The United States of America As Represented by the United States

Robert D Paris

Richard P Hackel

Mark Feldman

A method for monitoring the power of a laser beam in real time is disclosed. At least one optical fiber is placed through the laser beam, where a portion of light from the laser beam is coupled into the optical fiber. The optical fiber may be maintained in a stationary position or moved periodically over a cross section of the laser beam to couple light from each area traversed. Light reaching both fiber ends is monitored according to frequency and processed to determine the power of the laser beam.

Method and apparatus for monitoring the power of a laser beam

A wavelength meter having a single mode fiber optics input is disclosed. The single mode fiber enables a plurality of laser beams to be multiplexed to form a multiplexed input to the wavelength meter. The wavelength meter can provide a determination of the wavelength of any one or all of the plurality of laser beams by suitable processing. Another aspect of the present invention is that one of the laser beams could be a known reference laser having a predetermined wavelength. Hence, the improved wavelength meter can provide an on-line calibration capability with the reference laser input as one of the plurality of laser beams.

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San Ramon, CA, United States of America

Robert D Paris