Power meter for high energy lasers
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
InventorsPeter B. Ulrich, Gary L. Trusty, Daniel H. Leslie
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Abstract
A power meter for non-destructively measuring the power of a high energy er beam. The power meter includes a cell disposed in the flow path of a gas containing a laser radiation-absorbing species. The absorption coefficient of the absorbing species is small enough to allow the beam to pass through the cell essentially unaltered. The concentration of the absorbing species is modulated to modulate its absorption of the laser beam power and produce acoustic waves in the gas which can be detected and measured to give an absolute measurement of the power in the high energy laser beam.
Claims10
A power meter for non-destructively measuring the power of a beam from a high energy laser source, the power meter comprising:
- a cell adapted to be aligned with respect to the laser source to pass the beam and including inlet means for transporting a gas containing laser radiation-absorbing species into the cell, means for detecting repeated thermal expansions and contractions of the gas in the cell caused by a modulated absorption of laser power, and outlet means for withdrawing the gas from the cell;
- and
- means for modulating the concentration of the radiation-absorbing species in the gas.
A method of non-destructively measuring the power of a beam from a high energy laser source, comprising the steps of:
- passing the beam through a cell;
- transporting a gas which contains laser radiation-absorbing species into the cell;
- modulating the concentration of the radiation-absorbing species in the gas;
- detecting repeated thermal expansions and contractions of the gas caused by a modulated absorption of laser power;
- and
- withdrawing the gas from the cell.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.