In order to achieve the uniform picosecond laser micro-machining effect, this study carries out the research of shaping the original incident Gaussian beam into a micron-level flat-top beam at the focal position. Based on the principle of diffractive optics, the phase distribution of the shaping element is calculated which meets the micron-level flat-top beam output requirements and the verification of the shaping effect after transforming through the phase distribution is simulated. When the simulated output beam distribution meets the design requirements, the shaping elements is manufactured. Finally, the shaping element is used in a picosecond laser micro-scribing experiment and the scribing effect is analyzed. The final experimental results show that the picosecond laser micro-scribing test is carried out with the shaped flat-top beam, and the uniform scribing effect is obtained which satisfies the design requirements.
A new pump-shaping scheme for a LD face-pumped Nd:YAG slab laser amplifier is proposed, aiming to achieve uniform pump distributions. Plano-concave cylindrical mirror arrays are used to homogenize the pump distributions in the LD slow axes, and meanwhile optical-waveguide structures are used for the LD fast axes. Simulations based on ray tracing method indicate that the scheme effectively realizes uniform pump intensity distributions. The fluorescence distributions and small signal gains at different locations both verify the pump uniformity reaches higher than 90%.
In this paper, a 15-direction ring laser diode array is chosen as pumping source in order to get uniform pump in laser medium. The diameter of laser rod is 15mm for obtaining high output laser energy. A numerical model of the side-pump pulsed Nd:YAG laser amplifier is set up. The finite element method using Ansys software is adopted to analyze the time-varying thermal effect. In order to find the temperature influence of the pump light’s distribution, the temperature distributions in laser rod loaded by 15-direction Gaussian beam and simplified uniform beam are calculated and the results are comparatively analyzed. Despite the highest temperature in laser rod is different, the whole variation trend is similar which indicates time-varying characteristic. The thermal lens effect is also calculated and the results indicate that the temperature gradient in the medium plays the most important role. This study could provide a simulation tool to evaluate the thermal effect of the laser amplifier.
Using Liquid Crystal Spatial Light Modulator (LC-SLM) as a beam shaping device to improve beam quality in high-gain amplification system is reported. 1.6 nJ injected small-size signal Gaussian beam can be amplified to 5 J by 4 stages amplification, and finally output beam is a 50mm×50mm square spot with flat-top intensity distribution. In the amplification system we designed, LC-SLM is placed after the second level of amplifier, where the signal laser energy is about 20mJ, and beam size is 10mm×10mm. The structure of Fourier image transfer is also implemented in this amplifications system to be capable of maintaining high-quality image transmission in the amplification process. The LC-SLM as an object, is imaged by beam expand lenses and spatial filters lenses in the amplifications system to get good quality of imaging. By catching output spot and making a feed-back, transmission efficiency of each pixel on LC-SLM is modulated, high energy density area can be decreased to realize flat-top intensity distribution. A spot modulation function is defined as, using the maximum grey value on spot area divided by the average grey value of the image after background correction. By this, amplified laser obtains the spot modulation of 1.24 on central 90% area of the spot. Furthermore, un-uniform distribution on the full spot, soften effects of spot edge, and output beam shape can also be optimized by the LC-SLM shaping scheme in the amplification system.
The laser performance and thermal analysis of Nd:KGW laser continuously pumped by 808 nm and 877 nm are comparatively investigated. Output power of 670 mW and 1587 mW, with nearly TEM00 mode, are achieved respectively at 808 nm pump and 877 nm pump. Meanwhile, a high-power passively Q-switched Nd:KGW/Cr4+:YAG laser pumped at 877 nm is demonstrated. An average output power of 1495 mW is obtained at pump power of 5.22 W while the laser is operating at repetition of 53.17 kHz. We demonstrate that 877 nm diode laser is a more potential pump source for Nd:KGW lasers.
A side-pumped Nd:YAG amplifier that can realize amplification and beam shaping simultaneously is reported. As a typical application, a Gaussian intensity profile of signal laser was amplified and converted into a flat-top distribution. The main parameters satisfying this requirement involved structural designation and optical parameters adjustment of the pumping laser diode LD, to obtain a specific gain distribution on cross section of the working material. Among them the key considerations include central wavelength of LDs and pumping radius to the centre of Nd:YAG rod. Take an example of 15mm-dameter Nd:YAG side-pumped rod amplifier, where 13.5kW laser diode bars were used, we simulated an uniform flat top laser profile by ray-tracing method. The following experiment shows a good agreement with the simulation. Moreover, gradual absorption coefficient of the working material could also be well compensated while realizing flat-top beam to flat-top beam amplification.
Femtosecond lasers are widely used in everyday clinical procedures to perform minimally invasive corneal refractive surgery. The intralase femtosecond laser (AMO Corp. Santa Ana, CA) is a common example of such a laser. In the present study a numerical simulation was developed to quantify the temperature rise in the retina during femtosecond intracorneal surgery. Also, ex-vivo retinal heating due to laser irradiation was measured with an infrared thermal camera (Fluke Corp. Everett, WA) as a validation of the simulation. A computer simulation was developed using Comsol Multiphysics to calculate the temperature rise in the cadaver retina during femtosecond laser corneal surgery. The simulation showed a temperature rise of less than 0.3 degrees for realistic pulse energies for the various repetition rates. Human cadaver retinas were irradiated with a 150 kHz Intralase femtosecond laser and the temperature rise was measured withan infrared thermal camera. Thermal camera measurements are in agreement with the simulation. During routine femtosecond laser corneal surgery with normal clinical parameters, the temperature rise is well beneath the threshold for retina damage. The simulation predictions are in agreement with thermal measurements providing a level of experimental validation.
Designed a system for the high gain laser pre-amplifier to evaluate the image quality. The system uses 4f imaging
principle and Kepler type telescope was choiced, it has two advantages: avert optical distortion and eliminate aberration
in the measurement system. Combined with the location of the lens inside of pre-amplifier such as the spatial filter , the
near field imaging structure was designed. The structure can be reduced to 11.9 times the beam image, and clearly passed
the image to the CCD target surface. The location of first positive lens focus is the location of far field image. In this
article, one laser pre-amplifier was measured. The average measured near field modulation M=1.34, the average
measured far field diffraction limit is 2.94. Experiments show that the stability of measuring system is less than±5%, it
can meet the measurement requirements of ICF laser pre-amplifier parameters. Use this system we can discover the
problem during the design and installation. There is great meaning for develop of laser pre-amplifier in ICF for further.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.