Methods and apparatus for controlling laser firing timing and hence bandwidth in a laser capable of operating at any one of multiple repetition rates.

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.

In embodiments, an apparatus to predict failure of a laser is presented. The apparatus may include a memory to store a reference model of bias current change for a laser as a function of time and temperature, one or more sensors to detect: temperature, elapsed operating time and bias current of the laser, and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and to the one or more sensors. The processor may be to calculate an actual bias current change ΔIA at a current laser temperature, and an expected bias current change ΔIE, based at least in part on the reference model and an average operating temperature, subtract ΔIE from ΔIA, and if the difference is greater than a pre-defined value α, output a signal. Related methods and non-transitory computer-readable media may also be presented.

Disclosed are a method, device and system for dynamically controlling a gain of a Raman optical fiber amplifier. The method comprises: determining whether a target gain falls within a gain mask range; if the target gain falls within the gain mask range, directly locking a gain to the target gain; and if the target gain falls outside the gain mask range, locking the gain to a corresponding maximum gain in the gain mask range, and gradually increasing the locked gain according to a preset first step length until the target gain is reached or until at least one pump laser reaches a maximum output power. The invention enables an optical fiber amplifier to respond quickly to a change in an input optical signal, ensures gain stability, and ensures that no power overshoot or undershoot occurs in the non-switched optical channels in an optical path. Moreover, the invention minimizes an amount of time required to complete switching between gains.

A swept light source of the present invention keeps a coherence length of an output beam long over an entire sweep wavelength range. A gain of a gain medium is changed with time in response to a wavelength sweep and the coherence length is kept maximum. The gain of the gain medium is kept close to a lasing threshold and an unsaturated gain range of the gain medium is narrowed over the entire sweep wavelength range. An SOA current waveform data acquiring method of driving while keeping the coherence length long, a novel coherence length measuring method, and an optical deflector suitable for the swept light source are also disclosed.

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.

A laser pulse shaping device and method, a pulse shaper, and an optical system are provided. The laser pulse shaping device includes a pulse shaper provided in an optical path connected to a laser source, a laser detection device provided at an actual position of a target of a laser pulse, and the laser source configured to generate the laser pulse, which is transmitted to the target through the optical path. The laser detection device is configured to measure and send an optical parameter of the laser pulse transmitted to the target to the control device. The control device is configured to calculate a phase compensation parameter according to the optical parameter and control the pulse shaper to compensate a phase of the laser pulse transmitted through the optical path according to the phase compensation parameter, such that the optical parameter of the laser pulse reaches a target value.

A wavelength selection method for a tunable laser includes: obtaining a target wavelength; and calculating target resistance values of two thermistors, respectively, corresponding to the target wavelength. Each of the two thermistors is used to monitor the temperature of a corresponding one of two wavelength selection components. Each of the target resistance values is calculated according to a relationship between a wavelength drift and a resistance change of the corresponding thermistor and according to an initial wavelength and an initial resistance value of the corresponding thermistor corresponding to the initial wavelength. The method further includes: heating the two wavelength selection components to control their temperatures until real-time resistance values of the two thermistors reach the target resistance values, respectively; and stabilizing the real-time resistance values at the target resistance values and outputting a laser beam having the target wavelength.

A sensor degradation evaluation method according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes an evaluation step of evaluating degradation of at least one of a sensor for coarse measurement that receives interference fringes produced by a spectrometer for coarse measurement and a sensor for fine measurement that receives interference fringes produced by a spectrometer for fine measurement, and the evaluation step includes causing a plurality of kinds of laser light having wavelengths different from one another to be sequentially incident on the spectrometer for coarse measurement and the spectrometer for fine measurement and acquiring a coarse-measurement wavelength and a fine-measurement wavelength on a wavelength basis from a plurality of the received interference fringes, acquiring a degradation parameter on a wavelength basis from the coarse-measurement wavelength and the fine-measurement wavelength on a wavelength basis, and comparing the degradation parameter on a wavelength basis with a threshold.

Disclosed are system and methods for a laser system comprising at least one laser, a processor, and a user interface. The processor can receive a range for at least one setting of the at least one laser that the at least one laser can operate within. The processor can further determine a proposed updated value for the at least one setting and determine that the proposed updated value is within the range. An indication of the proposed updated value and an option for a user to accept or reject the proposed updated value can be provided on a user interface. Responsive to an acceptance the at least one setting can be adjusted based on the proposed updated value. Responsive to no rejection within a predetermined period of time, the processor can cause the at least one setting to be adjusted or cancel adjustment of the at least one setting.