F-Theta lenses are widely used in remote laser processing. Nowadays, a large variety of scanning systems utilizing these devices are commercially available. In this paper, we demonstrate that all practical issues lose their triviality in designing high-performance F-Theta scanning systems. Laser power scaling requires attention to thermally-induced phenomena and ghost reflections. This requirement considerably complicates optimization of the optical configuration of the system and primary aberration correction, even during preliminary design. Obtaining high positioning accuracy requires taking into consideration all probable reasons for processing field distortion. We briefly describe the key engineering relationships and invariants as well as the typical design of a scanner lens and the main field-flattening techniques. Specific emphasis is directed to consideration of the fundamental nonlinearity of two-mirror scanners. To the best of our knowledge, this issue has not been yet studied. We also demonstrate the benefits of our F-Theta lens optimization technique, which uses a plurality of entrance pupils. The problems of eliminating focused ghost reflections and the effects of thermally-induced processes in high-power F-Theta lenses are considered. A set of multi-path 3D processing and laser cutting experiments were conducted and are presented herein to demonstrate the impact of laser beam degradation on the process performance. A selection of our non-standard optical designs is presented.
We analyzed the effects of the focal point aberrational offset in optical transport systems for high-power lasers. Transverse and near-axial laser intensity distribution transformations in the presence of both positive and negative spherical aberrations were numerically calculated and experimentally demonstrated for different strengths. We show that spherical aberration yields considerable asymmetry of the focused beam’s caustic. Several optical transport systems with identical optical parameters (excluding the noncorrected axial beam spherical aberration) were designed. We examined the effects of the laser intensity profiles produced by these systems on the quality of oxygen-assisted laser cutting of medium-section mild steel. We show that high-quality cuts can be obtained for different shapes of laser intensity distribution. However, the greater the refocusing magnitude introduced by the spherical aberration correction, the more precisely the focal point position must be maintained during the laser cutting process.
The reasons of occurrence of the primary aberrations in optical systems for high-power-technology lasers have been analyzed. The laser intensity profile transformation in presence of a primary aberration of the both signs has been studied. A number of the optical systems with completely the same optical parameters except uncorrected primary aberration has been designed. The influence of laser intensity profile produced by these systems on the quality of midpenetrating laser cutting has been examined. It has been found that good quality cuts may be obtained for every shape of the laser intensity distribution. However, the more the scale of an uncorrected aberration is the more accurate the focal point position has to be maintained.
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