US5081637A — Multiple-laser pump optical system

Claim 1

Independent Claim 145 words

A system for pumping a gain medium with multiple lasers comprising: a multi-beam laser light source for generating more than one collimated output beam, said collimated output beams being substantially parallel to each other; and an optical system configured to focus the parallel collimated output beams into the gain medium to form a pump beam having a radius that is nearly equal to or less than a preselected value over a region that is on the order of one or more pump absorption lengths long, wherein the size of the pump beam within the region is characterized by a first contribution due to beam overlap of the focused beams and a second contribution due to spreading angle of a single beam and wherein the size of said pump beam at the either end of said region is dominated by neither the first nor second contributions.

Claim 2

Independent Claim 145 words

A system for pumping a gain medium with multiple lasers comprising: a multi-beam laser light source for generating more than one collimated output beam, said collimated output beams being substantially parallel to each other; and an optical system configured to focus the parallel collimated output beams into the gain medium to form a pump beam having a radius that is nearly equal to or less than a preselected value over a region that is on the order of one or more pump absorption lengths long, wherein the size of the pump beam within the region is characterized by a first contribution due to beam overlap of the focused beams and a second contribution due to spreading angle of a single beam and wherein the size of said pump beam at the either end of said region is dominated by neither the first nor second contributions.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 27 words

The system of claim 1 wherein said optical system is configured to focus the collimated beams into the gain medium so as to end-pump the gain medium.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 26 words

The system of claim 1 wherein said preselected value is nearly equal to or less than the radius of the fundamental laser mode in the medium.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 60 words

The system of claim 3 wherein said multi-beam light source comprises: at least two laser elements, each laser element being configured to emit an output beam, and an optical array including for each of said laser elements a corresponding optical element for collimating the output beam from that laser element to produce a corresponding one of said collimated output beams.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 15 words

The system of claim 4 further comprising an optical resonator to control the mode radius.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 16 words

The system of claim 4 wherein the laser elements are laser diodes, or laser diode arrays.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 12 words

The system of claim 6 wherein the laser elements are discrete elements.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 16 words

The system of claim 4 wherein the laser elements are laser diodes in monolithic two-dimensional arrays.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 16 words

The system of claim 4 wherein said optical array is a monolithic two-dimensional array of lenses.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 21 words

The system of claim 4 wherein the optical elements of said optical array are individual lens elements within said optical array.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 21 words

The system of claim 4 wherein the optical system contains prisms, or cylindrical or spherical lenses for focusing the collimated beams.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 32 words

The system of claim 4 wherein the gain medium is Nd:YAG, Nd:LiYF 4 , Nd:YAlO 3 , Nd-doped glass, Nd:YVO 4 , Nd:BaY 2 F 8 , Nd:GSGG, or other Nd-doped material.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 43 words

The system of claim 4 wherein the gain medium operates on the 4 F 3/2 - 4 I 11/2 , the 4 F 3/2 - 4 I 13/2 , or the 4 F 3/2 - 4 I 9/2 transitions of Nd 3+ .

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 64 words

The system of claim 4 wherein the gain medium operates on the 3 H 4 - 3 H 6 transition in Tm +3 , the 5 I 7 - 5 I 8 transition in Ho +3 , the 4 I 11/2 - 4 I 13/2 transition in Er +3 , or the 2 F 5/2 - 2 F 7/2 transition in Yb +3 .

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 14 words

The system of claim 4 wherein the gain medium is configured as an amplifier.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 19 words

The system of claim 4 wherein the collimating optics compensate for astigmatism in the beams from the light sources.

Claim 18

Independent Claim 156 words

A method for pumping a gain medium, comprising the steps of: (a) generating a plurality of output light beams, (b) collimating each of the plurality of output light beams to produce a plurality of substantially parallel beams, (c) focusing the substantially parallel output beams to produce a combined output beam, and (d) pumping a solid-state gain medium with said combined output beam, wherein said combined output beam has a radius that is nearly equal to or less than a preselected value over a region that is on the order of one or more pump absorption lengths long, wherein the size of the pump beam within said region is characterized by a first contribution due to beam overlap of the focused beams and a second contribution due to spreading angle of a single beam and wherein the size of said pump beam at either end of said region is dominated by neither the first nor second contributions.

Claim 19

Independent Claim 156 words

A method for pumping a gain medium, comprising the steps of: (a) generating a plurality of output light beams, (b) collimating each of the plurality of output light beams to produce a plurality of substantially parallel beams, (c) focusing the substantially parallel output beams to produce a combined output beam, and (d) pumping a solid-state gain medium with said combined output beam, wherein said combined output beam has a radius that is nearly equal to or less than a preselected value over a region that is on the order of one or more pump absorption lengths long, wherein the size of the pump beam within said region is characterized by a first contribution due to beam overlap of the focused beams and a second contribution due to spreading angle of a single beam and wherein the size of said pump beam at either end of said region is dominated by neither the first nor second contributions.

Claim 20

Independent Claim 143 words

A system for coupling light into an optical fiber comprising a multi-beam laser light source for generating more than one collimated output beam, said collimated output beams being substantially parallel to each other; and an optical system configured to focus the collimated and parallel output beams into the fiber such that the combined beam has a radius nearly equal to or less than the radius of the fiber and a convergence angle that is nearly equal to or less than the acceptance angle of the fiber, and such that the product of the far field divergence angle of the combined beam and the radius of the combined beam at the point at which the combined beam would enter the fiber is on the order of or less than the product of the radius of the fiber and the acceptance angle of the fiber.

Claim 21

Independent Claim 143 words

A system for coupling light into an optical fiber comprising a multi-beam laser light source for generating more than one collimated output beam, said collimated output beams being substantially parallel to each other; and an optical system configured to focus the collimated and parallel output beams into the fiber such that the combined beam has a radius nearly equal to or less than the radius of the fiber and a convergence angle that is nearly equal to or less than the acceptance angle of the fiber, and such that the product of the far field divergence angle of the combined beam and the radius of the combined beam at the point at which the combined beam would enter the fiber is on the order of or less than the product of the radius of the fiber and the acceptance angle of the fiber.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 60 words

The system of claim 18 wherein said laser light source comprises at least two laser elements, each laser element being configured to emit an output beam, and an optical array including for each of said laser elements a corresponding optical element for collimating the output beam from that laser element to produce a corresponding one of said collimated output beams.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 60 words

The system of claim 18 wherein said laser light source comprises at least two laser elements each laser element being configured to emit an output beam, and an optical array including for each of said laser elements a corresponding optical element for collimating the output beam from that laser element to produce a corresponding one of said collimated output beams.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 141 words

A laser pump system comprising: a gain medium; a multi-beam laser light source for generating more than one collimated output beam, said collimated output beams being substantially parallel to each other; and an optical system configured to focus the parallel collimated output beams into said gain medium to form a pump beam having a radius that is nearly equal to or less than a preselected value over a region that is on the order of one or more pump absorption lengths long, wherein the size of the pump beam within the region is characterized by a first contribution due to beam overlap of the focused beams and a second contribution due to spreading angle of a single beam and wherein the size of said pump beam at either end of said region are dominated by neither the first nor second contributions.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 141 words

A laser pump system comprising: a gain medium; a multi-beam laser light source for generating more than one collimated output beam, said collimated output beams being substantially parallel to each other; and an optical system configured to focus the parallel collimated output beams into said gain medium to form a pump beam having a radius that is nearly equal to or less than a preselected value over a region that is on the order of one or more pump absorption lengths long, wherein the size of the pump beam within the region is characterized by a first contribution due to beam overlap of the focused beams and a second contribution due to spreading angle of a single beam and wherein the size of said pump beam at either end of said region are dominated by neither the first nor second contributions.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 27 words

The system of claim 21 wherein said optical system is configured to focus the collimated beams into the gain medium so as to end-pump the gain medium.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 26 words

The system of claim 21 wherein said preselected value is nearly equal to or less than the radius of the fundamental laser mode in the medium.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 60 words

The system of claim 23 wherein said multi-beam light source comprises: at least two laser elements, each laser element being configured to emit an output beam, and an optical array including for each of said laser elements a corresponding optical element for collimating the output beam from that laser element to produce a corresponding one of said collimated output beams.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1995-01-13	1995-07-15	1996-01-14	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1999-01-13	1999-07-15	2000-01-14	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2003-01-13	2003-07-15	2004-01-14	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Multiple-laser pump optical system

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