Single-mirror beam steering system: analysis and synthesis of high-order conic-section scan patterns

The vector approach introduced in an early paper for modeling mirror-scanning devices [Y. Li, Appl. Opt. 34, 6417 (1995)] provides the basis of a rigorous study of the scan field generated by a single-mirror beam steering system, in which a hinged movable mirror is able to turn about a fixed pivot point to steering a single laser beam. Because of fewer constraints on mirror angular motion, the system may behave like a true point source for both vector and raster scanning applications. After a summary of the expressions for scan fields generated under different conditions, some fundamental and advanced topics of the single-mirror system are addressed: (1) basic parameters of high-order conic-section scan patterns, (2) scanning spot kinematics, (3) effect of input offset and pixels distortions on two-dimensional images displayed on screens of different formats, (4) mapping and its inverse between the mirror vector space and the scan vector space, and (5) single-mirror beam steering system as a one-element reflective and continuous image zooming device.     

Two-deformable-mirror concept for correcting scintillation effects in laser beam projection through the turbulent atmosphere

A two-deformable-mirror concept for correcting scintillation effects in laser beam projection through the turbulent atmosphere is presented. This system uses a deformable mirror and a Fourier-transforming mirror to adjust the amplitude of the wave front in the telescope pupil, similar to kinoforms used in laser beam shaping. A second deformable mirror is used to correct the phase of the wave front before it leaves the aperture. The phase applied to the deformable mirror used for controlling the beam amplitude is obtained with a technique based on the Fienup phase-retrieval algorithm. Simulations of propagation through a single turbulent layer sufficiently distant from the beacon observation and laser beam transmission aperture to cause scintillation shows that, for an ideal deformable-mirror system, this field-conjugation approach improves the on-axis field amplitude by a factor of approximately 1.4 to 1.5 compared with a conventional phase-only correction system.     

Laser beam intensity profile transformation with a fabricated mirror

A nonaxisymmetric mirror is designed by the same method as a computer-generated hologram for laser beam intensity profile transformation and is fabricated by plasma chemical vaporization machining. We successfully transformed a circular Gaussian beam of a He-Ne laser into a rectangular uniform beam maintaining spatial coherence and using a nonaxisymmetric surface profile mirror. There are ripples in the intensity profile of the transformed rectangular beam. These ripples in the intensity profile result from small ripples on the mirror surface. These results show that we can perform coordinate transformation using these fabricated mirrors, which has so far been possible only by using computer-generated holograms.     

Efficient fabrication of fused-fiber biconical taper structures by a scanned CO2 laser beam technique

The driving mechanism of a scanning mirror can cause significant impairment of expanded beam properties, which we investigated for several scanning waveforms. Engineering on the scanning waveform is then carried out by a scanned CO2 laser beam technique to enlarge the uniform heating region for stretching and sintering of silica fibers. Details of the derivation are given. A simple thermal model is presented to account for the relationship between the scanning beam profile and the taper shape. Fusion profiles are also compared for various scanning waveforms. The corresponding scanned beam power distributions are determined experimentally, which enables us to determine precise power density conditions for CO2 laser fusion.     

Characterization and closed-loop performance of a liquid mirror adaptive optical system

A deformable mirror based on the principle of total internal reflection of light from an electrostatically deformed liquid-air interface was realized and used to perform closed-loop adaptive optical (AO) correction on a collimated laser beam aberrated by a rotating phase disk. Equations describing the resonant and oscillatory behavior of the liquid system were obtained and applied to the system under consideration. Characterization of the mirror included open- and closed-loop frequency responses, determination of rise times, the damping times of the liquid, and the influence of liquid surface motion in the absence of external optical aberrations. The performance of the AO system was determined for static and dynamic aberrations for various sets of system parameters. The predictions of the general expressions were compared to the results of the experimental realization and were found to be in good agreement.     

Branch-point reconstruction in laser beam projection through turbulence with finite-degree-of-freedom phase-only wave-front correction

Wave-front sensing and deformable mirror control algorithms in adaptive optics systems are designed on the premise that a continuous phase function exists in the telescope pupil that can be conjugated with a deformable mirror for the purpose of projecting a laser beam. However, recent studies of coherent wave propagation through turbulence have shown that under conditions where scintillation is not negligible, a truly continuous phase function does not in general exist as a result of the presence of branch points in the complex optical field. Because of branch points and the associated branch cuts, least-squares wave-front reconstruction paradigms can have large errors. We study the improvement that can be obtained by implementing wave-front reconstructors that can sense the presence of branch points and reconstruct a discontinuous phase function in the context of a laser beam projection system. This study was conducted by fitting a finite-degree-of-freedom deformable mirror to branch-point and least-squares reconstructions of the phase of the beacon field, propagating the corrected field to the beacon plane, and evaluating performance in the beacon plane. We find that the value of implementing branch-point reconstructors with a finite-degree-of-freedom deformable mirror is significant for optical paths that cause saturated log-amplitude fluctuations.     

Scanning lidar with a coupled radar safety system

A small scanning three-wavelength lidar system at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, has been used since 1992 to make atmospheric measurements on stratospheric and upper tropospheric aerosols and on the evolution of aircraft exhaust plumes. Many of these measurements have been made away from the zenith, and, to reduce the hazard to air traffic produced by the laser beam, a radar safety device has been installed. The radar application is original in that the radar beam is made collinear with the laser beam by use of a dichroic mirror that transmits the laser radiation and reflects the microwaves. This mirror is inserted into the outgoing optical path prior to the radiation from both the radar and the laser passing through the independent scanning unit. Tests of the complete system show that the lidar and radar beams remain collocated as they are scanned and that the radar can be used to inhibit the laser prior to an aircraft passing through the beam.     

基于视觉的环形激光陀螺自动调腔系统

针对激光陀螺调腔,设计了一种基于视觉的自动调腔系统.采用基于统计的图像分析方法,对激光陀螺光学谐振腔中的光阑和光束进行定位.根据几何光学,分析了谐振腔中反射镜位置失调与光束偏移之间的关系,并设计了基于图像的闭环位置控制律,对反射镜的位置进行调整.实验表明,该系统能够完成对光阑和光束的自动识别,能够较好地实现激光陀螺的调腔.     

Fourier-transform instrument for high-resolution Raman spectroscopy of gases

An instrument is described for recording vibrational-rotational Raman spectra of gases with a resolution of 0.02-0.03 cm(-1). The Raman scattered light is collected by near forward scattering within the cavity of a single-mode, long-term, stabilized Ar-ion laser. The Raman light is analyzed in an ordinary step-scanned Michelson interferometer. To compensate for the low intensity of vibrational-rotational Raman spectra, the interferometer has a beam diameter of 160 mm. The movable mirror, weighing 2.7 kg, is mounted on a smoothly moving sledge, the stepwise motion being performed by three piezotranslators and controlled by three independent He-Ne laser beams. It is shown experimentally that it is possible for one to move the mirror with sufficient precision, using only 13% of the scan time in a typical experiment. In a preliminary spectrum of the fundamental vibration of(14) N(2), the width of the lines has been measured to 0.015 cm(-1).     

Beam shaping design for coupling high power diode laser stack to fiber

A beam shaping technique that rearranges the beam for improving the beam symmetry and power density of a ten-bar high power diode laser stack is simulated considering a stripe mirror plate and a V-Stack mirror in the beam shaping system. In this technique, the beam of a high power diode laser stack is effectively coupled into a standard 550 μm core diameter and a NA=0.22 fiber. By this technique, compactness, higher efficiency, and lower cost production of the diode are possible.     

Parabolic mirror optics for collimation of a crescent blue laser beam radiated from channel waveguide Čerenkov second-harmonic generation

Parabolic mirror optics to collimate the crescent-shaped blue laser beam that radiates from ?erenkov second-harmonic generation (SHG) in a channel waveguide configuration is proposed. Mirror collimation optics has a large tolerance to the variations of SHG element parameters, such as the laser source wavelength, as well as to mirror displacement. The anisotropy of a nonlinear crystal in which the waveguide is fabricated has been taken into account. The optimum mirror alignment to obtain a collimated blue laser beam is evaluated in terms of Marechal's criterion. The minimum wave-front aberration with beam intensity weighted is 0.054 λSH. The convergence of the collimated beam is less than 1.6 mrad, and, by using an objective lens, the collimated beam can be focused to a diameter of less than 1 μm, which is 1.27 times the diffraction-limited focusing point.     

The influence of high-frequency phase and correction distance on the phase correction effect

By studying the propagation characteristics of the wavefront phase of laser beams in adaptive optics systems, the influence of the high-frequency phase on the correction effect has been analyzed and the variations of correction effect with the position of optical deformable mirror have been analyzed quantitatively. The results show that the beam quality of the corrected beam in far field obviously degrades with an increase of high-frequency phase in a distorted wavefront, and the correction effect becomes worse and worse. In addition, the correction effect is related to the position of the deformable mirror; with an increase of the distance between the deformable mirror and the output mirror of the laser the correction effect is better. For a deformable mirror with a given unit size, when the distance of correction is more than 20?m the correction effect is perfect.     

Mode-matching Techniques as an Aid to Laser Cavity Alignment

Improvement of the alignment accuracy of an experimental, curved mirror, laser cavity by mode matching of the alignment laser beam to the experimental cavity parameters is discussed. It is shown that the use of a two-lens telescope, giving beam magnification, allows the mode-matched condition to be readily obtained for a wide variety of cavity configurations, and that a particular matching condition optimizes the mirror alignment accuracy, giving equal alignment sensitivity for each mirror of the experimental cavity. The mode-matching procedure avoids the need for large distances to provide high angular sensitivity, and compact alignment systems, suitable for building in to experimental lasers are readily designed. As an example, the alignment of an atomic iodine laser is discussed.     

Telecentric three-dimensional sensor with a liquid mirror for large-object inspection

We describe a device that applies the advantages of the space invariance of telecentric triangulation with the measurement of large objects (1 m(3)). Because the scan motion of the laser beam is decoupled from the physical transport of the sensor head, the fast scanning of large volumes becomes feasible. The device consists of a triangulation laser telemeter head that uses a large liquid primary mirror and an aspheric secondary mirror to realize the telecentric f-theta objective. We propose using liquid-mirror technology to make low-cost large objectives that have low f numbers, a diffraction-limited performance, and low scattering in the visible. This new optical system is useful for 3-D measurement. We discuss the optical configuration of the system and the performance of a laboratory prototype. The prototype has a standoff distance of 1.5 m, a telecentric scan as long as 1 m, a depth of view of 1 m, and a relative depth resolution of 0.5-1 mm.     

基于转镜的激光照明系统设计及实验研究

为了实现区域内快速运动微小目标的激光辅助照明,提出了利用转镜与点激光器组成扇形激光辅助照明系统的设计方案.详细论述了转镜面数、外接圆直径及转速与激光照明光幕的关系.给出了该激光照明系统下目标被照亮部分的平均激光功率密度与点激光光源功率、激光扫描速度、点激光发散角、相机曝光时间和目标与激光光源距离之间关系的计算公式.仿真...     

Single actuator alignment control for improved frequency stability of a cavity-based optical frequency reference

We demonstrate a method of controlling the alignment of a laser beam to a Fabry-Perot resonator through synchronous detection of the misalignment arising from modulating the orientation of a single beam-steering mirror. The horizontal and vertical tilt of the mirror are modulated in quadrature to drive a circular motion of the beam orientation. A corresponding modulation of the intensity of the optical field circulating in the cavity is measured at either the reflected or transmitted port and demodulated synchronously to derive two error signals to indicate the vertical and horizontal misalignment. These signals are fed back to the beam-steering mirror to suppress fluctuations below 30 Hz. This method avoids the complexity of monitoring off-axis cavity modes and is particularly effective in the case where unwanted pointing fluctuations are introduced by one or two elements in the optical setup. We have applied the technique to two Fabry-Perot resonators in use as precision frequency references, delivering a result of 10 dB suppression of alignment fluctuations at 1 Hz and an improvement in frequency stability by up to a factor of 4.     

折反射式连续变倍扩束系统的设计

为了用同一台仪器获得不同口径的激光准直光束,设计了一个连续变倍激光扩束系统,系统扩束比可在55～155之间连续变化,可以得到比传统扩束系统更大的激光光斑,满足对大口径激光束应用的要求.该系统由两级扩束子系统构成,一级折射式无焦变倍扩束系统实现激光光束口径连续变化,变焦系统选用仅有4片透镜的三组元结构,并采用"正-负-正"的形式,有利于减小系统整体结构尺寸.考虑到可能产生的热形变,对入射光斑较小的变倍移动组的材料进行了分析选择.二级折反射系统实现激光束的高倍率扩束,由球面反射镜取代离轴抛物面镜,用一片弯月透镜补偿像差.由于单透镜折射元件对系统性能影响很大,对其结构形式和材料进行了分析,确定了透镜的厚度与材料.应用光学设计软件CODEV给出了系统的优化设计,设计结果显示该系统像差得到了很好地校正,成像质量达到衍射极限.最后用Light tools软件进行三维建模分析,系统准直度与理论设计值相符.     

Off-axis mirror based optical system design for circularization, collimation, and expansion of elliptical laser beams

In this paper, we present two optical system design methods for beam circularization, collimation, and expansion of semiconductor laser output beam for possible application in LIDAR systems. Two different optical mirror systems are investigated: an off-axis hyperbolic/parabolic mirror system and an off-axis parabolic mirror system. Equations specific to these mirror systems are derived and computer package programs such as ZEMAX and MATLAB are used to simulate the optical designs. The beam reshaping results are presented.     

Three-dimensional calculation of high-power, annularly distributed, laser-beam-induced thermal effects on reflectors and windows

Based on the three-dimensional transient heat conduction equation and the elastic stress-strain equation, the temperature rise, distortion, and equivalent stress distributions of a high-reflectivity silicon reflector and a white bijou window irradiated by a high-power sloped annularly distributed laser beam are simulated using a three-dimensional finite element model (FEM). The effects of laser intensity, output duration, beam obscure ratio, and laser intensity spatial gradient on the results are especially investigated. The effects of mirror and window thermal distortion on laser beam phase aberrations are also evaluated. This noncylindrosymmetric three-dimensional FEM can be used to evaluate high-power, high-energy, laser beam-induced thermal effects on optical components.     

Interferometer for optical coupling and mode selection in a multichannel laser array

A theoretical consideration is presented of the optical coupling and selection of laser array modes by the use of a developed Lummer-Gehrcke interferometer as a resonator reflector. Control of the mirror reflection of the proposed interferometer permits laser power to be redistributed through channels on the outlet resonator mirror; in particular, it makes it possible to lead power out of the resonator by a single beam. In this way it is possible to diminish the sidelobes in the far-field radiation profile of multichannel lasers and to raise the efficiency of the optical coupling of the laser array with waveguides and fibers. This method may be used for the redistribution of laser power on the outlet mirror in striped lasers as well.