Universitaet Stuttgart Institut Fuer Strahlwerkzeuge

Deutsches Zentrum Fuer Luft-und Raumfahrt E.v

Deutsche Forschungsanstalt Fuer Luft- Und Raumfahrt E.v.

Osram Opto Semiconductors Gmbh

Messerschmitt-bolkow-blohm Gmbh

Trumpf Gmbh & Company

Jenoptik Laser, Optik, Systeme Gmbh

Universitaet Stuttgart Institut Fur Strahlwerkzeuge

Universitaet Stuttgart Institut Fuer Strahlwerkqeuge

Adolf Giesen

Hans Opower

Uwe Brauch

Steffen Erhard

Andreas Voss

Helmut Huegel

Christian Stewen

Martin Karszewski

Jochen Speiser

Gerhard Spindler

Jens Mende

Peter Heist

Guenter Hollemann

Thomas Hall

Friedrich Dausinger

Martin Bea

Michael Gorriz

Martin Huonker

Helmut H&uuml;gel

Hans-Albert Eckel

Svent-Simon Beyertt

Karsten Contag

Stefan Borik

Stephan Anders

Klaus Wittig

Christian Stolzenburg

An optical energy transmission system having an energy-emitting unit is provided. The energy-emitting unit has a laser radiation source for generating an energy-transmitting laser beam and an aiming device for aligning the energy-transmitting laser beam relative to an energy-receiving unit which includes an optical/electrical converter, which converts the energy of the energy-transmitting laser beam into electrical energy. The converter has at least one converter element having a plurality of surfaces which reflect the energy-transmitting laser beam and which are arranged relative to one another such that the impinging energy-transmitting laser beam is deflected by one of the reflective surfaces to another one of the reflective surfaces. At least some of the reflective surfaces are formed by a conversion unit which reflects one part of the impinging laser beam and absorbs the other part thereof in a photovoltaic element, and in the process converts the optical energy into electrical energy.

Optical energy transmission system

A laser amplifier system is provided which comprises a resonator with optical resonator elements which determine a course of a resonator radiation field which propagates along an optical axis and at least one laser-active medium (LM). The resonator is designed as a split resonator and has a first resonator section which extends from a first virtual plane of separation and a second resonator section which extends from a second virtual plane of separation. The resonator sections are dimensioned optically such that the resonator radiation field has radiation field states corresponding to the same resonator modes in each of the virtual planes of separation. An amplifying unit optically independent of the resonator is arranged between the first and the second virtual planes of separation. The amplifying unit comprises the at least one laser-active medium and couples the radiation field states in a neutral manner with respect to the resonator modes.

Laser amplifier system

In order to improve a solid-state laser, in particular a solid-state disc laser, comprising a resonator () that defines a resonator radiation field () and at least one solid-state disc () with the resonator radiation field () passing through it, in such a manner that the thermal lens effect can be at least substantially compensated, it is proposed that in reflection the resonator radiation field () strikes at least one first adaptive mirror unit (), with which a distortion of the resonator radiation field () as a result of a thermal lens effect of the at least one solid-state disc () can be substantially compensated. An adaptive mirror unit () can be configured by a heated () glass sheet () with an HR layer (), for example, or by a pressure-induced deformation by means a fluid () in a space (), which is enclosed with the mirror ().

Solid-state laser

In order to operate a laser amplifier system comprising a solid-state body thermally coupled to a cooling member and having a laser active volume area, in which at least one laser-active amplifier structure consisting of semiconductor material is arranged in at least one surface and extends at least over partial areas of the surface, a pumping radiation source generating a pumping radiation field for the optical pumping of the laser-active volume area and an optical means of the amplifier defining a laser amplifier radiation field passing through the laser active volume area, as efficiently as possible it is suggested that the absorption of pumping radiation from the pumping radiation field in the laser-active amplifier structure be equal to or greater than the absorption of pumping radiation by a surrounding structure adjacent to the amplifier structure and that the pumping radiation field proceed such that it passes several times through the amplifier structure.

Optically pumped semi-conductive laser

A laser for generating pulsed laser radiation. An element is arranged in the resonator to generate laser radiation having the first wavelength by frequency conversion of the primary radiation. The resonator is switchable into a first state in which it is open to the primary radiation, and a second state in which it is closed to the primary radiation, and is open to laser radiation of the first wavelength in both states. A control unit switches the resonator from the first to the second state so that the primary radiation begins to oscillate and the pulse generation by frequency conversion begins, switches the resonator from the second to the first state, whereby primary radiation is coupled out from the resonator. It is possible to set the duration between both steps and/or the coupling-out behavior of the resonator to adjust the pulse duration via the control unit.

Laser and method for generating pulsed laser radiation

The invention relates to a laser amplifier system consisting of a solid body, which comprises a laser-active medium, of a pumping radiation source for generating a pumping radiation field, which repeatedly permeates the solid body, and of a focusing system. Said focusing system generates a number of different branches of the pumping radiation field that enter the solid body and converts at least one branch emerging from the solid body into one of the branches which enter the solid body and which are different from the emerging branch. The aim of the invention is to improve a laser amplifier system of the aforementioned type in order to be able to generate the highest possible pumping power density in the solid body while requiring the smallest possible amount of complexity. To this end, the focusing system comprises at least one deviating unit which converts, by deviating the radiation field with regard to a single plane of symmetry, at least two first partial branches formed from at least two different branches of the pumping radiation field emerging from the solid into at least two corresponding second partial branches which locally extend in a manner that is separate from the first partial branches and of which at least two branches entering the solid body are formed.

The invention relates to a laser amplifier system consisting of a solid body, which comprises a laser-active medium, of an excitation source for producing an excited state of the laser-active medium, and of an amplifier radiation field, which repeatedly permeates the solid body and out of which a laser beam can be decoupled. The aim of the invention is to improve a laser-amplifier system of this type so that the highest number of passages of the amplifier radiation field through the solid body can be attained using optical means that are provided in the most simple possible form. To this end, the invention provides radiation field guiding optics which enable the amplifier radiation field to enter the solid body in the form of a number of incident branches with locally different trajectories, and which enable the amplifier radiation field to exit the solid body in the form of at least one emerging branch with a trajectory that differs locally from those of the incident branches. In addition, the radiation field guiding optics comprise at least one deviating unit which, out of at least one of the branches emerging from the solid body, forms a branch which enters the solid body and which has a trajectory that differs locally from that of said emerging branch.

In order to improve a laser amplification system, comprising a solid-state body having a laser-active medium, a pumping radiation source for generating a pumping radiation field which passes through the solid-state body several times, an optical pumping radiation imaging means which is arranged between the pumping radiation source and the solid-state body and focuses a leg of the pumping radiation field entering the solid-state body onto the solid-state body and at least one optical refocusing means which focuses a leg of the pumping radiation field exiting from the solid-state body onto the solid-state body again in the form of a leg entering the solid-state body and different to the outgoing leg, in such a manner that as high a pumping radiation power density as possible can be generated in the solid-state body with as little resources as possible it is suggested that the optical refocusing means reshape the leg exiting from the solid-state body into an intermediately collimated leg and reshape the intermediately collimated leg again into the leg entering the solid-state body again and focused onto it.

Laser amplification system

The invention relates to a device for influencing a laser beam by means of an adaptive mirror ( ) in the beam path, having a piezoelectric adjusting member ( ) arranged on the back of the mirror ( ), it being the case that, in order to achieve low-aberration deformation of the mirror ( ) for the purpose of influencing the divergence of the beam, there is provided between the adjusting member ( ) and the back ( ) of the mirror ( ) a pressure-transmitting device ( ) which acts on a large area of the deformable surface of the mirror ( ).

Device for influencing a laser beam

In order to provide a laser amplification system comprising several solid-state volumes having a laser-active medium, a pumping radiation source, a pumping radiation reflector which allows a leg of the pumping radiation field entering the solid-state volume to pass through the solid-state volume again as outgoing leg such that the incoming leg and the outgoing leg form a first pumping branch, a first pumping radiation path, in which the pumping radiation field passes through the first pumping branches in a first sequence, with which the individual solid-state volumes are acted upon with pumping power as uniformly as possible, it is suggested that each solid-state volume be penetrated by a second pumping branch, the incoming leg of which and the outgoing leg of which are located in a second plane different to the first plane, that a second pumping radiation path be provided, in which the pumping radiation field passes through the second pumping branches in a second sequence and that in the second sequence the order of the solid-state volumes be changed in relation to the first sequence.

In order to improve a laser system comprising a fiber bundle consisting of single mode fibers which form with a first end a fiber bundle end, at which a total radiation field, which can be imaged onto a target surface, is formed from laser radiation exiting from the first ends of the fibers, and which are coupled with a second end to a subsystem generating the laser radiation with at least one semiconductor laser, such that this also operates efficiently with semiconductor lasers or semiconductor laser amplifiers and can be realized in an inexpensive manner it is suggested that the subsystem comprise a plurality of semiconductor laser units operating parallel, that all the semiconductor laser units of the subsystem operate with the same wavelength in a phase-balanced manner relative to one another as a result of master laser radiation coupled into them and that individual laser radiation exiting from the individual semiconductor laser units of the respective subsystem be combined by means of a coupling device of the respective subsystem to form a coherent laser radiation field which can be coupled into one of the single mode fibers.

Laser system

In order to improve a laser system comprising several laser radiation sources, each of which generates laser radiation which is coupled into a first end of a respective optical single-mode fiber, wherein all optical single-mode fibers form a fiber bundle and have second ends lying at a fiber bundle end, the laser radiation exiting from the second ends and thereby forming a total laser radiation field, and further comprising an optical transformation means which transforms the total laser radiation field onto an object, such that a focal point with a highest possible power per area and per solid angle can be generated therewith, it is proposed that the optical transformation means comprise a collimating element which collimates the laser radiation exiting divergently from each individual second end of the single-mode fibers and forms a collimated radiation bundle therefrom, and that the optical transformation means comprise a focusing element which images the collimated radiation bundle as a whole onto a focal point.

In order to improve a semiconductor laser system with a plurality of semiconductor laser units comprising a laser oscillator, laser radiation exiting from each of these units, a light-conducting fiber associated with each semiconductor laser unit, a coupling element for coupling the laser radiation exiting from the respective semiconductor laser unit into the respective light-conducting fiber, and a fiber bundle comprising the fibers as light conductor system, a total laser radiation formed by the sum of the coherent laser radiation generated by the respective semiconductor laser units exiting from one end of the fiber bundle, this total laser radiation illuminating a target surface on an object to be irradiated during laser activity of all the semiconductor laser units, such that complex irradiation tasks can be performed with this system in a simple and as effective a manner as possible it is suggested that a control be provided for controlling the power of each individual semiconductor laser unit in a defined manner, and that an irradiation of different surface elements of the target surface with an intensity individually definable for each surface element be specifiable to the control.

Power-controlled, fractal laser system

A laser amplifying system is provided having a solid body arranged in a laser radiation field and including a laser active material that is pumped with a pumping light source. The solid body has a cooling surface and transfers heat created therein to a solid cooling element via the cooling surface. In this manner, a temperature gradient results in the solid body in a direction towards the cooling surface. The solid cooling element forms a carrier for the solid body. The laser radiation field propagates approximately parallel to the temperature gradient in the solid body. By enabling heat to be transferred to the solid cooling element via the cooling surface, this structure enables the solid body to be pumped at a high pumping power. Further, since the laser radiation field propagates approximately parallel to the temperature gradient in the solid body, the radiation field sees the same temperature gradient in all cross-sectional areas. Thus, the temperature gradient does not lead to an adverse effect on the beam quality of the laser radiation field at high pumping power.

Growing community of inventors

Renningen, Germany

Adolf Giesen