A fiber laser system includes a fiber laser connector having a housing to terminate a fiber that generates a laser beam. A chamber extends internally along a length of the housing. A light trap includes a plurality of threads formed along a wall of the chamber to trap light reflected back to the fiber laser connector in response to an application of the laser beam to a workpiece.

In one embodiment, a lidar system includes a pump laser configured to produce pulses of light at a pump wavelength. The lidar system further includes an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) with an OPO medium configured to: receive the pump pulses from the pump laser; convert at least part of the received pump pulses into pulses of light at a signal wavelength and pulses of light at an idler wavelength; and emit at least a portion of the signal pulses. The lidar system also includes a scanner configured to scan the emitted pulses of light across a field of regard and a receiver configured to detect at least a portion of the scanned pulses of light scattered by a target located a distance from the lidar system. The lidar system also includes a processor configured to determine the distance from the lidar system to the target.

An optical oscillator according to an embodiment includes a first reflecting portion that transmits light having a first wavelength and reflects light having a second wavelength different from the first wavelength, a second reflecting portion that forms an unstable resonator together with the first reflecting portion and reflect light having the second wavelength, a laser medium that is disposed between the first reflecting portion and the second reflecting portion and emits light having the second wavelength due to incidence of light having the first wavelength, and a saturable absorption portion disposed on a side opposite to the first reflecting portion when viewed from the laser medium in the one direction, the first reflecting portion includes an incidence surface on which light having the first wavelength is incident, on a side opposite to the laser medium, a size of the second reflecting portion is smaller than a size of the first reflecting portion when viewed in the one direction, at least a part of a surface of the saturable absorption body on the side opposite to the laser medium includes a curved region curved toward the laser medium side, and the second reflecting portion is a dielectric multilayer film provided in the curved region.

The invention relates to a discoidal or cuboidal solid body for a laser amplification system of a solid-state laser, which solid body contains at least one laser-active material, has an upper side defining an upper side plane and a lower side defining a lower side plane, wherein the upper side plane and the lower side plane are inclined in relation to each other and enclose an angle of inclination, wherein the lower side is provided with a first reflective coating, wherein the upper side is provided with a second reflective coating, and wherein at least one of the upper side and the lower side has at least one optical input coupling opening for input coupling at least one of a seed laser radiation field and a pump laser radiation field into the solid body between the first and the second reflective coating.

This disclosure provides planar waveguides with enhanced support and/or cooling. One or more endcaps could be disposed between coating/cladding layers at one or more ends of a core region, where the core region is doped with at least one active ion species and each endcap is not doped with any active ion species that creates substantial absorption at pump and signal wavelengths. A core region could include at least one crystal or crystalline material, and at least one cladding layer could include at least one glass. Different types of coolers could be disposed on or adjacent to different coating/cladding layers. Side claddings could be disposed on opposite sides of a planar waveguide, where the opposite sides represent longer sides of the waveguide. Endcaps and one or more coolers could be sealed to a housing, and coolant can flow through a substantially linear passageway along a length of the waveguide. One side of a planar waveguide could be uncooled.

A method for manufacturing an optical element is a method for manufacturing an optical element in which laser light is transmitted, reciprocated, or reflected, and the method includes a first step of obtaining a bonded element formed by subjecting a first element part and a second element part, both being transparent to laser light, to surface activated bonding with a non-crystalline layer interposed therebetween; and after the first step, a second step of crystallizing at least a portion of the non-crystalline layer by raising the temperature of the bonded element. In the second step, the temperature of the bonded element is raised to a predetermined temperature that is lower than the melting points of the first element part and the second element part.

A solid-state laser active medium comprising an optical gain material; a heat sink, wherein the heat sink is transparent, in particular over a wavelength range of 200 nm to 4000 nm, preferably with an absorption coefficient of <1 cm.sup.−1; the heat sink having a high thermal conductivity, in particular ≧149 W/(m*K); wherein the optical gain material and the heat sink exhibit a root-mean square, RMS, surface roughness of <1 nm; wherein the optical gain material is attached to the transparent heat sink by direct bonding.

A mode-locked solid state laser apparatus including an optical film, a gain medium crystal, a Fabry-Perot element, a first mirror, a second mirror, a third mirror and an output coupler is disclosed. The optical film is configured to receive a pumping light having a first wavelength incident in a first direction. The gain medium crystal receives the pumping light passing the optical film, and generates an initial laser beam having a second wavelength, wherein the initial laser beam forms a first optical path starting at one end thereof from the gain medium crystal. The Fabry-Perot element is disposed on the other end of the first optical path opposite to the one end, and reflects the initial laser beam along a second optical path having one end thereof starting from the Fabry-Perot element. The first mirror is disposed on the other end of the second optical path opposite to the one end of the second optical path, and reflects the initial laser beam along a third optical path having one end thereof starting from the first mirror.

A fractional handpiece and systems thereof for skin treatment include a passively Q-switched laser assembly operatively connected to a pump laser source to receive a pump laser beam having a first wavelength and a beam splitting assembly operable to split a solid beam emitted by the passively Q-switched laser assembly and form an array of micro-beams across a segment of skin. The passively Q-switched laser assembly generates a high power sub-nanosecond pulsed laser beam having a second wavelength.

In one embodiment, a lidar system includes a light source configured to emit light at one or more wavelengths between 1200 nm and 1400 nm. The lidar system also includes a scanner configured to scan the emitted light across a field of regard of the lidar system and a receiver configured to detect a portion of the emitted light scattered by a target located a distance from the lidar system. The lidar system further includes a processor configured to determine the distance from the lidar system to the target based at least in part on a round-trip time for the portion of the emitted light to travel from the lidar system to the target and back to the lidar system.