Nlight Photonics Corporation

Aculight Corporation

Nlight, Incorporated

Other

Jason N Farmer

Robert G Waarts

Scott R Karlsen

Mark R Pratt

Dennis D Lowenthal

Matthieu Saracco

Scott H Keeney

Xiaojun Li

Roy D Mead

Timothy S McComb

Charles I Miyake

R Kirk Price

Ronii C Mehl

Richard D Romea

Anmol Nijjar

Joseph G LaChapelle

Chang Liu

Joona Koponen

Mark S Bowers

David C Gerstenberger

Kirk Price

Rob Martinsen

John Edgecumbe

Zhe Huang

Mark A Devito

Ethan McGrath

Jordan Crist

Paul A Crump

Mike P Grimshaw

Ethan A McGrath

Joe Kollmann

Jeremy Young

A laser marking method and system, and laser marked object are disclosed. The method includes directing a pulsed laser beam towards an object such that an interface between an oxidized layer and non-oxidized substrate is in a mark zone of the pulsed laser beam, and scanning the pulsed laser beam across the object in a predetermined pattern to create a mark having an L value of less than 40 and a surface roughness that is substantially unchanged compared to adjacent unmarked areas. The system includes a fiber laser generating amplified pulses that are directed towards a galvo-scanner and focusing optic, while the object includes an oxidized surface layer, an underlying non-oxidized substrate, and a mark having an L value of less than 40 with substantially unchanged roughness features.

Laser marking method and system and laser marked object

Multimode beam combiners include at least one gradient-step index optical fiber in which a refractive index difference at a core/cladding interface is selected to provide a numerical aperture so as to provide stable, uniform beam output. One or more such fibers is formed into a tapered bundle than can be shaped to provide a selected illuminated aperture. The fibers in the bundle can be separated by respective tapered claddings so as to be optically coupled or uncoupled. Illumination systems can include a plurality of such fibers coupled to a plurality of laser diodes or other light sources.

Multimode fiber combiners

Single mode fiber beam combiners are formed by extending single mode fibers through a glass ferrule, and tapering and fusing the fibers and the ferrule. Tapers can be selected so that optical power input to each of the single mode fibers remains partially guided by the single mode fiber cladding, or is guided by the multimode fiber formed by the glass ferrule and the fused fiber claddings. Such combiners can include double clad fibers or actively doped fibers for use in lasers or amplifiers.

Single mode fiber combiners

Laser marking method and system

Nonlinear optical systems include fiber amplifiers using tapered waveguides such as optical fibers that permit multimode propagation but produce amplification and oscillation in a fundamental mode. The tapered waveguides generally are provided with an active dopant that is pumped with an optical pump source such as one or more semiconductor lasers. The active waveguide taper is selected to taper from a single or few mode section to a multimode section, and a seed beam in a fundamental mode is provided to a section of the waveguide taper associated with a smaller optical mode. An amplified beam exits the waveguide taper at a section associated with a larger optical mode. The amplified beam is directed to nonlinear conversion optics such as one or more nonlinear crystals to produce high peak power and high beam quality converted light using second or third harmonic generation, or other nonlinear processes.

UV-green converting fiber laser using active tapers

Fiber amplifiers and oscillators include tapered waveguides such as optical fibers that permit multimode propagation but produce amplification and oscillation in a fundamental mode. The tapered waveguides generally are provided with an active dopant such as a rare earth element that is pumped with an optical pump source such as one or more semiconductor lasers. The active waveguide taper is selected to taper from a single or few mode section to a multimode section, and seed beam in a fundamental mode is provided to a section of the waveguide taper associated with a smaller optical mode, and an amplified beam exits the waveguide taper at a section associated with a larger optical mode.

Active tapers with reduced nonlinearity

Scribing operations with reduced substrate heating can be provided by applying multiple optical pulses to a substrate within a time interval that is less than a material recombination time. Typically a series of pulses of durations of 5-200 ps with pulse energies of less than about 0.002 mJ can be applied at rates of about 1 MHz to about 30 MHz. Beam area and beam scanning are configured to provide substantial overlap so that material can be removed by cold ablation.

Fiber laser systems for cold ablation

Hybrid laser systems include fiber amplifiers using tapered waveguides and solid-state amplifiers. Typically, such systems represent a technically simple and low cost approach to high peak power pulsed laser systems. The tapered waveguides generally are provided with an active dopant such as a rare earth element that is pumped with one or more semiconductor lasers. The active waveguide taper is selected to taper from a single or few mode section to a multimode section. A seed beam in a fundamental mode is provided to a section of the waveguide taper associated with a smaller optical mode, and an amplified beam exits the waveguide taper at a section associated with a larger optical mode. The waveguide taper permits amplification to higher peak power values than comparable small mode area fibers. The fiber amplified beam is then directed to a solid state amplifier, such as a thin disk or rod-type laser amplifier.

Hybrid laser amplifier system including active taper

A system for homogenizing the intensity profile of light includes a plurality of fiber coupled light sources for emitting fiber output beams from fiber output ends, and a light pipe optically coupled to the fiber output beams for producing a uniform light pipe output beam, an interleaver that transmits a first set of fiber output beams and reflects a second set of fiber output beams so that the principal rays of the fiber output beams propagate in a common plane, a first optical element for converging the principal rays, and a second optical element for telecentrically imaging the beams into the light pipe such that the principal rays of the beams propagate parallel to each other and the beams are focused in the light pipe in a focal plane transverse to the direction of propagation.

Beam homogenizer

A stable, single mode fiber amplifier is described. The amplifier consists of a seed source, a passive single clad multimode fiber, an active double clad multimode fiber or a multimode fiber horn and a semiconductor laser pump source. The passive fiber is packaged on a mandrel with a compound radius of curvature such that high order modes in the fiber are stripped from the core leaving only the fundamental mode. This fiber is then spliced to a multimode active fiber of similar core diameter. By exciting only the fundamental mode of this active fiber, stable single mode amplification is achieved.

High power fiber amplifier with stable output

Laser device

An optic device is placed in close proximity to multiple gain elements so as to selectively modify the divergence of the light from said multiple elements such that when the light is subsequently collimated and diffracted from a grating and focused into an optical fiber, it will have a predefined cross-section that matches the mode of the fiber. Using this system and method, a more efficient light transfer is achieved in an intracavity fiber coupled multigain element laser.

Optically corrected intracavity fiber coupled multigain element laser

The present invention is directed to a system and method which provide a Raman pump which is spectrally tailored in response to feedback from control structure associated with the Raman pump source. In certain embodiments of the present inventions, an incoherently beam combined laser (IBC) is utilized to provide a spectrally tailored Raman pump. In these embodiments, emitters in an emitter array are either individually addressable or block addressable to facilitate adjustment of emitter output power. By adjustment of the output power, the Raman pump may be spectrally tailored. The spectral tailoring can occur by employing suitable control algorithms to algorithms to dynamically maintain reasonably flat Raman gain.

Dynamically spectrally tailored raman pump laser

The present invention is directed to a system and method for providing a spectrally tailored Raman pump. The system and method employ an incoherently beam combined laser configuration to combine output beams from a plurality of emitters. Embodiments of the present invention provide emitter devices with electrodes adapted to allow addressability of various emitters. In some embodiments, each emitter is individually addressable thereby allowing the output power of each emitter to be controlled by a drive current. In another embodiment, blocks of emitters are coupled to a single current source. Each emitter of a block is operated at a common power level. In certain embodiments, blocks of emitters are driven at current levels significantly greater than the threshold current for the emitters to increase operating efficiency. Moreover, certain embodiments vary emitter spacing to increase linear power density and/or to allocate additional power to the blue end of the Raman pump. By providing spectral tailoring, embodiments of the present invention are capable of providing reasonable flat Raman gain over relatively broad spectrum.

Spectrally tailored raman pump laser

Growing community of inventors

Vancouver, WA, United States of America

Jason N Farmer