The present invention relates generally to high brightness optical fiber systems and, more particularly to optical fiber systems 104 having an optical power module 151 remote from an initial amplifier stage 101. In one aspect of the invention, the optical fiber system comprises a first active optical fiber 102 operatively coupled to one or more first pump sources 104; a first signal optical fiber 110 coupled to the first active optical fiber 102; one or more final pump sources 120; one or more final pump optical fibers 130, coupled to one or more of the final pump sources 120; and spatially separated from the one or more final pump sources 120 and the initial amplifier stage 101 comprising the first active optical fiber 102, a power module 151, comprising a final active optical fiber 150, coupled to the first signal optical fiber 110, said final active optical fiber 150 being coupled to said one or more final pump optical fibers 130.

A method for generating femtosecond vortex beams with high spatial intensity contrast, where a noncollinearly pumped HG beam femtosecond laser generates femtosecond HG beam and a cylindrical lens mode converter converts the femtosecond HG beam to femtosecond LG vortex beam. The HG beam femtosecond laser comprises a pump source, a gain medium, a saturable absorption mirror as mode-locker, and an output coupler with a noncollinear angle between the laser beam and the pump beam in the gain medium, which enables the laser to generate pure, order-tunable femtosecond HG beams. Femtosecond vortex beams obtained after the cylindrical lens converter have high-intensity-contrast, and are topological charge-tunable.

Even when a light source is driven under various conditions, an effective driving time is accurately calculated. A laser apparatus includes a light source, a power source which charges driving current to the light source, a control unit for controlling the power source, a first recording unit which calculates a life load rate of the light source and records the same in association with time, and a calculation unit which calculates, as an effective driving time, a time integration of the life load rate between a first time point, at which the laser apparatus is actually driven, and a second time point after the first time point, based on a recording result of the first recording unit.

To provide a clean bench that can prevent failure of optical components due to intrusion of dust and moisture, and enables to perform maintenance replacement of the optical unit, verification processes after replacement, etc. favorably, and a laser fiber oscillator mounting the same. A laser fiber oscillator includes a housing that accommodates an optical unit to be able to be drawn out; and a clean bench that is detachable to a side of the optical unit, and forms a closed space which is isolated from outside, above the optical unit that has been drawn out from the housing, in which a communication opening that is in communication with an internal space of the housing is formed in the clean bench.

A system, comprising an optical component that, in operational use of the optical component, optically interacts with a laser beam, an electrically conductive element disposed on or within the optical component that, in operational use of the optical component, is exposed to the laser beam, and a monitoring system operative to monitor a physical quantity representative of an electrical resistance of the electrically conductive element and to determine based on the physical quantity, a position of the laser beam relative to the optical component.

A calculation part calculates a maximum temperature reached which is reached by the coolant or component of each part, in the case of machining in accordance with laser machining conditions that were inputted or set, based on the cooling capacity of a chiller, tank volume of the chiller, heat generation amount from the laser oscillator, heat capacity of a cooled part of the laser device, etc. which are recorded in a recording part, and the temperature of each part measured by temperature detection parts, etc. In the case that the maximum temperature reached would exceed the allowed maximum temperature, a warning is made prior to starting laser machining.

A system and method for automatically performing gas optimization after a refill in the chambers of a two chamber gas discharge laser is disclosed. The laser is fired at low power, and the gas in the amplifier laser chamber bled if necessary until the discharge voltage meets or exceeds a minimum value without dropping the pressure below a minimum value. The power output is increased to a burst pattern that approximates the expected operation of the laser, and the amplifier chamber gas bled again if necessary until the voltage and an output energy meet or exceed minimum values, or until the pressure is less than a minimum value. The gas in the master oscillator chamber is then bled if necessary until the output energy of the master oscillator meets or falls below a maximum value, again without dropping the pressure in the chamber below the minimum value. While the pressure is adjusted, bandwidth is also measured and adjusted to stay within a desired range. Once the target values are provided, the process runs quickly without manual interaction.

The present invention has as its object to provide a laser welded joint excellent in joint strength preventing a bead from cracking and comprised of exactly the number of weld beads required for joint strength and a laser welding method for the same in overlay laser welding of steel sheets forming multiple ring-shaped weld beads. The present invention is a laser welded joint excellent in joint strength preventing a bead from cracking and comprised of exactly the number of weld beads required for joint strength in overlay laser welding of steel sheets forming multiple ring-shaped weld beads, produced by a step of overlaying a plurality of metal sheets and forming a first weld bead and a step of firing a laser beam to successively form a further two or more weld beads at the outside of the first weld bead by laser irradiation, the surface hardness of the weld bead increasing from the inside bead to the outside bead.

Brillouin fiber sensors can provide distributed measurements of parameters of interest over long distances in a fiber by measuring the Brillouin frequency shift as a function of position along the fiber. The Brillouin frequency shift may be determined, to within a small fraction of the Brillouin linewidth, by establishing a series of lasing modes that experience Brillouin amplification at discrete spatial locations in a test fiber. A linewidth narrowing and high intensity associated with the lasing transition enable precise measurements of the lasing frequency associated with each of the lasing modes. The Brillouin frequency may be determined based on the lasing frequency.

The invention provides an excimer laser system including a means for calibrating laser output to compensate for increased variation in laser optical fibers.