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US 2006/0222372 A1Published application
MOPA laser apparatus with two master oscillators for generating ultraviolet radiation
AssigneeCoherent, Inc.
InventorsLuis Spinelli, Andrea Caprara, Andrei Staroudoumov, Norman Hodgson
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Abstract
Laser apparatus including two different, pulsed MOPAs, one having a fundamental wavelength of 1064 nm and the other having a fundamental wavelength of 1564 nm, provide trains of optical pulses. The 1064-nm pulses are frequency tripled to 355 nm and the 1564-nm pulses are frequency doubled to 782 nm. The 355-nm and 782-nm pulses are mixed to provide 244-nm pulses. The 244-nm pulses are mixed with residual 1064-nm pulses to provide 198-nm output pulses of the apparatus. The output pulses can be either digitally modulated or amplitude modulated by controlling the phase relationship between the 1064-nm and 1564-nm pulses.
Claims32
A method of generating optical pulses, comprising the steps of:
- generating output pulses having a first fundamental wavelength from a first laser;
- generating output pulses having a second fundamental wavelength from a second laser;
- frequency-multiplying said first fundamental wavelength output pulses to provide pulses having a wavelength which is a harmonic wavelength of said first fundamental wavelength;
- frequency-multiplying said second fundamental wavelength output pulses to provide pulses having a wavelength which a harmonic wavelength of said second fundamental wavelength;
- and
- sum-frequency mixing said harmonic-wavelength pulses to provide frequency-converted pulses having a first frequency-converted wavelength that is less than either of said harmonic wavelengths.
3 more elements
A method of generating optical pulses, comprising the steps of:
- generating output pulses having a first fundamental wavelength from a first laser, said first fundamental wavelength being between about 800 nanometers and 1700 nanometers;
- generating output pulses having a second fundamental wavelength from a second laser, said second fundamental wavelength being between about 800 nanometers and 1700 nanometers;
- frequency-multiplying said first fundamental wavelength output pulses to provide pulses having a wavelength which is a harmonic wavelength of said first fundamental wavelength;
- frequency-multiplying said second fundamental wavelength output pulses to provide pulses having a wavelength which a harmonic wavelength of said second fundamental wavelength;
- sum-frequency mixing said harmonic-wavelength pulses to provide frequency-converted pulses having a first frequency-converted wavelength that is less than either of said harmonic wavelengths;
- and
- sum-frequency mixing said frequency-converted-wavelength pulses with unconverted fundamental-wavelength pulses from one of said first and second lasers to provide frequency-converted pulses having a second frequency-converted wavelength, said second frequency-converted wavelength being less than said first frequency-converted wavelength.
4 more elements
A method of modulating a train of frequency-converted pulses, comprising the steps of:
- delivering first and second trains of pulses having the same pulse repetition frequency and having respectively first and second wavelengths to an optically non linear crystal;
- arranging the optically nonlinear crystal such that the optically nonlinear crystal mixes said first-wavelength pulses and second-wavelength pulses to generate frequency-converted pulses having a third wavelength when pulses in said trains thereof temporally overlap at said optically nonlinear crystal;
- and
- varying the phase relationship between said first and second pulse trains to vary the degree temporal overlap between said pulses therein at said optically nonlinear crystal in order to modulate the frequency-converted pulses.
1 more element
Optical apparatus, comprising
- a first laser arranged to generate output pulses having a first fundamental wavelength;
- a second laser arranged to generate output pulses having a second fundamental wavelength;
- first and second optically nonlinear crystals arranged to triple the frequency the frequency of the first-fundamental-wavelength pulses to provide frequency-tripled pulses having the third-harmonic wavelength of the first fundamental wavelength;
- a third optically nonlinear crystal arranged to double the frequency the frequency of the second-fundamental-wavelength pulses to provide frequency-doubled pulses having the second-harmonic wavelength of the second fundamental wavelength;
- a fourth optically non-linear crystal arranged to sum-frequency mix the frequency-tripled and frequency-doubled pulses to provide first frequency-converted pulses having a wavelength less than the third-harmonic wavelength of the first fundamental wavelength and the second-harmonic wavelength of the second fundamental wavelength;
- and
- a fifth optically non linear crystal arranged to sum-frequency mix the first frequency-converted pulses with unconverted first fundamental wavelength-pulses to provide second frequency-converted pulses having a wavelength less than that of the first frequency-converted pulses.
4 more elements
A method of generating optical pulses, comprising the steps of:
- generating first output pulses from a first laser, said first output pulses having a fundamental wavelength;
- generating second output pulses from a second laser, said second output pulses having about the fundamental wavelength;
- frequency-doubling said first output pulses in a first optically nonlinear crystal to provide pulses having a wavelength which is second-harmonic wavelength of the fundamental wavelength;
- and
- mixing said second-harmonic pulses with said output pulses of said second laser to provide frequency-converted pulses having about the third-harmonic wavelength of said fundamental wavelength.
2 more elements
Optical apparatus, comprising
- a first laser arranged to deliver first output pulses having a fundamental wavelength;
- a second laser arranged to deliver second output pulses having about the fundamental wavelength;
- a first optically nonlinear crystal arranged to double the frequency the frequency of the first output pulses to provide frequency-doubled pulses having the second-harmonic wavelength of the fundamental wavelength;
- and
- a second optically nonlinear crystal arranged to mix the frequency-doubled pulses with the second output pulses to provide frequency-tripled pulses having about the third-harmonic wavelength of the fundamental wavelength.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.