Systems and methods for shifting a position of one or more optical elements are disclosed. In an embodiment, a system may include a housing having a chamber formed therein, at least one non-linear crystal disposed in the chamber, the non-linear crystal configured to receive at least one incident signal and to convert a wavelength of at least a portion of the incident signal, and at least one shape memory alloy element disposed such that thermal or electrical energy applied to the shape memory alloy causes movement of the non-linear crystal.

Systems and methods for shifting a position of one or more optical elements are disclosed. In an embodiment, a system may include a housing having a chamber formed therein, at least one non-linear crystal disposed in the chamber, the non-linear crystal configured to receive at least one incident signal and to convert a wavelength of at least a portion of the incident signal, and at least one shape memory alloy element disposed such that thermal or electrical energy applied to the shape memory alloy causes movement of the non-linear crystal.

A laser component is provided, including a laser medium and a transparent heat transmitting member, at least one of which is oxide. Bonding surfaces of the laser medium and the transparent heat transmitting member are exposed to oxygen plasma, and thereafter the bonding surfaces are brought into contact without heating. The laser medium and the transparent heat transmitting member are bonded at atomic levels, their thermal resistance is low, and no large residual stress is generated due to the bonding taking place under normal temperature. The process of oxygen plasma exposure ensures transparency of their bonding interface. The laser medium and the transparent heat transmitting member are stably bond via an amorphous layer.

A frequency-doubled laser, including: a first reflecting mirror, a second reflecting mirror, a gain medium, a telescope module, a polarizing element, and a nonlinear crystal; the first reflecting mirror and the second reflecting mirror are spaced apart to form a resonator of the frequency-doubled laser; the polarizing element, the gain medium, the telescope module, and the nonlinear crystal are located in the resonator, and the telescope module is located between the gain medium and the nonlinear crystal. The present disclosure further provides a method of generating harmonic laser. The frequency-doubled laser and the method of generating harmonic laser make the position of nonlinear crystal more flexible, and the possibility of damage to the nonlinear crystal is reduced.

This disclosure provides methods and apparatuses which advantageously stabilize beam parameters and elongate crystal lifetime. In one aspect, a UV laser apparatus includes a non-linear crystal, a laser source, a beam-crystal displacer, a beam parameter monitor, and a laser control unit. The laser source directs a source beam to the non-linear crystal to produce a UV beam and the beam-crystal displacer shifts the non-linear crystal relative to the source beam at a plurality of shift speeds. The beam parameter monitor measures the UV beam and outputs a measurement of a beam parameter. The laser control unit: receives the measurement; determines, based on the measurement, an adjustment in shift speed that steers the beam parameter toward a target value; and outputs the adjustment to the beam-crystal displacer.

A method for fabricating an optical waveguide comprises: providing a sample of lithium niobate doped with magnesium oxide and having at least one grating of periodic domain inversion defined therein; applying a layer of metallic zinc to a surface of the sample over the at least one grating using sputter deposition; heating the sample in an atmosphere of pure oxygen to cause the zinc to indiffuse into the lithium niobate to form a waveguiding layer of increased refractive index under the surface of the sample; and using a dicing blade to cut two substantially parallel channels along a length direction of the at least one grating, to define a ridge waveguide between the two channels.

Embodiments are directed to a (quasi) one-dimensional photonic crystal cavity. This cavity comprises a set of aligned pillars, where the pillars are embedded in a cladding. At least one of the pillars has a sandwich structure, wherein a layer of nonlinear optical material is between two layers of materials having, each, a refractive index that is higher than the refractive index of the nonlinear optical material. Embodiments can further include an all-optical modulator or an all-optical transistor, comprising a photonic crystal such as described above. Finally, embodiments are further directed to methods for modulating an optical signal, using such a photonic crystal cavity.

In-situ passivation of a nonlinear optical (NLO) crystal during operation of a characterization tool includes converting a laser beam of a selected wavelength to a converted laser beam of a harmonic wavelength via a nonlinear optical (NLO) crystal and passivating the NLO crystal during conversion to the converted laser beam of the harmonic wavelength.

Systems and methods for shifting a position of one or more optical elements are disclosed. In embodiment, a system may include a housing having a chamber formed therein, at least one non-linear crystal disposed in the chamber, the non-linear crystal configured to receive at least one incident signal and to convert a wavelength of at least a portion of the incident signal, and at least one shape memory alloy element disposed such that thermal or electrical energy applied to the shape memory alloy causes movement of the non-linear crystal.

The invention relates to a mass spectrometer with laser-desorption ion source, particularly for MALDI. A laser system with optical laser spot control is proposed in which the laser spot shift brought about by means of a temporally variable angular deflection at a mirror system is performed on the laser beam before or during the energy multiplication. The laser beam, which is deflected through a small angle by the mirror system, is converted by a suitable flat-field optical system into a parallel-shifted laser beam, which then passes through a multiplier crystal. After exiting the multiplier crystal system, the parallel-shifted beam is converted back into a slightly angled beam by a flat-field optical system, this latter beam then bringing about the spot shift on the sample. The multiplier crystal is conserved by the continuously temporally changed parallel shift of the laser beam in the multiplier crystal, thus prolonging its service life.