In accordance with an example embodiment, a laser arrangement is provided, the laser arrangement comprising a light source for generating light output; a collimator assembly for collimating the light output from the light source into a pump beam; an optical resonator assembly for generating pulsed output beam based on the pump beam directed thereat; and a beam displacement assembly for laterally shifting the pump beam to adjust the position at which the pump beam meets a surface of the optical resonator assembly.

Provided is a laser module that receives a first laser beam and outputs a second laser beam different from the first laser beam, the laser module including an optical system configured to modulate the first laser beam into the second laser beam and output the second laser beam, a first mirror disposed on an optical path of the first or second laser beam defined in the laser module, the first mirror reflecting the first laser beam to the optical system, a first sensor disposed adjacent to the first mirror and configured to sense the first laser beam incident to the first mirror, a second mirror disposed on the optical path to reflect the second laser beam to an outside of the laser module, and a first driver connected to the second mirror and configured to rotate the second mirror.

A laser based water heating element formed from at least two components, e.g., a shaft and a laser beam generator, wherein the shaft and laser beam generator of the laser based water heating element are axially aligned, i.e., the shaft is centered on the laser beam generator, where the laser beam generator is a self-contained green, infrared and red-line laser module with an integrated laser driver circuit, optics and laser diode such that, in operation, the laser beam generator generates a laser beam with an output power that is sufficient to cause the shaft to generate radiant heat and thereby cause the temperature of water within a water heater to rise.

A laser device according to one embodiment includes a laser light source configured to output pulsed laser light L1 and a pulse width control unit configured to amplify the pulsed laser light output from the laser light source, change a pulse width of the pulsed laser light, and output the pulsed laser light. The pulse width control unit includes a first laser amplifier configured to amplify the pulsed laser light and a pulse waveform manipulation unit disposed between the first laser amplifier and the laser light source and configured to manipulate a pulse waveform of the pulsed laser light.

A diffractive optical element, such as a plasma grating, can be made by directing two laser beams so that they overlap in a nonlinear material to form an interference pattern in the nonlinear material. The interference pattern can modify the index of refraction in the nonlinear material to produce the diffractive optical element. A chirped pulse amplification system can stretch, amplify, and then compress a laser pulse, and the plasma grating can be used to compress the laser pulse since the plasma optic can withstand the high light intensity of the compressed pulse.

An optical illumination device (10) includes: a laser light source (1); microlens arrays (2, 3) through which light emitted from the laser light source (1) passes; a moving mechanism (5) that moves the microlens arrays (2, 3) without changing an optical length from the laser light source (1); and a Fourier lens (4) through which light passing through the microlens arrays (2, 3) passes.

Method and apparatus for producing a cooled atom beam suitable for use applications requiring cold atoms. A two-stage cooling process is employed in which the atoms in the atom beam are cooled in two, spatially separated regions of a cooling apparatus, wherein the atoms are first cooled in two dimensions by two counterpropagating laser beams under a magnetic field and then are cooled in three dimensions by means of an optical molasses, where the power, frequency, and magnetic fields are tuned to obtain a continuous beam of three-dimensionally cooled atoms having a controllable velocity distribution, very low decoherence, and low background atomic gas loss.

An internal laser component of an optical device comprises: a waveguide that defines a guided mode of a first optical wave characterized by a first propagation constant associated with a first effective refractive index. An optical antenna grating comprises: a waveguide that defines a guided mode of a second optical wave characterized by a second propagation constant associated with a second effective refractive index, and a grating structure configured to emit a portion of the second optical wave in a selected direction. The internal laser component and the optical antenna grating are configured to provide a relationship between the first effective refractive index and the second effective refractive index such that the selected direction is substantially insensitive to a change in a temperature of a thermal environment in which the internal laser component and the optical antenna grating are thermally coupled.

Provided herein are wearable laser devices that provide an intuitive visual indication of a fixed radius around the wearer. Some embodiments include optical detectors that detect when two or more persons are in proximity with one another. The wearable laser devices may be used in a variety of applications, including, but not limited to, infection control, sports and entertainment.

A multi-stage thulium-doped (Tm-doped) fiber amplifiers (TDFA) is based on the use of single-clad Tm-doped optical fiber and includes a wavelength conditioning element to compensate for the nonuniform spectral response of the initial stage(s) prior to providing power boosting in the output stage. The wavelength conditioning element, which may comprise a gain shaping filter, exhibits a wavelength-dependent response that flattens the gain profile and output power distribution of the amplified signal prior to reaching the output stage of the multi-stage TDFA. The inclusion of the wavelength conditioning element allows the operating bandwidth of the amplifier to be extended so as to encompass a large portion of the eye-safe 2 μm wavelength region.