A system includes a laser source operable to provide a laser beam, a laser amplifier having a gain medium operable to provide energy to the laser beam when the laser beam passes through the laser amplifier, and a residual gain monitor operable to provide a probe beam and operable to derive a residual gain of the laser amplifier from the probe beam when the probe beam passes through the laser amplifier while being offset from the laser beam in time or in path.

A laser assembly is provided that includes a laser resonator that emits a first light having a first pulse width, and a trigger assembly electrically coupled to the laser resonator to actuate the laser resonator. The laser assembly also includes a sensor configured to detect the first light as the light emits from the laser resonator, and one or more processors coupled to the trigger assembly. The one or more processors are configured to obtain a first time delay interval from when the trigger assembly is actuated to when the sensor detects the first light, and actuate the laser resonator to emit a second light having a second pulse width based on the time delay interval determined.

An optical amplification device includes: a laser medium that amplifies input light to generate output light; an excitation light source that supplies excitation light used for amplifying the input light, to the laser medium; a resonator that includes a pair of first optical elements and disposed to optically face each other with the laser medium interposed between the first optical elements and that resonates generated light generated in the laser medium through the supply of the excitation light; and an optical switch disposed on an optical path of the resonator between the pair of first optical elements.

An adjustment method includes emitting a predetermined laser with a first pulse width; receiving a reflected laser with the first pulse width to generate an infrared image; and emitting a predetermined laser with a second pulse width in response to determining that a distance to a target object being less than a safety distance based on the infrared image, the second pulse width being less than the first pulse width and the target object being of reflecting the laser with the first pulse width.

A method includes driving, while producing a burst of pulses at a pulse repetition rate, a spectral feature adjuster among a set of discrete states at a frequency correlated with the pulse repetition rate; and in between the production of the bursts of pulses (while no pulses are being produced), driving the spectral feature adjuster according to a driving signal defined by a set of parameters. Each discrete state corresponds to a discrete value of a spectral feature. The method includes ensuring that the spectral feature adjuster is in one of the discrete states that corresponds to a discrete value of the spectral feature of the amplified light beam when a pulse in the next burst is produced by adjusting one or more of: an instruction to the lithography exposure apparatus, the driving signal to the spectral feature adjuster, and/or the instruction to the optical source.

Embodiments of a laser system having an extremely large number of small pulsed lasers for irradiating small targets in inertial confinement fusion experiments, high energy density physics experiments, and inertial fusion power plants is more flexible than existing laser systems. Embodiments facilitate finer control of critical features of laser pulses for inertial fusion, as well as significant reduction in development costs and expansion of the community involved in the research relative to existing laser systems. Embodiments produce smooth intensity profiles at the target, large bandwidth that is over two orders of magnitude greater than existing laser systems, and fine control over laser wavelengths, focal properties, temporal pulse shape, and illumination geometry. Properties of each of the small pulsed lasers are individually selectable.

In a laser system according to a viewpoint of the present disclosure, a first amplifier amplifies first pulsed laser light outputted from a first semiconductor laser system into second pulsed laser light, a wavelength conversion system converts the second pulsed laser light in terms of wavelength into third pulsed laser light, and an excimer amplifier amplifies the third pulsed laser light. The first semiconductor laser system includes a first current controller that controls current flowing through a first semiconductor laser in such a way that first laser light outputted from the first semiconductor laser is caused to undergo chirping and a first semiconductor optical amplifier that amplifies the first laser light into pulsed light. The laser system includes a control section that controls the amount of chirping performed on the first pulsed laser light in such a way that excimer laser light having a target spectral linewidth is achieved.

A method generates laser pulses by varying a Q-factor in a resonator. The method includes generating the laser pulses by controlling an optical modulator with a control signal for switching over between a first operating state of the optical modulator for generating a first Q-factor in the resonator and a second operating state of the optical modulator for generating a second Q-factor in the resonator. The second Q-factor is different than the first Q-factor. In order to generate a sequence of the laser pulses in which first laser pulses alternate with second laser pulses different than the first laser pulses, the optical modulator is controlled differently in each case alternately with the control signal for generating a respective first laser pulse, of the first laser pulses, and a respective second laser pulse, of the second laser pulses.

An apparatus (such as a laser-based system) and method for providing optical pulses in a broad range of pulse widths and pulse energies uses a pulse slicer which is configured to slice a predefined portion having a desired pulse width of each of the one or more output optical pulses from a laser oscillator, in which timings of a rising edge and a falling edge of each sliced optical pulse relative to a time instance of a maximum of the corresponding each of the one or more output optical pulses from the laser oscillator, are chosen at least to maximize amplification efficiency of the optical amplifier, which may be located after the pulse slicer, and to provide the one or more amplified output optical pulses each having the desired pulse energy and pulse width.

A lighting apparatus, for example for applications in the show-business or entertainment sector, including: a light-radiation generator, for example a laser generator, configured for projecting a lighting beam towards a lighting space in a certain direction; control circuitry of the light-radiation generator configured for controlling emission of the lighting beam by the light-radiation generator; and processing circuitry configured for calculating a thermal retinal radiance ratio of the light-radiation generator as a function of a distance from the light-radiation generator in the aforesaid direction and for acting on the control circuitry of the light-radiation generator in order to control the lighting beam of the light-radiation generator as a function of the thermal retinal radiance ratio, with the aim of maintaining the aforesaid thermal retinal radiance ratio below unity starting from a certain value of distance from the light-radiation generator in the aforesaid direction.