Laser pulse picking employing controlled AOM loading

• Main Authors: Sun, Yunlong, Nilsen, Brady E, Hemenway, David M, Sun, Lei
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 20.09.2005

A laser and an AOM are pulsed at substantially regular and substantially similar constant high repetition rates to provide working laser outputs with variable nonimpingement intervals without sacrificing laser pulse-to-pulse energy stability. When a working laser output is demanded, an RF pulse is applied to the AOM in coincidence with the laser output to transmit it to a target. When no working laser output is demanded, an RF pulse is applied to the AOM in noncoincidence with the laser output so it gets blocked. So the average thermal loading on the AOM remains substantially constant regardless of how randomly the working laser outputs are demanded. The AOM can also be used to control the energy of the working laser output by controlling the power of the RF pulse applied. When the RF power is changed, the RF duration of the RF pulse is modified to maintain the constant average RF power. Consistent loading on the AOM eliminates deterioration of laser beam quality and laser beam pointing accuracy associated with thermal loading variation on the AOM and is advantageous for applications such as IC chip link processing where stable working laser outputs with variable output intervals are needed.