Flat-top laser beam generated by coherent beam combining of Gaussian lasers

We present a fiat-top laser beam generation scheme using coherent beam combining of hexagonally arranged Gaussian lasers. To produce a beam with a flat-top profile, we optimize the amplitude and phase of each unit laser using the least-square method. Simulation results show that with 13 unit lasers, a beam with the flatness of less than 1% in the optimizing region can be achieved. The main lobe contains over 95% of the total power. The scheme requires no external beam shaping element and has the potential to be designed for high-power applications.     

低散斑环形光束整形器件的设计及实验

提出一种可有效抑制散斑噪声的衍射元件设计方法.在传统Gerchberg-Saxton算法的基础上,通过选择一种特殊的初始相位,在不降低衍射效率的同时,有效提升光斑的均匀性.以将高斯光束整形成环形平顶光束为例,开展了数值仿真和光学实验.结果表明,利用该方法和传统Gerchberg-Saxton算法设计得到的环形平顶光束散斑对比度分别为11%和34%,验证了该方法可以获得低散斑噪声的环形平顶光束.     

利用相移片实现激光自准直的新方法

介绍两种实现激光自准直的方法和实验，阶梯相移片法的特点在于巧妙地利用相移片对入射光进行调制，实现高精度激光自准直和角度的测量；微点相移片法是比较入射光与反射光通过相移点的衍射图形，达到激光自准直的目的。用夫琅和费标量衍射量论分析和计算了激光经过两各片调制后的光能分布，并对制作公差进行了讨论。     

1.06μm波段大口径无规位相板制作与性能测试

 利用大面积光刻和腐蚀等工艺,研制成功了一块用于激光直接驱动约束聚变装置的1.06μm波段、口径为Φ 50μm的无规位相板。台阶几何深度实测值与理论值的相对偏差为1.24% ,该位相板可获得边缘陡直、近似平顶的焦斑光强分布。表明所采用的工艺可适用于大口径无规位相板的制作。     

Flat-top profile of an excimer-laser beam generated using beam-splitter gratings

We present a simple solution to the beam-shaping problem in which a wide, typically rectangular spatial distribution of an excimer-laser beam should be transformed into a flat-top distribution, a few millimeters wide in both directions. The set-up can be made practically lossless and it allows the energy density of the pulse to be increased by a factor of 50. The method finds use, e.g., in pulsed laser deposition, UV lithography and micro machining.     

Simple electro-optic technique to generate temporally flat-top laser pulses

A simple technique is presented to generate temporally flat-top shaped laser pulses using electro-optic modulator (Pockels cell). It involves splitting of input laser pulse into two halves of equal intensity and then stacking together with appropriate optical delay to get a temporally flat-top laser pulse. It also allows generation of other pulse shapes by varying the relative intensity, delay, and phase between two halves of the input laser pulse. Temporally flat-top laser pulses of duration ~ 9 ns have been generated using ~ 7 ns duration incident laser pulses from a flash lamp pumped Q-switched Nd:glass laser oscillator. The rise and fall-time of the shaped pulse is limited by speed of electro-optic switch (Pockels cell), which is ~ 2 ns in the present case.     

Analysis of factors affecting beam shaping quality of geometric steady-phase method based on SLM北大核心

基于几何稳相法求解调制相位,使用傅里叶透镜进行傅里叶变换,在后焦面处聚焦,得到对应的平顶光束,从而将圆形高斯光束整形为方形平顶光束,其中光路参数对整形质量将产生较大影响。实验中发现,方形平顶光束受零级光影响均匀性较差,因此详细分析了零级光产生的原因,提出了有效的解决方法,并对实验结果中出现的零级光通过叠加闪耀光栅直接移除。实验结果表明:移除零级光后方形平顶光束的能量利用率为72.3%,光束均匀性高达97.2%,优于传统整形方法。最后进一步分析了全息图与入射光束偏移量、离焦以及入射光束束腰半径对几何稳相法整形质量的影响,为几何法光束整形的应用提供了便利。     

飞秒平顶光束经微透镜阵列在熔融石英中的成丝及其超连续辐射

实验研究了平顶激光光束经微透镜阵列在熔融石英中成丝的演化以及超连续辐射的产生,并进一步与高斯光束的成丝和超连续辐射进行了对比研究.分别对这两种光束的多丝传输进行了横向和纵向成像.结果表明,使用平顶光束可以获得更为均匀的多丝分布,成丝的起点也更为一致;尤其重要的是,相对于高斯光束,平顶光束可以使用更高的入射激光脉冲能量而不会造成介质的损伤,从而可以获得更高脉冲能量和更高转换效率的超连续辐射.     

随机高斯型相位板的束匀滑特性

 针对激光系统对光束匀滑的需求,设计了高斯型连续相位板,并对其远场特性进行了研究。分别计算了相干长度为39,30,10和3 mm的高斯相位板远场光斑分布,结果显示相位板自身相关长度是决定远场能量分布的重要因素,当相干长度大于10 mm时,由于不满足各态历经条件,远场光斑分布能量分散。当相干长度小于10 mm后,由于满足各态历经条件,远场光斑能量将接近理想的高斯分布特性。通过数值计算模拟了相干长度为3 mm的连续相位板对畸变光束进行匀滑处理的过程,演示了束匀滑处理结果。通过比较匀滑前后远场光斑的能量分布,显示了畸变光束通过连续相位板后远场光斑能量分布变化情况,通过相位板后,光斑形状明显接近理想高斯分布情况。     

惯性约束聚变装置中靶面光场特性的统计表征方法

在激光驱动的惯性约束聚变装置中,常采用多种束匀滑手段对焦斑的时空特性进行调控.光传输链路中涉及的光学元件众多、传输变换复杂,往往导致光传输模型复杂,且在运用衍射光学方法分析焦斑形态和特征时面临大量的数据处理和计算,致使出现计算量大、计算效率低等问题,亟需寻求快速而简便的新方法来描述焦斑的统计特征.本文利用光场特性的统计表征方法对靶面光场进行表征,采用圆型复数高斯随机变量直接描述靶面光场的统计特征,并基于典型焦斑评价参数对衍射光学方法和统计表征方法得到的远场焦斑进行了对比和分析.结果表明,采用衍射光学方法和统计表征方法获得的焦斑的瞬时特征基本一致,其时间积分的远场焦斑有所不同,但仍可进一步采用相关系数来表征其远场焦斑的时间变化特征.     

大气湍流对多抖动法相干合成技术中相位调制信号的影响

分析了大气湍流对采用多抖动法实现的相干合成阵列光束中相位调制信号的影响. 文章首先根据广义惠更斯-菲涅耳原理,采用折射率结构函数对大气湍流进行描述,推导了多抖动法相干合成中阵列光束通过大气湍流后相位调制信号的一般表达式. 在此基础上进行数值模拟,分析了传输距离、湍流强度、光束阵列占空比和光斑尺寸等因素对相位调制信号的影响. 研究发现随着传输距离的增大,相位调制信号强度会先增大后减小,存在一个极大值点;随着湍流强度的增强,相位调制信号强度极大值点的出现距离不断缩短;当光束阵列占空比一定时,随着光斑尺寸的增大 关键词： 大气湍流 相干合成 多抖动法 相位调制     

Radiation transfer in metallic powder beds used in laser processing

Two-dimensional radiation transfer in a powder layer backed with a substrate of the same material and normally irradiated with a narrow axially symmetric bell-like or the flat-top laser beam is numerically calculated. This corresponds to physical experiments with the powder layer of 50 μm thickness and the laser beam diameters 60–120 μm. The powder bed is treated as an equivalent homogeneous absorbing scattering medium, the radiative properties of which are estimated from the optical properties of the solid phase and the morphological parameters of the powder bed. The theoretical analysis shows that the absorptance of a semi-infinite powder bed of opaque particles is a universal function of the absorptivity of the solid phase being independent of the specific surface and the porosity. This is confirmed by literature experimental data. The radial transport of the radiative energy due to scattering of the incident laser beam in the powder layer can considerably reduce the deposited energy at the centre of the beam but the widening of the radial profile of the deposited energy is not pronounced. The fraction of laser energy deposited within the projection of the incident laser beam is evaluated. The efficiencies of laser heating the whole powder/substrate system and the substrate decrease with increasing the reflectivity of the material. More uniform heating of the powder layer can be attained at higher reflectivity.     

Generation of flat-top pulse by means of step gratings

A simple method for generating flat-top pulse by means of step gratings is presented. Flat-top pulse specifications depend on the structural parameters of the step gratings. The results show that a short Gaussian-shaped femtosecond laser pulse can be shaped to be a long flat-top pulse by ensuring sufficient step level number and proper step height.     

TEA CO2激光器输出平顶模按厄米-高斯模的展开

TEA CO2激光器输出光束的能量密度分布一般为平顶型分布.为了给研究和分析TEA CO2激光器输出光束提供一种新的处理方法,采用FGB理论,对实验测量的一台TEA CO2激光器输出的实际平顶型光斑的能量密度分布按厄米-高斯函数进行了展开.根据展开结果,对TEA CO2激光器输出光束的空间分布特性进行了分析与讨论.初步证实了TEA CO2激光器输出光束的能量密度分布可以按厄米-高斯函数展开.     

Near-diffraction-limited laser beam shaping with diamond-turned aspheric optics

We used a pair of diamond-turned CaF(2) aspheres to convert the pure TEM(00) Gaussian spatial profile output of a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser oscillator into a super-Gaussian intensity profile with a nearly flat phase front. The resulting super-Gaussian beam was nearly diffraction limited with an M(2) of 1.75; in the near field the 5-mm diameter beam retained a nominally flat-top intensity distribution without significant diffraction peaks for an excellent working distance of more than 50cm. A 10% improvement in amplifier-energy extraction obtained by use of the reshaped beam is demonstrated.     

GS方法恢复低频相位噪声

 将Gerchberg-Saxton(GS)反演方法应用于恢复高功率激光装置的低频相位噪声研究中,通过数值模拟计算,给出了很好的迭代结果。为设计合理的相位板提供了依据。同时也为光束诊断系统提供了一种测量相位的方法。     

Simple method for simultaneous determination of the phase retardation and fast axis of a wave plate

A simple method for simultaneous determination of the phase retardation and fast axis of a wave plate is presented. In this method, double light path compare system is adopted to achieve better accuracy. In the main optical path, laser beam passes successively through a polarizer, a wave plate to be measured, an analyzer, and then is incident on a detector. In the reference optical path, another detector is used to monitor the fluctuation of the light source. With rotation of the wave plate, the maximum and minimum output light intensity, rotation angle of the wave plate are detected in the main light path; corresponding light intensity are simultaneously detected in the reference light path. Based on the light intensity and the rotation angle, the phase retardation and fast axis of the wave plate can be determined simultaneously. The main advantage of this method is its simplicity of apparatus, easy operation, low cost, and high accuracy. We believe that the method reported in this paper should be a useful approach to measure a wave plate without requiring any complex and expensive components.     

Generation of a hollow Gaussian beam and its anomalous behavior

I attempted to produce a laser beam with no light in the central line of the beam, by Fresnel diffraction of the Gaussian beam by a spiral zone plate (SZP). The study imparts an arbitrary-order phase singularity on the light field. The experimental results show that the optical vortex radius depends on the singularity’s integer order n (also termed topological charge, or order of the dislocation). Also, the radius of maximum intensity is shown to depend on the singularity number. Anomalous behavior of the spectra at phase singularity produced by various zone plates near the focus of a converging Gaussian beam is also studied using a simple experimental technique. It is found that the spectrum of the beam on the SZP (spiral zone plate) consisting of a single spectral profile shows almost vanishing intensity at all frequencies with a tendency of splitting into two peaks at the on-axis point and shows redshift and blueshift around the phase singularity. A comparative study of the anomalous behavior of the spectra at phase singularity produced by various SZPs, with varying phase singularity order n, near the focus of a converging Gaussian laser beam is studied.     

Application of optical diffraction method in designing phase plates

Continuous phase plate(CPP),which has a function of beam shaping in laser systems,is one kind of important diffractive optics.Based on the Fourier transform of the Gerchberg-Saxton(G-S) algorithm for designing CPP,we proposed an optical diffraction method according to the real system conditions.A thin lens can complete the Fourier transform of the input signal and the inverse propagation of light can be implemented in a program.Using both of the two functions can realize the iteration process to calculate the near-field distribution of light and the far-field repeatedly,which is similar to the G-S algorithm.The results show that using the optical diffraction method can design a CPP for a complicated laser system,and make the CPP have abilities of beam shaping and phase compensation for the phase aberration of the system.The method can improve the adaptation of the phase plate in systems with phase aberrations.     

Variable-diameter refractive beam shaping with freeform optical surfaces

We propose a refractive two-element system that converts the gaussian irradiance of an incident laser beam into a nominally flat-top output spot at a given distance with the capability to vary the spot diameter. The elements are high-order freeform surfaces that, when laterally translated, form a variable composite beam shaper. The general approach for determining the required freeform surfaces is discussed, and example design results are presented.