Solid state laser insensitive to temperature changes
AssigneeB&W Tek Property, Inc.
InventorsSean Wang, Qun Li, Rongsheng Tian
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Abstract
A temperature insensitive diode-pumped solid state laser is disclosed in this invention. The components of the laser are optimized with temperature insensitive design, making the laser capable of operating in a wide temperature range without using any cooling/heating system to maintain the temperature of its components.
Claims10
A temperature insensitive diode-pumped solid state laser, the laser comprising:
- a. a pair of reflectors for defining a laser cavity;
- b. a wavelength stabilized pump laser diode for emitting pump light at a pump wavelength into the laser cavity;
- c. a laser gain crystal disposed in the laser cavity for absorbing the pump light and for producing a laser output;
- d. an optical beam splitter for tapping a portion of the laser output;
- e. a photo detector for detecting a power of the tapped laser output and for outputting a signal representing the detected power;
- and
- f. a feedback control system for receiving the signal from the photo detector and for controlling a drive current of the pump laser diode based on the signal from the photo detector.
A method for operating a diode-pumped solid state laser having a pump laser diode, a laser cavity, a laser gain crystal, and a plurality of nonlinear crystals such that the laser operates in a temperature-insensitive manner, the method comprising the steps of:
- a. stabilizing a wavelength of the pump laser diode using a wavelength locking mechanism;
- b. optimizing crystal orientations of the plurality of nonlinear crystals for wide temperature range operation;
- and
- c. controlling a current of the pump laser diode in response to the temperature induced laser power variation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.