The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 23, 1989
Filed:
Jul. 17, 1987
Stephen C Rand, Agoura, CA (US);
Hughes Aircraft Company, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Abstract
A passive laser Q-switch is fabricated from a crystal which can form saturable color centers, such as lithium fluoride. The arbitrarily long crystal is irradiated with electrons from the side, or radially, to impart a radial distribution of saturable color centers therein, with the highest density at the periphery of the crystal. Optionally, the crystal can also be irradiated axially with electrons or in any direction with another form of radiation having greater penetration into the crystal, such as gamma radiation, to establish a base level of saturable color centers throughout the crystal. The crystal having the radial distribution of color centers acts as a Q-switch, but additionally tends to reduce beam divergence and increase the brightness of the laser beam by virtue of the nonlinear bleaching mechanism.