Laser output control device, laser oscillator, and laser output control method

A laser oscillator outputting a laser light, comprising:

• a laser output control device controlling output of the laser light by outputting a current command value;
• a power source section generating, on the basis of the current command value, a current used for outputting the laser light;
• a resonator outputting the laser light using the current generated by the power source section;
• and
• a measuring section measuring an output value of the laser light, wherein
• the laser output control device includes
• a pulse-width calculating section calculating a pulse width during which the laser light is laser-oscillating on the basis of a laser output command used when generating an output waveform of the laser light,
• a switching section switching, on the basis of the size of the pulse width, a control method to either one of peak value control, in which control is performed using a peak value of a pulse shape, and average value control in which control is performed using an average value of a pulse shape, for calculating the current command value used for controlling the laser oscillator,
• a peak value command generating section generating, on the basis of the output value of the laser light output from the resonator, a current command value using the peak value of the pulse shape such that the output value becomes a value that corresponds to the laser output command when performing the peak value control on the resonator, and
• an average value command generating section generating, on the basis of the output value of the laser light output from the resonator, a current command value using the average value of the pulse shape such that the output value becomes a value that corresponds to the laser output command when performing the average value control on the resonator, wherein
• the output value of the laser light measured by one measuring section is input to the peak value command generating section and the average value command generating section.

A laser output control method for controlling a laser oscillator that outputs a laser light, comprising:

• a pulse-width calculation step of calculating a pulse width during which the laser light is laser-oscillating on the basis of a laser output command used when generating an output waveform of the laser light;
• a switching step of switching, on the basis of the size of the pulse width, a control method to either one of peak value control, in which control is performed using a peak value of a pulse shape, and average value control, in which control is performed using an average value of a pulse shape, for calculating a current command value used for controlling the laser oscillator;
• a peak value command generating step of generating, on the basis of an output value of the laser light output from the laser oscillator, a current command value using the peak value of the pulse shape such that the output value becomes a value that corresponds to the laser output command when performing the peak value control on the laser oscillator;
• and
• an average value command generating step of generating, on the basis of an output value of the laser light output from the laser oscillator, a current command value using the average value of the pulse shape such that the output value becomes a value that corresponds to the laser output command when performing the average value control on the laser oscillator, wherein
• both when the peak value control is performed and when the average value control is performed, the output value of the laser light measured by one measuring section is input.