Stabilization of angular and lateral laser beam position

US6014206A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Lambda Physik AG · DE

Inventors

• Dirk Basting · Fort Lauderdale, US
• Uwe Stamm · Göttingen, DE
• Klaus Mann · Göttingen, DE
• Jens Ohlenbusch · Göttingen, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Sep 28, 1998
• Grant date: Jan 11, 2000
• Expiry date: Sep 28, 2018

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H01S3/1305
• WIPO field: Optics
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

The present invention is an apparatus and method for stabilization of laser output beam characteristics by automatically adjusting the angular and the lateral positions of the output beam. A component of the output beam is detected at a far field location and also at a near field location along an optical path of the component. Both the angular and the lateral positions of the output beam are determined, as well as characteristics of the output beam, after the component is detected at both the near and the far field locations. Both the angular position and the lateral position of the output beam are automatically adjusted to optimize the output beam. The adjustment of both the angular position and the lateral position are made possible by using a beam steering device preferably including two mirrors.