The native shape of the single-mode laser beam used for high power material processing applications is circular with a Gaussian intensity profile. Manufacturers are now demanding the ability to transform the intensity profile and shape to be compatible with a new generation of advanced processing applications that require much higher precision and control. We describe the design, fabrication and application of a dual-optic, beam-shaping system for single-mode laser sources, that transforms a Gaussian laser beam by remapping – hence field mapping - the intensity profile to create a wide variety of spot shapes including discs, donuts, XY separable and rotationally symmetric. The pair of optics transform the intensity distribution and subsequently flatten the phase of the beam, with spot sizes and depth of focus close to that of a diffraction limited beam. The field mapping approach to beam-shaping is a refractive solution that does not add speckle to the beam, making it ideal for use with single mode laser sources, moving beyond the limits of conventional field mapping in terms of spot size and achievable shapes. We describe a manufacturing process for refractive optics in fused silica that uses a freeform direct-write process that is especially suited for the fabrication of this type of freeform optic. The beam-shaper described above was manufactured in conventional UV-fused silica using this process. The fabrication process generates a smooth surface (<1nm RMS), leading to laser damage thresholds of greater than 100J/cm2, which is well matched to high power laser sources. Experimental verification of the dual-optic filed mapper is presented.
Portable runway lighting systems pose an interesting illumination challenge. They are typically used in harsh environments where generators or batteries are used to provide electricity. As a result, not only do the systems have to satisfy the regulatory requirements which determine the light intensity profile but they also need to be highly efficient and within a compact design. This paper summarises the optical design and performance of a PAPI system using LEDs which are coupled into a waveguide to generate the required light distribution at an intermediate plane after the waveguide. The use of waveguides means that a single projection lens is used to generate the final beam and this images the output of the waveguides into the far field.
High power laser beamshapers based on lens arrays are widely used to generate square, rectangular or hexagonal flat-top far-field beam profiles. These devices can provide high efficiency and excellent brightness preservation, but offer a limited range of far-field profiles and can suffer from diffraction-related artefacts when used with spatially-coherent beams. Diffractive optical elements (DOE) offer a far wider range of far-field profiles, and better speckle behavior, but bring performance trade-offs in terms of brightness, efficiency, scattered power and residual zeroth-order power. Freeform refractive optics offer additional choices in the design of high power laser beamshapers. Freeform lens arrays offer a wider range of beam profile options than that available from catalogue lens array parts. Freeform field mapping beamshapers can generate a wide range of application-specific beam profiles with high efficiency and, where required, minimal reduction in brightness. More complex quasi-random freeform surfaces can act as a pseudorandom refractive intensity mapping element (PRIME), providing a level of beamshaper design flexibility closer to that of DOEs, but without the related high-order scatter and zeroth order leakage. We describe the design and implementation of these different types of refractive beam shaper in fused silica, using PowerPhotonic’s direct-write freeform fabrication process. This is ideal for use in high-power laser systems, where high damage threshold and low loss are essential. We compare and contrast the performance, benefits and limitations of these types of beamshaper, and describe how to select the ideal beamshaper type based on source coherence properties and application beam profile requirements.
Fiber-integrated high power fiber lasers (HPFLs) have demonstrated remarkable levels of parametric performance, efficiency, operational stability and reliability, and are consequently becoming the technology of choice for a diverse range of materials processing applications in the "micro-machining" domain. The design and functional flexibility of such HPFLs enables a broad operational window from continuous wave in the 100W+ power range, to modulated CW (to 50kHz prf and above), and to quasi-pulsed operation (kW/μs/mJ regime) from a single design of laser system. A long-term qualification program has been successfully completed to demonstrate the robustness and longevity of this family of fiber lasers.
In this paper we report for the first time on the power-scaling extension of SPI's proprietary side-coupled cladding-pumped GTWaveTM technology platform to output power levels in the multi-hundred watt domain. Fiber and system design aspects are discussed for increasing both average power and peak power for CW and quasi-pulsed operation respectively whilst maintaining near-diffraction limited beam quality and mitigating non-linear effects such as Stimulated Raman Scattering. Performance data are presented for the new family of laser products with >200W CW output power, M2 ~ 1.1 and modulation performance to 50kHz: Furthermore, the modular, flexible approach provided by GTWaveTM side-pumped technology has been extended to demonstrate a two-stage MOPA operating at >400W.
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