Abstract:
A laser including a solid state laser gain medium having a D-shaped cross section and an unstable resonator laser cavity including the solid state laser gain medium configured with a geometric magnification in a range of 1 to 5 under the intended operating conditions, including the effects of thermal lensing in the gain medium. An optical switching device in the unstable resonator laser cavity generates a pulse duration in the range of.05 to 100 nanoseconds. A diode-pump source is configured to inject pump light through the curved or barrel surface of the D-shaped gain medium.
Abstract:
A slab laser and its method of use for high power applications including the manufacture of semiconductors and deposition of diamond and/or diamond-like-carbon layers, among other materials. A lamp driven slab design with a face-to-face beam propagation scheme and an end reflection that redirects the amplified radiation back out the same input surface is utilized. A side-to-side amplifier configuration permitting very high average and peak powers having scalability is also disclosed. Cavity filters adjacent to pump lamps convert the normally unusable UV portion of the pump lamp spectrum into light in the absorption band of the slab laser, thereby increasing the overall pump efficiency. The angle of the end reflecting surface is changed to cause the exit beam to be at a different angle than the inlet beam, thereby eliminating the costly need to separate the beams external to the laser with the subsequent loss of power.
Abstract:
A slab laser amplifier with parasitic oscillation suppression has a plurality of angled pump faces related to one another in order to decrease likelihood of parasitic oscillations, with internal beam incidence angles at total internal reflection that alleviate need for reflective coatings. No polished surfaces of gain material comprising the amplifier are parallel to one another. A beam path within the gain material is such that all incident angles of the beam path upon the two main faces and the common end face are greater than a critical angle required for total internal reflection, thereby alleviating need for reflective coatings. Based on an index of refraction of the gain material, and based on a diameter of the laser beam, dimensions of the gain material are selected to maximize beam overlap in a pumped volume of the gain material.
Abstract:
The present invention discloses a laser amplifier with high gain and low thermally induced optical aberrations. The amplifier designs allow simple multipass configurations making it possible to obtain an amplified laser beam of high quality combined very high overall gains comparable to those achievable with expensive regenerative amplifiers. The amplifier includes a thin active laser solid to create the population inversion and associated heat generation within the thin laser active solid possible for the desired gain value. The system includes a cooling device in thermal contact with the thin active laser solid to provide good heat transport and high reflectivity coatings at the wavelengths of the pump and laser wavelengths. The pump light source are laser diodes tuned to the maximum absorption of the laser active material. The amplifier also includes an optical system to transport the pump light to the laser active solid in such a way as to further confine the absorption of light along the two orthogonal directions in the plane of the laser active solid in order to get high population inversion and consequently high gains possible.
Abstract:
Mehrfachreflexions-Verzögerungsstrecke (18) für einen Laserstrahl (15), mit Spiegelelementen zur mehrfachen Reflexion des Laserstrahls (15), um die Dimensionen eines Laserresonators (12) bei vorgegebener optischer Länge zu reduzieren, wobei die Spiegelelemente durch zwei einander gegenüberliegende, sich längserstreckende polierte Oberflächen (S2, S3) eines sich in einer Richtung erstreckenden Glaselements (21) gebildet sind, das weiters eine polierte Laserstrahl-Eintrittsfläche (S1) sowie eine polierte Laserstrahl-Austrittsfläche (S4) aufweist, wobei sich die Spiegelelement-Oberflächen (S2, S3) des Glaselements zwischen der Eintrittsfläche (S1) und der Austrittsfläche (S4) befinden und mit dem Laserstrahl (15) einen Winkel (θ 1 ) bilden, der zumindest gleich groß dem kritischen Winkel (θ c ) für Totalreflexion ist, wogegen die Eintrittsfläche (S1) und die Austrittsfläche (S4) des Glaselements (21) mit dem Laserstrahl (15) einen Winkel definieren, der kleiner als der kritische Winkel (θ c ) für Totalreflexion ist.
Abstract:
A monolithic, side pumped, passively Q-switched, solid-state laser (10) includes a laser resonator structure (16) that includes a laser gain medium (12) having an output face bonded to a passive Q-switch (14). The gain medium (12) has a side face (12A) for receiving pump light. The pump light is preferably generated by a laser diode array (20). In a further embodiment, a non-linear optical material (22), such as frequency doubling KTP, is optically coupled to an output face of the Q-switch for providing output wavelength conversion. A method is also disclosed for fabricating the monolithic, side pumped, passively Q-switched, solid-state laser. Techniques are included for providing compensation from thermal aberrations during operation of the laser.
Abstract:
Durch die Verwendung von zueinander gekippten reflektierenden Flächen kann eine mehrfache Reflexion eines Strahlganges in einem Laseraufbau erreicht werden. Hierdurch können kompakte Laseranordnungen realisiert werden. Das Einbringen von strahlungsbeeinflussenden realisiert werden. Das Einbringen von strahlungsbeeinflussenden Medien zwischen den spiegelnden Flächen oder eine Ausbildung der spiegelnden Flächen aus oder mit solchen Materialien erlaubt die Nutzung der multiplen Reflexion zur Beeinflussung von Parametern der Strahlung bzw. des Strahlungsfeldes.
Abstract:
The invention is directed to a compact optically side-pumped solid-state laser with an optimized overlap between the mode of the laser beam propagating in the laser material and the pump beam. Using a common pump volume, the compact solid-state laser can simultaneously emit laser beams at different wavelengths. The laser can be combined with nonlinear optical elements to provide a RGB three color laser architecture suitable for color projection display applications.
Abstract:
An active laser element includes at least two segments (12, 14) of dissimilar active laser media joined together to form a columnar laser rod (10). Each dissimilar laser medium produces amplified light in wavelengths corresponding to the primary emission wavelengths of that medium. The rod has a first end (16) shaped for internally reflecting light, and a second end (18) shaped for internally reflecting light. The end shapes may include a non-emissive prism with at least two sides. One end may have an exit window (24), which may be curved to defocus the output beam.