Compact pumped laser resonator and method
US5923695A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 11, 1997 |
| Grant date | Jul 13, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 11, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01S3/1123
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A system and a method of designing and mechanical packaging of pumped laser resonator elements to minimize their size. All the elements of the compact pumped laser resonator assembly are placed on a monolithic block mount, which substitutes and functions as a laser diode heatsink, a laser resonator cavity mount, and an optical bench. The laser optical cavity has a plurality of bends, in order to decrease the size of the assembly, and the laser resonator optical elements include fold prisms, a reflector, a retroreflector and an intracavity optical Q-switch. A miniaturized diode array pumped laser resonator assembly using a miniature monolithic block mount may have a volume of less than one cubic inch and dimensions less than or equal to about 30 mm.times.25 mm.times.13 mm in metric units, and may weigh less than two ounces or 56 g, while providing a laser power of more than 1 mJ, thereby creating a very small but highly powerful pumped laser resonator assembly. The compact pumped laser resonator is preferably manufactured by machining the monolithic block mount using a computer-controlled machine, to generate a plurality of component mounts with a substantially identical setup and t…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.