Chirped pulse amplification method and apparatus
Granted: August 5, 2003
Patent Number:
6603600
A method of delivering a seed-pulse to a regenerative amplifier includes generating an ultrashort optical pulse. The ultrashort optical pulse is delivered to a single-mode optical fiber configured to generate a continuum. A portion of the continuum generated by the optical fiber is selected by a pulse stretcher and converted into the seed pulse. The pulse stretcher can be tuned to provide seed pulses of selectively variable wavelength.
Printer head with linear array of individually addressable diode-lasers
Granted: August 5, 2003
Patent Number:
6603498
A printer head for computer-to-plate printing includes a linear array of individually addressable diode-lasers and a linear array of photodetectors. The number and spacing of the photodetectors is the same as the number and spacing of the diode-lasers. The diode-lasers emit in forward and reverse directions. The diode-lasers and photodetectors are aligned parallel to each other such that reverse-emitted light output of each diode-laser is incident on a corresponding photodetector. Each…
Tunable modelocked ultrafast laser
Granted: July 15, 2003
Patent Number:
6594301
An automatically-tunable, ultrafast laser delivers ultrashort pulses having a duration a few picoseconds or less. The laser has a laser resonator including an optically-pumped gain-medium providing optical gain over a gain-bandwidth characteristic of the gain-medium. The resonator includes one or more groups of group-delay-dispersion compensating prisms. One or more prisms in each group is moveable with respect to one or more others. A stop is arranged, cooperative with the group of…
Passively modelocked harmonic-generating laser
Granted: July 8, 2003
Patent Number:
6590911
A laser includes a resonator terminated by first and second mirrors and including a gain medium providing fundamental radiation. A first optically-nonlinear element is located in the resonator. The first optically-nonlinear element is cooperatively arranged with the first mirror to provide passive modelocking of the fundamental radiation by sequentially converting a first portion of the circulating fundamental radiation to second-harmonic radiation and reconverting a first portion of the…
High-power external-cavity optically-pumped semiconductor lasers
Granted: June 3, 2003
Patent Number:
6574255
External cavity optically-pumped semiconductor lasers (OPS-lasers) including an OPS-structure having a mirror-structure surmounted by a surface-emitting, semiconductor multilayer (periodic) gain-structure are disclosed. The gain-structure in pumped by light from diode-lasers. The OPS-lasers can provide fundamental laser output-power of about two Watts (2.0 w) or greater. Inactivity frequency-converted arrangements of the OPS-lasers can provide harmonic laser output-power of about…
CW far-UV laser system with two active resonators
Granted: May 20, 2003
Patent Number:
6567434
A laser system includes a travelling-wave active laser-resonator arranged for generating laser-radiation having a first wavelength and arranged such that the first-wavelength radiation circulates in only one direction therein. An optically-nonlinear element is positioned in the travelling-wave laser-resonator such that the first-wavelength radiation circulates therethrough. Radiation having a second-wavelength is injected into the optically-nonlinear crystal such that the…
Noncollinearly pumped solid state Raman laser
Granted: April 29, 2003
Patent Number:
6556339
A noncollinear pumped solid state Raman laser or amplifier has a pump laser that transversely or noncollinearly pumps a solid state Raman gain material, with an intensity sufficient to produce a stimulated Raman laser output beam. The pump beam and the Raman beam are noncollinear when the Raman beam travels completely across the pump beam within the Raman gain material, or where the Raman beam completely separates physically, at some location in the pumped Raman gain material, from a…
CW far-UV laser system with two active resonators
Granted: February 25, 2003
Patent Number:
6526073
A laser system includes a travelling-wave active laser-resonator arranged for generating laser-radiation having a first wavelength and arranged such that the first-wavelength radiation circulates in only one direction therein. An optically-nonlinear element is positioned in the travelling-wave laser-resonator such that the first-wavelength radiation circulates therethrough. Radiation having a second-wavelength is injected into the optically-nonlinear crystal such that the…
Step-tunable external-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor laser
Granted: January 14, 2003
Patent Number:
6507593
A laser for delivering laser radiation at a selected one of a plurality of equally-spaced frequencies extending over a frequency range includes a laser resonator defined by two end mirrors. The resonator includes a surface-emitting semiconductor multilayer gain-structure in optical contact with one of the mirrors. A third mirror located in the laser resonator forms an etalon with that mirror. The third mirror is movable for adjusting a peak transmission frequency of the etalon to align…
Diode-laser light projector for illuminating a linear array of light modulators
Granted: December 17, 2002
Patent Number:
6494371
An illumination system for projecting a line of light includes a linear array of diode lasers having a fast and a slow axis and an optical system aligned with the linear array and having different optical power in the fast and slow axes. The optical system is arranged to focus fast-axis diverging rays from the array in a fast axis focal plane of the optical system, and arranged to form slow axis diverging rays of the array into a plurality of bundles of parallel rays, one for each…
Diode-laser line-illuminating system
Granted: November 12, 2002
Patent Number:
6478452
An illumination apparatus includes a semiconductor laser providing light-output in first and second mutually perpendicular axes. The light-output propagates in a direction mutually perpendicular to the first and second axes. An optical system is arranged cooperative with the semiconductor laser to focus the light-output inn the first and second axes at respectively first and second focal points spaced apart in the propagation direction. At a plane intersecting the first focal point…
High-power external-cavity optically-pumped semiconductor lasers
Granted: August 20, 2002
Patent Number:
6438153
External-cavity optically-pumped semiconductor lasers (OPS-lasers) including an OPS-structure having a mirror-structure surmounted by a surface-emitting, semiconductor multilayer (periodic) gain-structure are disclosed. The gain-structure is pumped by light from diode-lasers. The OPS-lasers can provide fundamental laser output-power of about two Watts (2.0 W) or greater. Intracavity frequency-converted arrangements of the OPS-lasers can provide harmonic laser output-power of about…
Pulsed diode-pumped solid-state laser
Granted: July 9, 2002
Patent Number:
6418154
A pulsed, solid laser having a solid-state gain-medium and Q-switch is optically-pumped by a diode-laser array controlled to deliver pump-light pulses to the gain-medium. The Q-switch and the diode-laser array are cooperatively controlled by a controller such that laser output-pulses produced in response to pump-light pulses have the same energy independent of the time-interval between laser output-pulses. Pump-light pulses may be provided by the controller operating a switchable current…
Laser rod thermalization
Granted: July 2, 2002
Patent Number:
6414980
A method for operating an extracavity frequency-converted solid-state laser for performing a laser processing operation is disclosed. The laser has a laser-resonator including an optically-pumped gain-medium. The resonator is configured to compensate for a predetermined range of thermal lensing in the gain-medium. An optically-nonlinear crystal located outside the resonator converts fundamental laser radiation delivered by the resonator into frequency converted radiation. The laser…
Intracavity frequency-converted optically-pumped semiconductor laser
Granted: April 9, 2002
Patent Number:
6370168
An intracavity, frequency-doubled, external-cavity, optically-pumped semiconductor laser in accordance with the present invention includes a semiconductor multilayer surface-emitting gain-structure surmounting a Bragg mirror. An external concave mirror and the Bragg-mirror define a stable laser-resonator including the gain-structure. A birefringent filter is located in the resonator, inclined at an angle to the resonator axis, for selecting a fundamental frequency of the laser-radiation…
Optically-pumped external-mirror vertical-cavity semiconductor-laser
Granted: December 4, 2001
Patent Number:
6327293
A optically-pumped semiconductor (OPS), vertical-cavity, surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) includes a first mirror having a quantum-well structure thereon which provides a gain medium for the laser. A second mirror is spaced apart from the quantum-well structure and, together with the first mirror, forms a resonant cavity for the laser. Optical pump-radiation is directed through the gap into the quantum-well structure via an outermost layer of the quantum-well structure. The quantum-well…
CW far-UV laser system with two active resonators
Granted: November 27, 2001
Patent Number:
6324194
A laser system includes a travelling-wave active laser-resonator arranged for generating laser-radiation having a first wavelength and arranged such that the first-wavelength radiation circulates in only one direction therein. An optically-nonlinear element is positioned in the travelling-wave laser-resonator such that the first-wavelength radiation circulates therethrough. Radiation having a second-wavelength is injected into the optically-nonlinear crystal such that the…
High-power external-cavity optically-pumped semiconductor lasers
Granted: October 2, 2001
Patent Number:
6298076
External-cavity optically-pumped semiconductor lasers (OPS-lasers) including an OPS-structure having a mirror-structure surmounted by a surface-emitting, semiconductor multilayer (periodic) gain-structure are disclosed. The gain-structure is pumped by light from diode-lasers. The OPS-lasers can provide fundamental laser output-power of about two Watts (2.0 W) or greater. Intracavity frequency-converted arrangements of the OPS-lasers can provide harmonic laser output-power of about…
Method of controlling diode-laser wavelength in a diode-laser pumped solid-state laser
Granted: September 18, 2001
Patent Number:
6292498
A method for controlling the emitting-wavelength of a diode-laser or diode-laser array in a diode-laser pumped solid-state laser (DPSS-laser) is disclosed. The DPSS-laser can be controlled, in a light-control mode, to provide constant output-power. Alternatively, the DPSS-laser can be controlled such that a constant current is supplied to the diode-laser. In the light-control mode, diode-laser temperature is periodically varied by a small temperature increment above and below a set…
Apparatus for reducing amplitude modulation of laser diode output
Granted: September 18, 2001
Patent Number:
6292501
A laser diode system comprising a voltage source, an inductor connected to the output of the voltage source, an integrator circuit connected in series with the inductor, and a laser diode. The integrator circuit filters out noise from the voltage source, and includes a first resistor, an amplifier, a second resistor, and first and second capacitors. The second capacitor has one lead connected to the input lead of the inductors and the other lead attached to the input of the first…
