Pulsed fiber-MOPA with widely-variable pulse-duration
AssigneeCoherent, Inc.
InventorsAndrei Starodoumov, Norman Hodgson
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Abstract
Master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) apparatus includes two seed-pulse sources coupled to a single fiber amplifier including one or more stages of amplification. One of the seed-pulse sources is a single-mode source generating pulses having a duration selectively variable between about 0.1 ns and 10 ns. The other seed-pulse source is a multi-mode source generating pulses having a duration selectively variable between about 1 ns and 10 μs. Selectively operating one or the other of the seed-pulse sources provides that the apparatus can deliver pulses selectively variable in a range between about 0.1 ns and 10 μs.
Claims15
A laser system for generating a pulsed output comprising:
- a single mode source for generating optical seed pulses having a first bandwidth;
- a multimode source for generating optical seed pulses having a second bandwidth larger than the first bandwidth;
- a fiber amplifier for selectively amplifying pulses from one of either the single or multimode sources;
- a frequency conversion stage for converting the frequency of the amplified pulses;
- and
- a controller for selectively activating one of the two sources to generate pulses having a desired repetition rate, wherein the single mode source can be selected for pulses having a duration in a first range and the multimode mode source can be selected for pulses having a duration in a second range, with the first range encompassing pulse durations shorter than the second range.
A laser system for generating a pulsed output comprising:
- a single mode source for generating optical pulses;
- a multi-mode source for generating optical pulses having a bandwidth of at least 50 picometers;
- a fiber amplifier for selectively amplifying pulses from one of either the first or second sources;
- a frequency conversion stage for converting the frequency of the amplified pulses;
- and
- a controller for selectively activating one of the two sources to generate pulses having a desired repetition rate and duration wherein single mode source can be selected for pulses having a duration in a first range and the multimode mode source can be selected for pulses having a duration in a second range, with the first range encompassing pulse durations shorter than the second range.
A method of operating a laser system, said laser system including a first laser generating single mode optical seed pulses having a first bandwidth and a second laser generating multimode optical seed pulses having a second bandwidth larger than the first bandwidth, said laser system including a fiber amplifier for selectively amplifying pulses from one of either the first or second lasers, said laser system including a frequency conversion stage for converting the frequency of the amplified pulses, said method comprising;
- selectively activating the first laser to generate single mode pulses having a duration in a first range and, alternatively, selectively activating the second laser to generate multimode pulses having a duration in a second range, with the first range encompassing pulse durations shorter than the second range.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.