EP0272912A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Miniaturized Q-switched diode pumped solid state laser
Assignee: Newport Corp USA
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Filing: 1987-12-22
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2007-12-22
Abstract
Abstract A miniaturized Q-switch (28) is added to the resonant cavity (15) of a compact laser diode pumped solid state laser (10) to produce short high peak power pulses. Q-switching the compact diode pumped solid state lasers takes advantage of the relatively high gain and short cavity length to provide a desirable combination of pulsewidth and pulse energy. Nd:YAG or Nd:YLF are useful solid state laser materials for Q-switching, or other longer lifetime rare earth ions such as erbium or holmium for greater energy storage. The Q-switch (28) is formed of a material such as TeO₂, SF₁₀, or LiNbO₃ with an acousto-optic figure of merit substantially greater than fused silica. Pulsewidths of 10-50 ns are achieved at pulse energies of 10-20 microJoules. Temoo output is easily produced by the compact laser pumped solid state resonator. Applications include materials processing, link blowing in semiconductor memories, marking and scribing, and optical time domain reflectometry.
Inventors
- 👤 Thomas Michael Baer
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-06 03:04
CPC Classifications
H; H01; H01S; H01S3/00; H01S3/02; H01S3/025; H01S3/09; H01S3/091; H01S3/094; H01S3/0941; H01S3/09415; H01S3/10; H01S3/11; H01S3/1123; H01S3/117
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 23
Claim 1
Independent Claim
69 words
A compact Q-switched solid state laser for producing short peak power pulses, comprising: a miniaturized solid state laser rod; cavity means defining a compact resonant cavity which contains the laser rod, including output coupling means a laser diode pumping means positioned to longitudinally end pump the laser rod and to match the pumping volume to the mode volume in the laser rod; miniaturized Q-switch mounted in the resonant cavity.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
69 words
A compact Q-switched solid state laser for producing short peak power pulses, comprising: a miniaturized solid state laser rod; cavity means defining a compact resonant cavity which contains the laser rod, including output coupling means a laser diode pumping means positioned to longitudinally end pump the laser rod and to match the pumping volume to the mode volume in the laser rod; miniaturized Q-switch mounted in the resonant cavity.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
15 words
The laser of Claim 1 wherein the laser rod is made of Nd:YAG or Nd:YLF.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
22 words
The laser of Claim 1 wherein the laser rod is made of a solid state laser material doped with erbium or holmium.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
22 words
The laser of Claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the pumping volume is matched to the mode volume to produce TEMOO output.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
41 words
The laser of Claim 1, 2 or 3 further including an optical fiber connected to the laser diode pumping means and coupling means for connecting the optical fiber to the resonant cavity in a fixed relationship for pumping the laser rod.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
13 words
The laser of Claim 1, wherein the Q-switch is a miniaturized acousto-optic Q-switch.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
65 words
The laser of Claim 6 wherein the acousto-optic Q-switch comprises a substrate of material having an acousto-optic figure of merit substantially greater than fused silica positioned on the optical axis of the resonant cavity, a piezoelectric transducer mounted to the substrate, and means for connecting the piezoelectric transducer to an RF source to drive the transducer and generate an acoustic diffraction grating in the substrate.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
15 words
The laser of Claim 7 wherein the substrate is selected from TeO₂, SF₁₀, and LiNbO₃.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
17 words
The laser of Claim 1 for producing pulses having pulsewidths in the range of about 10-50 ns.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
93 words
A method of producing a short high peak power pulse, comprising: forming a compact solid state laser resonator with a miniaturized solid state laser rod; pumping the laser rod with a laser diode pumping source; matching the pumping volume to the mode volume in the laser rod; creating an acoustic diffraction grating in a miniaturized Q-switch in the resonant cavity to prevent lasing while energy is stored in the laser rod; turning off the acoustic diffraction grating to extract the stored energy in the laser rod in a short high peak power pulse.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
93 words
A method of producing a short high peak power pulse, comprising: forming a compact solid state laser resonator with a miniaturized solid state laser rod; pumping the laser rod with a laser diode pumping source; matching the pumping volume to the mode volume in the laser rod; creating an acoustic diffraction grating in a miniaturized Q-switch in the resonant cavity to prevent lasing while energy is stored in the laser rod; turning off the acoustic diffraction grating to extract the stored energy in the laser rod in a short high peak power pulse.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of Claim 10 including forming the laser rod from Nd:YAG or Nd:YLF.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of Claim 10 or 11 including forming the miniaturized Q-switch from a material having an acousto-optic figure of merit substantially greater than fused silica.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of Claim 12 including forming the Q- switched from TeO₂, SF₁₀, or LiNbO₃.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
19 words
The method of any one of Claims 10-13 further including forming pulses having a pulsewidth of about 10-50 ns.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of Claim 14 further comprising forming a plurality of pulses and focussing the pulses on a semiconductor memory to perform link blowing.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of Claim 14 further comprising forming a plurality of pulses and focussing the pulses on a material to mark or scribe the material.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of Claim 14 further including propagating a pulse down a long optical fiber to perform optical time domain reflectometry.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of any one of Claim 10-17 further including matching the pumping volume to the mode volume to produce TEMOO output.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
44 words
A miniaturized acousto-optic Q-switch for a compact solid state laser, comprising: a substrate of a material having an acousto-optic figure of merit substantially greater than fused silica; a piezoelectric transducer mounted to the substrate; means for connecting the transducer to an RF power supply.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
44 words
A miniaturized acousto-optic Q-switch for a compact solid state laser, comprising: a substrate of a material having an acousto-optic figure of merit substantially greater than fused silica; a piezoelectric transducer mounted to the substrate; means for connecting the transducer to an RF power supply.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
15 words
The Q-switch of Claim 19 wherein the substrate is selected from TeO₂, SF₁₀, and LiNbO₃.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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