Apparatus and method for opthalmologic surgical procedures using a femtosecond fiber laser

A method comprising:

• generating a stream of optical pulses having a pulse repetition rate of at least about 50000 pulses per second and a per-pulse length of less than one picosecond using an optical fiber gain medium;
• scanning and focusing the stream to an Output light pattern suitable to sculpt tissue for a surgical procedure using at least 100000 pulses in less than ten seconds providing a precompressor;
• and
• precompressing each pulse to create a negative dispersion that compensates for a dispersion of an optical path after the precompressor.

An apparatus comprising:

• optical fiber means for generating a stream of pulses having a pulse repetition rate of at least about 50000 pulses per second and a per-pulse length of less than one picosecond;
• means for scanning and focusing the stream to an output light pattern suitable to sculpt tissue for a surgical procedure using at least 100000 pulses in less than ten seconds;
• and
• means for Precompressing each pulse to create a negative dispersion that compensates for a dispersion of an optical path after the precompressor.

An apparatus comprising:

• a pulse laser comprising a fiber optical amplifier and having a per-pulse length of less than one picosecond;
• an optical path including a scanning head operably coupled to receive laser light from the pulsed laser and operable to scan an output light pattern suitable to sculpt tissue for a surgical procedure;
• and
• a precompressor that creates a negative dispersion in each pulse that compensates for a dispersion of the optical path after the precompressor.