Athermal optical bench

Abstract

Optical bench mounting and thermal management techniques are disclosed that enable increased dimensional stability. Output power, beam divergence, and boresight stability of the laser are thus maintained. A separate optical bench is pseudo semi-kinematically mounted to a chassis. A number of heat dissipation or heat management techniques can be utilized for heat generating components on the bench. For example, hot components (e.g., laser crystals) can be mounted on a cryo-cooler or other heat-pump, or attached to the chassis instead of the bench. Thermal loads can be balanced across the thickness of the bench to minimize bowing of the bench, and thermal strapping can be used to conduct heat away from hot components mounted on the bench to other locations (e.g., chassis or elsewhere) where the heat can be more efficiently handled. Thermal insulators and thermal damming can be used to inhibit heat flow from components into specific bench locations.