Beam shaping diffractive optical elements for high power laser applications

Andrew J. Waddie; Adam J. Caley; Mohammad R. Taghizadeh; Keren K. Jobbins

doi:10.1117/12.796278

3 September 2008 Beam shaping diffractive optical elements for high power laser applications

Andrew J. Waddie, Adam J. Caley, Mohammad R. Taghizadeh, Keren K. Jobbins

Proceedings Volume 7070, Optical Technologies for Arming, Safing, Fuzing, and Firing IV; 70700H (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.796278
Event: Optical Engineering + Applications, 2008, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Diffractive Optical Elements (DOEs) are lightweight, thin optical components with many applications in laser beam-shaping. In this paper we consider the application of DOEs for coupling of high power Nd:YAG laser light to fibre For the laser system in question intra-cavity DOEs are considered for the generation of a super-Gaussian cavity mode, while an extra-cavity element is considered for shaping the beam to produce a profile suitable for fibre coupling. The arrangement to be considered in our application involves coupling a 100mJ, 20ns pulse laser beam of 5mm diameter into 3 fibres, each with a core diameter of 400μm, positioned in an equilateral triangle formation with a centre to centre spacing of 2mm. The threshold power density for the fibres is 4.5GW/cm². 512x512 pixel DOEs with 16 phase levels have been optimized using the iterative Fourier transform algorithm (IFTA). The optimized element produces spots with a radius of 14 diffraction orders. The modeled efficiency of the element is 91.4% with a peak power of 1.26GW/cm². Experimental measurements using a low power 633nm source equate to a peak power of 2.65GW/cm² for the high power laser, well within the damage threshold.

Citation Download Citation

Andrew J. Waddie, Adam J. Caley, Mohammad R. Taghizadeh, and Keren K. Jobbins "Beam shaping diffractive optical elements for high power laser applications", Proc. SPIE 7070, Optical Technologies for Arming, Safing, Fuzing, and Firing IV, 70700H (3 September 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.796278

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available

Members: $17.00

Non-members: $21.00 ADD TO CART

PROCEEDINGS
7 PAGES

DOWNLOAD PAPER SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

GET CITATION

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Get copyright permission Get copyright permission on Copyright Marketplace

KEYWORDS

Diffractive optical elements

High power lasers

Beam shaping

Nd:YAG lasers

Mirrors

Retroreflectors

Laser damage threshold

Show All Keywords

Keywords/Phrases

Search In:

Publication Years