irrelevant details such as the page navigation.
Suppliers for Optical Delay Lines
23 suppliers for optical delay lines (ODL) are listed in the RP Photonics Buyer's Guide, out of which 5 present their product descriptions and images. Both manufacturers and distributors can be registered.
 YOUR KEY to innovation and success UltraFast Innovations GmbHDieselstr. 585748 Garching (München)GermanySee us at Photonics West 2026 in San Francisco, Jan. 20–22 (booth 2035)! |
⚙ hardware K2, by UltraFast Innovations (UFI®), is a pulse delay unit specially designed for the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) and soft X-ray region, where particularly high precision and stability are required. A two-segment mirror sends IR pulses and lower divergent XUV/soft X-ray pulses to a common focus with an interferometrically adjustable precise time delay. This allows temporally resolved experiments with pumping systems of interest either with the XUV/soft X-ray pulse and probe it with the IR or vice-versa. Based on the nature of e.g., attosecond pulses generated in the XUV/soft X-ray range by high harmonic generation (HHG), this offers state-of-the-art highest temporal resolution for your experiments. Product-specific web page |
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 O/E Land Inc.7639 CordnerLasalle, Quebec H8N 2X2CanadaSee us at Photonics West 2026 in San Francisco, Jan. 20–22 (booth 3204)! |
⚙ hardware Our precise variable optical delay line is based on our unique optical alignment technology with up to 50, 100, 200 or 400 mm air path variation, corresponding to optical delays of up to 165, 330, 660, and 1300 ps, respectively. Both electrical and manual versions are available. This product is an ideal solution for network equipment, test instrument and lab testing applications. Product-specific web page |
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 G&HDowlish FordIlminster TA19 0PFUnited KingdomSee us at BiOS 2026 in San Francisco, January 17 – 18 (booth 8514) and Photonics West 2026 in San Francisco, Jan. 20–22 (booth 1535)! |
⚙ hardware G&H designs and manufactures custom modules — fiber assemblies of passive and/or active optical components integrated to provide higher functionality in a compact footprint. Customers sourcing fiber optic assemblies stay focused on their core competence while reducing time to market and development costs. Our in-depth understanding of optical component performance, combined with the use of low loss G&H products, ensures optimized designs. Advanced assembly techniques such as ribbon splicing and fiber recoating are used to provide robustness, reduce form factors, and minimize manufacturing costs. At G&H, we take a custom module designs from specification all the way through to a manufactured product. We are expert in mechanical design for optics, fiber optics, and fiber assemblies. Our fiber assemblies include pigtailed lasers, spectrometers, optical delay lines, telescopes, and fiber collimators. The most complex assemblies can include bulk optics, fiber optics, motion control, and electronics. Product-specific web page |
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 APE Angewandte Physik und Elektronik GmbHPlauener Straße 163–165 / Haus N13053 BerlinGermanySee us at BiOS 2026 in San Francisco, January 17 – 18 (booth 8359) and Photonics West 2026 in San Francisco, Jan. 20–22 (booth 3357)! |
⚙ hardware The APE ScanDelay is a variable optical delay line, allowing the introduction of a well-defined time delay into an optical path — for example, for pump–probe measurements. The delay is periodically controlled by a fast scanning shaker at a frequency of up to 20 Hz. The heart of APE’s optical delay line series is a special linear translation stage that is supplied together with appropriate control and drive electronics. The linear drive has been designed especially for optical applications. It combines low moving mass with compactness, reaching a high speed, as well as high precision and resolution. The delay drive has frictionless movement, a large and precise travel range, and it allows for very small displacements without any stick-slip-effects. The control electronic contains the motion driver and a quartz stabilized signal synthesizer. It can be synchronized with an external clock for a precise, phase-locked scanner movement. Product-specific web page |
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