A control system includes a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital-to-analog conversion (DAC) circuit, an external TEC driver, and a pump chip. The field-programmable gate array (FPGA) includes a pump driver and a thermoelectric-cooler (TEC) controller. The digital-to-analog conversion (DAC) circuit is coupled to the FPGA. The external TEC driver is external to the FPGA and coupled to the FPGA. The pump chip includes a pump and a TEC and is coupled to the DAC circuit and the external TEC driver.

Embodiments discussed herein refer to LiDAR systems and methods that enable substantially instantaneous power and frequency control over fiber lasers. The systems and methods can simultaneously control seed laser power and frequency and pump power and frequency to maintain relative constant ratios among each other to maintain a relatively constant excited state ion density of the fiber laser over time.

An optical device includes a first fiber including a first reflector, a second fiber including a second reflector, and an amplifying fiber that has a normalized frequency that is greater than or equal to 5.13 and is wound so as not to intersect on one plane. The amplifying fiber includes an outer section wound in a circular manner. The amplifying fiber includes an inner section having first arc portions and wound such that at least two of the first arc portions have a radius of curvature in which a higher-order mode that is higher than an LP11 mode has loss. The amplifying fiber includes a first end connected to the first fiber and disposed on an inside of the amplifying fiber. The amplifying fiber includes a second end connected to the second fiber.

An optical device includes a first fiber including a first reflector, a second fiber including a second reflector, and an amplifying fiber that has a normalized frequency that is greater than or equal to 5.13 and is wound so as not to intersect on one plane. The amplifying fiber includes an outer section wound in a circular manner. The amplifying fiber includes an inner section having first arc portions and wound such that at least two of the first arc portions have a radius of curvature in which a higher-order mode that is higher than an LP11 mode has loss. The amplifying fiber includes a first end connected to the first fiber and disposed on an inside of the amplifying fiber. The amplifying fiber includes a second end connected to the second fiber.

An optical amplifier uses, in a gain medium, a multicore optical fiber having a plurality of cores, and comprises: an input-light power monitor that monitors the optical power of input light to the plurality of cores of the multicore optical fiber; an output-light power monitor that monitors the optical power of medium-passed output light from the plurality of cores that has passed through the multicore optical fiber; a crosstalk monitor that monitors the amount of inter-core crosstalk among the plurality of cores; and a controller that controls the pump-light power of pump light superimposed on the input light to the plurality of cores on the basis of the monitored optical power of input light, the monitored optical power of output light, and the monitored amount of inter-core crosstalk.

A quasi-monolithic solid-state laser in which the optical components of the laser cavity are bonded to a common substrate via mounts. The optical components and their mounts are fixedly connected to each other and to the substrate by bonding. While the gain medium is bonded to a mount made of a different material with high thermal conductivity for heat sinking, the cavity's lens and mirror components and their mounts are all made of the same material as the substrate, or a different material that is thermally matched to the substrate, and fixedly mounted on the substrate solely with bonding. The bonding is achieved with adhesive bonding, or some other form of bonding such as molecular bonding, chemically activated direct bonding or hydroxide catalysis bonding.

A quasi-monolithic solid-state laser in which the optical components of the laser cavity are bonded to a common substrate via mounts. The optical components and their mounts are fixedly connected to each other and to the substrate by bonding. While the gain medium is bonded to a mount made of a different material with high thermal conductivity for heat sinking, the cavity's lens and mirror components and their mounts are all made of the same material as the substrate, or a different material that is thermally matched to the substrate, and fixedly mounted on the substrate solely with bonding. The bonding is achieved with adhesive bonding, or some other form of bonding such as molecular bonding, chemically activated direct bonding or hydroxide catalysis bonding.

A laser device includes: a light source including laser diodes; a processor that holds: a maximum current value of a driving current applied to the laser diodes, and a maximum power value of a power of light emitted from the light source; and a memory, coupled to the processor, that stores a relationship between a magnitude of the driving current, a magnitude of the power of the light, and a degree of deterioration of the light source. The processor further refers to the memory and estimates the degree of deterioration from the maximum current value and the maximum power value.

A laser irradiating device preferably includes: a reflector having a receiving space formed therein; a flash lamp inserted and mounted in the reflector to generate light; a laser rod for resonating light incident from the flash lamp to emit a laser; a capacitor for storing, for a predetermined time interval, voltage to be supplied to the flash lamp; a digital variable resistor unit for outputting different voltages according to configured resistance values; a voltage increasing unit for increasing voltage input from the digital variable resistor unit and supplying the increased voltage to the capacitor; a control unit which stores resistance values corresponding to laser irradiating levels and configures a resistance value corresponding to the configured laser irradiating level; and a trigger circuit unit turned on according to a control of the user to supply a charge voltage of the capacitor to the flash lamp.

An optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier includes first and second optical parametric amplifier stages that successively amplify a stretched signal beam. A pulsed laser provides a fundamental beam. The second amplifier stage is pumped by the full power of a second-harmonic beam that is generated from the fundamental beam. A residual fundamental beam is used to generate another second-harmonic beam that pumps the first amplifier stage.