Separate confinement heterostructure with asymmetric structure and composition
Granted: March 8, 2011
Patent Number:
7903711
A separate confinement heterostructure includes a quantum-well layer bounded by an n-side waveguide layer and a p-side waveguide layer. The waveguide layers guide a lasing mode of the heterostructure. The n-side waveguide layer is composed of indium gallium phosphide (InGaP) and the p-side layer is composed of aluminum gallium arsenide (AlGaAs). The heterostructure is configured such that more than 80% of the optical mode propagates in the n-side waveguide layer.
Acousto-optically Q-switched COlaser
Granted: March 8, 2011
Patent Number:
7903699
A pulsed CO2 laser is Q-switched by an intracavity acousto-optic (AO) Q-switch including an AO material transparent at a fundamental wavelength of the laser. In one example the AO material is germanium.
Laser beam transformer and projector having stacked plates
Granted: February 22, 2011
Patent Number:
7891821
An original laser-radiation beam having a symmetrical M2 but poor beam quality is sliced in one transverse axis, by a fanned-out stack of parallel transparent plates, into a plurality of beam slices. The beam-slices are also spread by the stack of plates in another transverse axis perpendicular to the first axis. A fanned-out stack of glass blocks aligns the spread beam-slices in the first axis to form what is effectively a single beam having an asymmetric M2, with beam quality improved…
Ultrashort seed-pulse generating laser with integral pulse shaping
Granted: February 22, 2011
Patent Number:
7894493
An ultrafast laser for delivering ultra-short duration seed-pulses for further amplification has a resonator including negative group delay dispersion (NGDD) mirrors for minimizing increases in the duration of the pulses due to positive group delay dispersion effects inherent in the resonator. The NGDD mirrors could be configured such that the pulses had a Gaussian spectrum. Instead, however, the NGDD mirrors are configured and arranged such the pulses have a non-Gaussian spectrum. The…
Particle damage protection for high power COslab laser mirrors
Granted: February 15, 2011
Patent Number:
7889775
A CO2 gas discharge laser includes elongated planar live and ground electrodes vertically spaced and electrically insulated from each. The electrodes are spaced apart by ceramic spacer strips arranged along the edges of the electrodes. An auxiliary electrode is located at each end of the live electrode, co-planar with the live electrode, longitudinally spaced part from the live electrode vertically spaced apart from, but electrically connected to, the ground electrode. The auxiliary…
Frequency-agile RF-power excitation for driving diffusion-cooled sealed-off, RF-excited gas lasers
Granted: February 8, 2011
Patent Number:
7885308
A gas discharge laser includes a laser housing including a laser gas and an electrode-assembly for lighting a discharge in the laser gas. The electrode assembly has a first resonant frequency when the discharge is not lit and a second resonant frequency when the discharge is lit. RF power delivering circuitry of the laser includes an arrangement for determining and recording the two resonant frequencies. RF power is applied to the electrodes at the first recorded resonant frequency to…
External-cavity optically-pumped semiconductor-laser with a resonator stop
Granted: February 1, 2011
Patent Number:
7881349
An optically pumped semiconductor-laser (OPS-laser) resonator includes an arrangement for delivering optical pump radiation on an OPS-chip to cause fundamental radiation to circulate in the resonator. The resonator includes second and third-harmonic generating crystals and is arranged deliver third-harmonic radiation. The resonator also includes a stop positioned and configured to stabilize the laser output. The pump radiation arrangement delivers the pump radiation at an angle to the…
Method for providing a plurality of laser-printed labels from a medium supported on a disc
Granted: November 30, 2010
Patent Number:
7843479
A method of printing labels includes supporting a laser sensitive material on a disc and printing label images on the disc with a modulated focused beam from a diode-laser. The label images may be printed in regions of the medium having pre-cut label boundaries. Alternatively, label boundaries may be cut through the medium using the focused laser beam. The labels are peeled from the disc after printing.
Achromatic flat top beam shaping
Granted: November 30, 2010
Patent Number:
7843653
There is provided an optical system and method for shaping a polychromatic light into a substantially uniform profile beam along a first axis. A polychromatic divergent light with having multiple wavelength components is provided with a dispersion of divergence. A collimation optic collimates the polychromatic divergent light. A shaping lens shapes the collimated beam into a shaped beam with a nearly uniform profile along the first axis, the dispersion of divergence causing a deviation…
High power pulsed fiber laser
Granted: October 26, 2010
Patent Number:
7822080
A high power fiber laser includes a pump source optically coupled to a first fiber laser, which is in turn optically coupled to a second fiber laser. The pump source is adapted to generate light, which is received by the first fiber laser and used to generate a first pulsed output. The first pulsed output is directed into the second fiber laser and is used to generate a second pulsed output. The first fiber laser includes a multi-mode fiber, while the second fiber laser includes a single…
Phase and polarization controlled beam combining devices and methods
Granted: October 19, 2010
Patent Number:
7817688
A controller, such as a programmable logic controller, may manipulate a phase and/or polarization module to alter and/or control the phase and polarization of input beams. Utilizing active phase and polarization control can enable the combination of any arbitrary number of input beams into a single, combined beam. Utilizing active phase and polarization control can also enable the combination of input beams having arbitrary power levels.
Gas laser electrodes shaped in the longitudinal axis
Granted: September 28, 2010
Patent Number:
7804879
A gas discharge laser includes elongated discharge electrodes having an active surface width that varies along the length of the resonator. In one example each of the electrodes is formed by a row of pins having a circular active surface. The pins are diametrically aligned with the active surfaces generally coplanar.
Frequency domain equalization of communication signals
Granted: September 21, 2010
Patent Number:
7801242
A system and method for estimating a channel spectrum. The method includes: (a) receiving an input signal from a channel, where the input signal includes one or more major echoes and zero or more minor echoes introduced by the channel; (b) identifying the one or more major echoes present in the input signal; (c) identifying the minor echoes from a filtered autocorrelation function of the input signal in response to a determination that there is only one major echo; (d) identifying the…
Gain-switched fiber laser system
Granted: August 31, 2010
Patent Number:
7787506
This invention discloses a method to control laser dynamics in a gain-switched fiber laser so as to generate stable, clean pulses in an all-fiber format. The gain-switched fiber laser is suitable as a standalone laser source, and as a pump source for harmonic generation and an optical-parametric-oscillator.
Edge-emitting semiconductor laser with photonic-bandgap structure formed by intermixing
Granted: August 24, 2010
Patent Number:
7782920
A separate-confinement heterostructure, edge-emitting semiconductor laser having a wide emitter width has elongated spaced apart intermixed and disordered zones extending through and alongside the emitter parallel to the emission direction of the emitter. The intermixed zones inhibit lasing of high order modes. This limits the slow axis divergence of a beam emitted by the laser.
Cavity-dumped pulsed solid-state laser with variable pulse-duration
Granted: July 20, 2010
Patent Number:
7760772
In a cavity-dumped, repetitively-pulsed, solid-state laser cavity dumping is protracted over a predetermined time longer than a round-trip time of the resonator of the laser. The cavity dumping is effected by a Pockels cell optical switch. During a dumping period a voltage applied to the Pockels cell falls in a predetermined time. Varying the voltage fall-time varies the duration of pulses provided by the laser, independent of the pulse-repetition frequency.
Bandwidth-limited and long pulse master oscillator power oscillator laser systems
Granted: July 20, 2010
Patent Number:
7760788
Laser systems have a line-narrowed master oscillator and a power oscillator for amplifying the output of the master oscillator. The power oscillator includes optical arrangements for limiting the bandwidth of radiation that can be amplified. The limited amplification bandwidth of the power oscillator is relatively broad compared to that of the output of the master oscillator, but narrower than would be the case without the bandwidth limiting arrangements. The bandwidth narrowing…
Designing an ASIC based on execution of a software program on a processing system
Granted: July 20, 2010
Patent Number:
7761817
System and method for developing an ASIC. A software program may be stored which includes program instructions which implement a function. The software program may be executed on a processing system at a desired system speed and may be validated based on the execution. A first hardware description of at least a portion of the processing system may be stored and may specify implementation of at least a portion of the processing system. A second hardware description may be generated that…
Electrodes for generating a stable discharge in gas laser system
Granted: July 13, 2010
Patent Number:
7756184
Arcing is minimized in a discharge chamber of a gas laser system by utilizing an electrode which comprises a surface portion capable of functioning as one of an anode and a cathode in order to energize a gas mixture in a discharge chamber of the gas discharge laser system, a shoulder portion being positioned on either side of the surface portion and being exposed to the gas mixture, and a coating layer made of electrically insulating material, wherein the coating layer is attached to the…
Unstable resonator with variable output coupling
Granted: July 13, 2010
Patent Number:
7756186
Through the use of a relatively inexpensive third mirror on a novel folded hybrid unstable resonator configuration, the optimum output coupling for a given laser design can be explored quickly and easily with a minimum of intracavity mirror alignment. No changes in either the radii of curvature of the three cavity optics or their spacing are required for this exploration. In addition to providing techniques for purposefully and systematically introducing mirror edge effects or avoiding…
