Systems and methods for controlling a pulsed laser by combining laser signals
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- combining a primary optical pulse with a secondary optical pulse into a combined optical signal, the primary optical pulse and the secondary optical pulse having a distinguishable characteristic, and either the primary optical pulse or the secondary optical pulse being present within a single time window out of a sequence of time windows of approximately equal duration;
optically amplifying the combined optical signal using an optical fiber amplifier;
separating the amplified combined optical signal into an amplified primary optical pulse and an amplified secondary optical pulse according to the distinguishable characteristic; and
controlling a repetition rate of the amplified primary optical pulse using a repetition rate of the secondary optical pulse.
8 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An ultra-short pulsed laser system comprises an optical combiner, optical amplifier, optical pulse compressor, and optical separator. The optical combiner is configured to combine a primary optical pulse with a secondary optical signal to generate a combined optical signal. The primary optical pulse and the secondary optical signal have a distinguishable characteristic. The optical amplifier is configured to optically amplify the combined optical signal. The optical pulse compressor is configured to compress at least the primary optical pulse contained within the optically amplified combined optical signal and output a compressed combined optical signal. The optical separator is configured to separate the compressed combined optical signal into an output primary optical pulse and an output secondary optical signal according to the distinguishable characteristic.
475 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method comprising:
-
combining a primary optical pulse with a secondary optical pulse into a combined optical signal, the primary optical pulse and the secondary optical pulse having a distinguishable characteristic, and either the primary optical pulse or the secondary optical pulse being present within a single time window out of a sequence of time windows of approximately equal duration; optically amplifying the combined optical signal using an optical fiber amplifier; separating the amplified combined optical signal into an amplified primary optical pulse and an amplified secondary optical pulse according to the distinguishable characteristic; and controlling a repetition rate of the amplified primary optical pulse using a repetition rate of the secondary optical pulse. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A method comprising:
-
combining a primary optical pulse with a secondary optical pulse into a combined optical signal, the primary optical pulse and the secondary optical pulse having a distinguishable characteristic, and either the primary optical pulse or the secondary optical pulse being present within a single time window out of a sequence of time windows of approximately equal duration; optically amplifying the combined optical signal using an optical fiber amplifier; separating the amplified combined optical signal into an amplified primary optical pulse and an amplified secondary optical pulse according to the distinguishable characteristic; dithering a state of polarization of the amplified secondary optical pulse; measuring a state of polarization of the polarization dithered amplified secondary optical pulse; and controlling a state of polarization of the primary optical pulse and a state of polarization of the secondary optical pulse based upon the measured state of polarization of the polarization dithered amplified secondary optical pulse. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A method comprising:
-
combining a primary optical pulse with a secondary optical pulse into a combined optical signal, the primary optical pulse and the secondary optical pulse having a distinguishable characteristic, and either the primary optical pulse or the secondary optical pulse being present within a single time window out of a sequence of time windows of approximately equal duration; optically amplifying the combined optical signal using an optical fiber amplifier; separating the amplified combined optical signal into an amplified primary optical pulse and an amplified secondary optical pulse according to the distinguishable characteristic; selecting between the amplified primary optical pulse and the amplified secondary optical pulse; and directing the selected pulse to a target, wherein a pulse duration of the amplified primary optical pulse is less than 10 picoseconds and a pulse duration of the amplified secondary optical pulse is greater than 1 nanosecond. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification