Optimizing power for second laser
OwnerKevin Holsinger, John Philip Ekstrandinventors
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Abstract
Feedback from a power monitor sampling a portion of the output beam of an optical resonator is used to control the position of a pump beam relative to a second laser. The pump beam position or orientation is adjusted in response to a dither signal imposed on the position or tilt of an external optic or mirror in order to maximize the efficiency of the second laser in converting pump power to output power. Feedback based on the response of the power monitor is used to control the position or tilt of the mirror or optic to which the dither was applied.
Claims39
The system of claim 6, wherein the gain medium is Nd:YVO4.
The system of claim 1, wherein the pump source is fiber coupled.
The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the pump source or the cavity includes a mode locking device.
The system of claim 1, wherein the pump source includes a second harmonic generator.
The system of claim 1, wherein the cavity is an OPO.
The system of claim 1, wherein the cavity is a build up cavity.
The system of claim 1, wherein the cavity is a Ti:sapphire laser.
The system of claim 1, wherein the cavity is a non-linear device.
The device of claim 1, wherein the cavity is a frequency doubler.
The system of claim 3, wherein the reflector is movably mounted.
The system of claim 3, wherein the reflector is mounted to be dithered.
The system of claim 1, further comprising:
- a beam splitter positioned along a beam path of the second output beam, the beam splitter directing the at least a portion of the second output beam to the power monitor.
The system of claim 1, wherein the cavity comprises:
- an end mirror and an output coupler defining a resonator cavity for an intracavity beam and producing an output beam with selected spectral components;
- a gain medium positioned in the resonator cavity;
- an aperture member positioned in the resonator cavity in a path of the intracavity beam, the aperture member defining an aperture that provides a low loss intracavity beam path for a range of spectral components;
- a dispersion member with first and second sides and positioned in the resonator cavity, wherein when the intracavity beam travels from the first side to the second side dispersion member creates a spatial spread process of the range of spectral components, and from the second side to the first side reverses the process;
- and
- a movably mounted mirror, wherein in response to a feedback signal the movably mounted mirror maintains the output beam at a same position at the output coupler.
The system of claim 1, wherein the cavity comprises:
- an end mirror and an output coupler defining a resonator cavity for an intracavity beam and producing an output beam with selected spectral components;
- a gain medium positioned in the resonator cavity;
- an aperture member positioned in the resonator cavity in a path of the intracavity beam, the aperture member defining an aperture that provides a low loss intracavity beam path for a range of spectral components;
- a first prism pair with first and second sides and positioned between the aperture member and the output coupler, wherein when the intracavity beam travels from the first side to the second side the first prism pair creates a spatial spread process of the range of spectral components, and from the second side to the first side reverses the process;
- and
- a movably mounted mirror, wherein in response to a feedback signal the movably mounted mirror maintains the output beam at a same position at the output coupler.
The system of claim 1, wherein the cavity comprises:
- an end mirror and an output coupler defining a resonator cavity for an intracavity beam and producing an output beam with selected spectral components;
- a gain medium positioned in the resonator cavity;
- a first prism pair with first and second sides and positioned in the resonator cavity;
- a second prism pair with first and second sides and positioned between the first prism pair and the output coupler;
- an aperture member positioned between the first and second prism pairs in a path of the intracavity beam, the aperture member defining an aperture to create the output beam;
- a movably mounted mirror, in response to a feedback signal the movably mounted mirror maintains the output beam at a same position at the output coupler;
- and
- wherein when the intracavity beam travels from the first side to the second side of second prism pair, the second prism pair creates a spatial spread process of the spectral components, and when traveling from the first side to the second side of the first prism pair, the first prism pair reverses the process.
An optical system, comprising:
- a pump source that produces a first output beam;
- a cavity pumped by the first output beam and producing a second output beam;
- a first power monitor positioned to receive at least a portion of the second output beam the first power monitor providing an input to a summing junction coupled to the pump source;
- and
- wherein in response to a signal from the power monitor an efficiency of the cavity is maximized by adjusting a position of the first output beam relative to the cavity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.