Intracavity beam shaping using an SLM

L. Burger; I. Litvin; S. Ngcobo; A. Forbes

doi:10.1117/12.2188593

25 September 2015 Intracavity beam shaping using an SLM

L. Burger, I. Litvin, S. Ngcobo, A. Forbes

Proceedings Volume 9581, Laser Beam Shaping XVI; 95810A (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2188593
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2015, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Intracavity laser beam shaping has been achieved by adding intensity or phase filters to a Fabry-Perot resonator. Changing the output beam from one mode to another is a tedious process, requiring the replacing of custom optical elements, and careful realignment. The digital laser [1] is an innovation which allows the laser beam produced by a laser to be dynamically controlled by a computer. Essentially, one of the resonator mirrors is replaced by a spatial light modulator (SLM), which is a computer controlled, pixellated, liquid-crystal device. While the concept is the device is simple, the implementation revealed subtle properties of spatial light modulators and the liquid crystals contained in them. These properties had to be well understood before their undesirable characteristics could be overcome, allowing the laser to function as conceived in the design.

Citation Download Citation

L. Burger, I. Litvin, S. Ngcobo, and A. Forbes "Intracavity beam shaping using an SLM", Proc. SPIE 9581, Laser Beam Shaping XVI, 95810A (25 September 2015); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2188593

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