Apollo Instruments, Inc.

Other

Optton Co. Ltd.

Zhijiang Wang

Ying Wang

Alice Z Gheen

Qinyue Yu

Gregory Gheen

Junhua Pan

A large number of passes of pump light through an active mirror in a solid state disk laser is realized using a pair of coupled imaging systems, where the optical axes of imaging systems are not coincident. Two imaging systems are optically coupled, so that an image of the first imaging system is an object of the second imaging system, and vice versa. An active mirror is disposed at the object or image plane, or at the focal plane of any one of the coupled imaging systems, where the position of the reflected pump beam during the multi-reflection between the first and second imaging systems is substantially unchanged.

Laser apparatuses with large-number multi-reflection pump systems

In the present invention, methods and apparatus for making efficient cladding pumping fiber lasers is disclosed. In particular, new fiber cladding geometry and new method of coupling pumping laser into an optical fiber are disclosed. Both aspects of the present invention will facilitate the realization of high-efficiency and high-power fiber lasers. In the present invention, cladding boundary geometry structures that can prevent the formation of local modes are disclosed. Besides the cladding geometry, methods for efficient coupling of diode lasers into a laser fiber for high power injection are also disclosed. Essentially, the new methods make it possible to transmit diode laser beams for a long distance with substantially the same brightness. In other words, with the methods and apparatus disclosed, a laser beam from a laser diode array with collimating structures can be transmitted for a long distance while the beam spot dimension including beam divergence can be kept substantially unchanged even if the beam from said array is not substantially collimated. With the method taught in the present invention, laser diode array modules can be formed with laser diode arrays (LDA) with collimating structures and relay systems. Because of the brightness conservation nature of the modules, when a plurality of such modules (such as 3, 9 or more than 200 pieces) are combined, the beams from the arrays can be efficiently coupled into an optical fiber. Thus the pumping laser coupling method can be used for the construction of high-efficiency and high-power fiber lasers. Thus, the fiber lasers of this invention may comprise of a fiber laser core doped with active species, a symmetry-broken inner cladding or a multiple-imaging inner cladding surrounding said core, a plurality of brightness substantially-conserved laser diode array module for coupling the beam from said laser diode array module into said inner cladding.An apparatus for a high efficiency cladding pumping fiber laser component includes a laser fiber having a core doped with active species disposed along an axis. A symmetry-----

High power high efficiency cladding pumping fiber laser

Cladding pumped fiber laser

In the present invention, methods and apparatus for making efficient cladding pumping fiber lasers is disclosed. In particular, new fiber cladding geometry and method of construct fiber lasers and amplifiers using the laser fibers of the current invention are disclosed. The aspects of the present invention will facilitate the realization of high-efficiency and high-power fiber lasers and amplifiers. In the present invention, cladding boundary geometry structures that can prevent the formation of local modes are disclosed. Thus the pumping laser coupling method can be used for the construction of high-efficiency fiber lasers. Thus, the fiber lasers of this invention may comprise a laser fiber with its core doped with active species, having an asymmetric and symmetry-broken inner cladding or a multiple-imaging inner cladding surrounding said core, a laser diode array, reflector means at both ends of said laser fiber, and coupling optical system disposed between said laser diode array and the aperture of said laser fiber for coupling the pump beam from said laser diode array through a reflector into said inner cladding.

In the present invention, the methods and apparatus for making efficient laser beam coupling are disclosed. In particular, new structures for shaping and rearranging laser beams from diode laser array are disclosed. Along with the use of unique methods for coupling pumping laser beam into optical fiber or other media, high efficiency can be achieved. These aspects of the present invention will facilitate the realization of high-efficiency and high-power fiber lasers, fiber amplifiers, or other solid state lasers. The beam shaping structures can significantly improve the quality of the beams from diode laser array, and is easy to realize and less demanding in system alignment. Thus, a diode-pumped solid state laser of this invention may comprise a laser medium, a focusing means, a beam source comprising at least one laser diode array, a beam offsetting means, an image optics and a beam redirection means.

Optical coupling system

In the present invention, the methods and apparatus for making efficient laser beam coupling are disclosed. In particular, new structures for shaping and rearranging laser beams from diode laser array are disclosed. Along with the use of unique methods for coupling pumping laser beam into optical fiber or other media, high efficiency can be achieved. These aspects of the present invention will facilitate the realization of high-efficiency and high-power fiber lasers or other solid state lasers. The beam shaping structures can significantly improve the quality of the beams from diode laser array, and is easy to realize and less demanding in system alignment. Thus, a diode-pumped solid state laser of this invention may comprise a laser medium, a focusing means, a beam source comprising at least one laser diode array, a beam offsetting means, an image optics and a beam redirection means.

Optical coupling systems

Method and apparatus are disclosed for beam dividing and shaping, in which the beams from laser diode array are divided in a plurality of sections along the slow axis and the sections of beams are then recombined along their fast axis so that the Lagrange invariant of the resulting beam increased approximately by n-fold in fast axis and reduced approximately by n-fold in slow axis. With the inclusion of above apparatus in diode laser modules, the main objectives of constructing high-efficiency solid state lasers can be achieved. Thus, a high-efficiency diode-pumped solid state laser apparatus can be made, comprising a laser fiber, at least one laser diode array module, an imaging optical system, wherein said imaging optical system is disposed between said module and the aperture of said fiber and focuses the beam from said module onto the aperture of said laser fiber, and wherein said laser diode array module comprises at least one laser diode array, a collimating structure, a beam dividing/rearranging device and an optical relay system.

Optical coupling system for a high-power diode-pumped solid state laser

A novel projection lithography camera is disclosed with a large field area and large numerical aperture. The camera comprises only two aspheric mirrors with a two-reflection configuration. The two mirrors are arranged on a common axis of symmetry such that efficient use of extreme ultraviolet radiation can be achieved. In one preferred embodiment, a reduced image of mask is formed by reflection of the two mirrors on a wafer with feature sizes less than 0.05 &mgr;m over a field larger than 22 mm&times;22 mm with the NA being larger than 0.22. The system is appropriate for EUV steppers.

Reflective optical systems for EUV lithography

In the present invention, methods and apparatus for making efficient cladding pumping fiber lasers is disclosed. In particular, new fiber cladding geometry and new method of coupling pumping laser into an optical fiber are disclosed. Both aspects of the present invention will facilitate the realization of high-efficiency and high-power fiber lasers. In the present invention, cladding boundary geometry structures that can prevent the formation of local modes are disclosed. Besides the cladding geometry, methods for efficient coupling of diode lasers into a laser fiber for high power injection are also disclosed. Essentially, the new methods make it possible to transmit diode laser beams for a long distance with substantially the same brightness. In other words, with the methods and apparatus disclosed, a laser beam from a laser diode array with collimating structures can be transmitted for a long distance while the beam spot dimension including beam divergence can be kept substantially unchanged even if the beam from said array is not substantially collimated. With the method taught in the present invention, laser diode array modules can be formed with laser diode arrays (LDA) with collimating structures and relay systems. Because of the brightness conservation nature of the modules, when a plurality of such modules (such as 3, 9 or more than 200 pieces) are combined, the beams from the arrays can be efficiently coupled into an optical fiber. Thus the pumping laser coupling method can be used for the construction of high-efficiency and high-power fiber lasers. Thus, the fiber lasers of this invention may comprise of a fiber laser core doped with active species, a symmetry-broken inner cladding or a multiple-imaging inner cladding surrounding said core, a plurality of brightness substantially-conserved laser diode array module for coupling the beam from said laser diode array module into said inner cladding.

A photolithography method copies a pattern plane onto a working plane by a rotating imaging system. The pattern plane is parallel to the working plane. At a given instance, the imaging system images a small region of the pattern plane to the working plane. The imaging system rotates around a fixed axis perpendicular to the pattern plane and on each pass copies a circular arc shaped region from the pattern plane to the working plane. Synchronized translation of the pattern plane and working plane in conjunction with rotation of the imaging system allows the entire pattern plane to be copied to the working plane. The photolithography method can achieve high resolution over a large field-of-view with high write speed and can include an autofocus system to account for variation in the flatness of the working plane. This photolithography method can be used in the visible, UV, IR or x-ray wavebands.

Method and apparatus for photolithography by rotational scanning

An optical scanning method is described in which a device essentially comprises a rotational optical system S and a working plane W fed in a predetermined direction. The optical system forms the image of a stationary point A at point B on the working plane W. The image point is scanned along a circular are by rotating the optical system around the rotational axis. In a preferred device, point A lies approximately on the rotational axis and point B lies off the rotational axis. And the circular arc generated by the scanning of point B is in the working plane approximately perpendicular to the rotational axis. A 2-dimensional scanning is completed by the rotation of the optical system around the rotational axis and the translation of the working plane in a predetermined direction, which is synchronized with the rotation of the optical system. When the radiation beam E propagates from point A to B, the device is for information writing in (e.g. lithography) and the working plane is a recording medium. When the radiation beam E propagates from the working plane to point A, the device is for information reading-out or pattern acquisition, in which a point detector is positioned right behind point A. This optical scanning method can be used in visible, UV, IR or soft x-ray waveband, providing, at the same time, large field of view, high resolution and very high data rate.

Growing community of inventors

Diamond Bar, CA, United States of America

Zhijiang Wang