A radial polarization disk laser, including a pumping source, a collimator lens, a focusing lens, a laser gain medium, a Brewster axial cone, and a output lens, which are sequentially arranged along a laser light path. An angle formed between the conical surface and the bottom surface of said Brewster axial cone is a Brewster's angle. Said laser gain medium is bonded with said bottom surface; said laser gain medium and said output lens form a laser harmonic oscillator cavity therebetween. The pumped laser light emitted by said pumping source passes through said collimator lens and said focusing lens, then is focused on the laser gain medium, and. the generated photons oscillate in said laser harmonic oscillator cavity, and then a radial polarized laser beam is finally output by said output lens.

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.

This disclosure relates to pumping light systems and methods for using a disc laser. A focusing device with a reflecting surface focuses a pumping light beam onto a laser-active medium. A deflecting system deflects the pumping light beam between reflecting regions formed on the reflecting surface that are arranged in different angle regions around a central axis of the reflecting surface in at least a first annular region and a second annular region. The deflecting systems are configured to perform at least one deflection of the pumping light beam between two reflecting regions of the first annular region and at least one deflection between two reflecting regions of the second annular region.

A multi-stage optical amplifier has an input port for receiving an optical signal and a relatively short erbium doped optical fiber is coupled to the input port. Complex costly pump feedback is not required as a constant non-varying saturation pump is configured to provide non varying output power pump light of a predetermined wavelength suitable for excitation and full saturation of the erbium ions such that a full population inversion occurs. The length of the short erbium doped fiber and rare earth doping concentration of the erbium doped fiber is such that when pumped by said pump provides amplification of the optical signal of less than 15 dB. Locating a gain flattening filter after the short erbium doped optical fiber provides a relatively flat amplified output signal. Multi-stages of similar short erbium doped fibers pumped and saturated by the same pump signal economically provide increased amplification of the signal and filters after each state flatten the gain.

A hybrid optical source comprises an optical gain chip containing an optical gain material that provides an optical signal, and an optical reflector chip including an optical reflector. It also includes a semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) chip, which comprises a semiconductor layer having a planarized surface facing the semiconductor reflector. The semiconductor layer includes: an optical coupler to redirect the optical signal to and from the planarized surface; and an optical waveguide to convey the optical signal from the optical coupler. While assembling these chips, a height of the optical gain material is referenced against the planarized surface of the semiconductor layer, a height of the optical reflector is referenced against the planarized surface of the semiconductor layer, and the optical reflector is aligned with the optical coupler, so that the optical signal emanating from the optical gain material is reflected by the optical reflector and into the optical coupler.

Compact optical frequency sources are described. The comb source may include an intra-cavity optical element having a multi-material integrated structure with an electrically controllable active region. The active region may comprise a thin film. By way of example, the thin film and an insulating dielectric material disposed between two electrodes can provide for rapid loss modulation. In some embodiments the thin film may comprise graphene. In various embodiments of a frequency comb laser, rapid modulation of the CEO frequency can be implemented via electric modulation of the transmission or reflection loss of an additional optical element, which can be the saturable absorber itself. In another embodiment, the thin film can also be used as a saturable absorber in order to facilitate passive modelocking. In some implementations the optical element may be formed on a cleaved or polished end of an optical fiber.

A laser source for use in providing a laser beam for industrial operations in an industrial plant. The laser source selectively providing a first laser beam at a first outlet having relatively high power and lower beam quality and a second laser beam at a second outlet having relatively lower power and higher beam quality. The laser source including an optical path selector device for selectively transmitting a first laser beam along a first or second optical line toward respective first and second outlets. The second optical path having an optical amplification unit for changing the first laser to the second laser. An industrial plant including at least a first laser source selectively controls the first laser source to provide the first and the second lasers to predetermined laser processing stations. A second laser source may be used and controlled to provide a first or second laser to an alternate laser processing station on a failure of another laser source.

Disclosed herein are embodiments of a vertical external cavity surface emitting laser (VECSEL) device that utilizes an external micromirror array, and methods of fabricating and using the same. In one embodiment, a VECSEL device includes a gain chip, a mirror, and a micromirror array. The gain chip includes a gain medium. The micromirror array includes a plurality of curved micromirrors. The micromirror array and the mirror define an optical cavity, and the micromirror array is oriented such that at least one of the curved micromirrors is to reflect light generated by the gain medium back toward the gain medium along a length of the optical cavity.

Disclosed is a semiconductor laser device assembly including a semiconductor laser device; and a dispersion compensation optical system, where a laser light exited from the semiconductor laser device is incident and exits to control a group velocity dispersion value of the laser light exited from the semiconductor laser device per wavelength.

There is provided a laser system having a cylindrically-shaped annular minor with at least one opening in its surface; a pair of planar metallic electrodes disposed proximate opposite edges of the annular mirror, normal to the axis of the annular minor, the electrodes configured to have an RF field applied between them; a pair of end minors disposed at said at least one opening; and a ceramic material in the form of a disc, disposed in the internal volume of the annular minor, the ceramic material having a series of channels formed therein such that they generate a zig-zag pathway in the ceramic material, wherein (i) the zig-zag path, when filled with a gain medium, (ii) the annular minor and (iii) the pair of end minors, together constitute a laser cavity.