General Electric Company

Other

Digital Vision, Inc.

Phillip Randall Staver

Josef Robert Unternahrer

William Taylor Lotshaw

Keith P Thompson

Jose R Garcia

Peter William Lorraine

Thomas James Batzinger

Angel L Ortiz, Jr

Robert S Gilmore

Farzin Homayoun Azad

Ralph Allen Hewes

Richard Edwin Warren, Jr

Michael Francis X Gigliotti, Jr

The present disclosure provides systems and methods for diagnosing and treating subjects using neuro-ocular wavefront data. As such, in some embodiments, among others, neuro-ocular wavefront data is obtained, and one or more characteristics of a visual system are ascertained from the neuro-ocular wavefront data.

Application of neuro-ocular wavefront data in vision correction

A pulse laser is configured for projecting a pulsed laser beam at a target site on a fluid film atop a workpiece for laser shock peening the workpiece. The fluid film is monitored by a probe laser which projects a probe laser beam at the target site, and an optical detector which detects reflection of the probe beam from the target site. The pulse laser is coordinated by the detector in order to emit the pulsed beam in response to the condition of the monitored film.

Monitored laser shock peening

A method for laser shock peening a surface is disclosed. A laser beam pulse from a laser apparatus is produced. The laser pulse has a cross-section taken perpendicular to the laser beam, a fluence profile across the cross-section. The pulse against an area on said surface. The fluence profile is controlled such that process induced defects are reduced.

Laser shock peening method and apparatus

A target is laser shock peened by directing against an ablative coating thereon a laser beam pulse having a fluence, duration, and corresponding peak power effective for ablating the coating to form a plasma and shock wave therein. The plasma is confined adjacent the target to plastically deform the target by the shock wave to develop residual compressive stress therein. The pulse has a duration less than ten nanoseconds and a corresponding peak power for increasing coupling efficiency between the pulse and plasma.

Short-pulse high-peak laser shock peening

A method of hygroscopic optical material fabrication comprising the steps of cutting a hygroscopic optical material to generate an optical substrate of appropriate dimensions and polishing the hygroscopic optical material for appropriate surface figure or surface quality. The cutting and polishing of the hygroscopic optical material is completed while the hygroscopic optical material is isolated from aqueous contamination so as to maintain or increase the damage threshold of the hygroscopic optical material.

Optical surface treatment

A method of controlling the size of a laser beam comprises the steps of generating the laser beam with a laser, focusing the laser beam, directing the laser beam to a target, directing a portion of the laser beam to an optical detector which generates a signal representative of a fluence distribution of the laser beam, and adjusting a focal point of the laser beam based on the measured fluence distribution to control the size of the laser beam on the target. The method can be carried out with an apparatus which comprises a beam splitter which divides the laser beam into a first portion and a second portion, a lens which focuses the first portion of the laser beam for incidence on a target, a detector which receives the second portion of the laser beam and which generates a signal representative of a spatial energy distribution of the laser beam, a digitizer which digitizes the signal from the detector, a data analyzer which receives the digitized signal from the digitizer and which calculates a fluence distribution of the laser beam, and a lens controller for adjusting a position of the lens with respect to the target based on the fluence distribution.

Method and apparatus for controlling the size of a laser beam

The invention relates to a method and apparatus for shaping a laser pulse. The method comprises the steps of generating a laser pulse with a laser, opening an optical switch to allow the laser pulse to pass through the optical switch, determining a first reference time point with respect to the laser pulse, determining a second reference time point with respect to the opening of the optical switch, and adjusting an opening time of the optical switch based on the first and second reference time points to shape the laser pulse. The method may be carried out with an apparatus which comprises a laser which generates the laser pulse, a first optical detector which detects the laser pulse and generates a first signal representing the laser pulse, an optical switch through which the laser pulse passes, a second optical detector which detects the laser pulse after the laser pulse has passed through the optical switch, and which generates a second signal representing the laser pulse, a computer which receives the first and second signals and which calculates a delay period based on the first and second signals, and a pulse generator which receives the delay period from the computer and which generates a pulse delayed by the delay period to open the optical switch.

Method and apparatus for shaping a laser pulse

The invention relates to a method and apparatus for accurately measuring the energy of a laser pulse. The method according to one embodiment comprises directing a first laser pulse to an energy sensor which produces a first signal responsive to the first laser pulse, determining a time constant of the energy sensor based on the first signal, directing a second laser pulse to the energy sensor which produces a second signal responsive to the second laser pulse, and determining the pulse energy of the second laser pulse based on the second signal and the time constant. The method may be carried out with an apparatus which comprises an energy sensor which receives a laser beam and generates a signal responsive to the laser beam, a digitizer which digitizes the signal, and a computer which calculates a time constant of the energy detector based on the digitized signal of the first laser pulse incident on the energy detector and calculates an energy of a second laser pulse based on the digitized signal of the second laser pulse and the time constant. The method and apparatus provide accurate and timely energy measurements which can be used to improve the laser shock peening process.

Method and apparatus for measuring laser pulse energy

A laser resonator includes a laser medium having opposite end faces inclined at Brewster's angle and disposed in optical alignment between spaced-apart and tilted first and second optical elements. A method for adjusting the optical alignment includes pumping the laser medium to produce a laser beam, and adjusting separation spacing between the two optical elements. Tilt of at least one of the optical elements is adjusted in response to any observed change in beam cross-sectional size. In an additional embodiment, the laser medium is initially positioned at about equal spacings between the first and second elements. Position of the laser medium is then adjusted, at a constant value of the separation spacing, to within a position range selected for a specific value of a ratio of intracavity peak power of circulation of the laser beam and a critical power for self-focusing to effect discrimination of mode-locked operation over continuous wave operation.

Laser resonator optical alignment

The present invention discloses a method and system for laser ultrasonic imaging an object. In the present invention, a synthetic aperture focusing technique (SAFT) is used to generate a high resolution subsurface images of the object. In addition, the present invention filters low frequency components from detected laser ultrasound waveform data to further enhance resolution, SNR, and contrast. Geometric knowledge permits the present invention to generate images of objects having a complex and arbitrary-shape.

Method and system for laser ultrasonic imaging of an object

A laser apparatus includes a laser for emitting a laser beam which is reflected from a primary mirror through a primary lens in a primary optical path and focused at a primary spot. A portion of the laser beam leaks through a back face of the mirror and is directed through a reference lens and focused at a reference spot in a reference optical path. Angular wander of the laser beam on the primary mirror is corrected by measuring the lateral position of the reference spot and adjusting the primary optical path to decrease lateral wander of the primary spot.

Laser apparatus with wander correction

An optical modulator includes pump and signal lasers optically aligned with an optical modulator element having a nonlinear refractive index. In operation, a pulsed optical pump beam is focused inside the modulator element for obtaining oscillatory sagittal and tangential mode radii thereof. A signal beam is propagated through the focus in the modulator element at a crossing angle with the spatially modulated pump beam for phase modulation thereof. Material nonlinearity due to electronic polarization or molecular orientation provides ultrafast rise times with correspondingly high modulation bandwidth.

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Hagaman, NY, United States of America

Phillip Randall Staver