To provide a laser device for adjusting a laser output by detecting the quantity of a reflected beam propagating within an optical fiber more accurately before an optical part is damaged due to an increase in quantity of the reflected beam. A laser device comprises: at least one first photodetector that detects the quantity of a reflected beam being part of a reflected beam returning to an optical fiber of the laser device after being reflected off of a work and propagating mainly through a cladding of the optical fiber; at least one second photodetector that detects the quantity of a reflected beam being part of the reflected beam returning to the optical fiber and propagating mainly through a core of the optical fiber; a power supply unit that supplies a driving current to a laser diode; and a control unit that controls the power supply unit. The control unit controls the driving current to be supplied from the power supply unit to the laser diode in response to both an output from the first photodetector and an output from the second photodetector.

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 laser oscillator capable of detecting scattered light intensity when a laser beam is incident on an end surface of a fiber more appropriately is provided. A laser oscillator monitoring control system includes: a scattered light detection unit that detects a scattered light intensity on an input end surface of a process fiber of a fiber laser oscillator; a control unit that controls a laser output value on the basis of a laser output command value from a CNC and a detection result obtained by the scattered light detection unit; a normal scattered light calculation unit that calculates a normal index value; a first threshold setting unit that sets a first threshold indicating an abnormality resulting from a contamination and/or a scratch; a second threshold setting unit that sets a second threshold indicating an abnormality resulting from an optical axis shift; and a third threshold setting unit that sets a third threshold indicating an abnormality of a level in which a component is destroyed. The control unit controls a laser output value on the basis of the scattered light intensity detected by the scattered light detection unit, the first threshold, the second threshold, and the third threshold.

A speckle-free imaging light source based on a random fiber laser (RFL) using a strong-coupling multi-core optical fiber, relating to a field of optical fiber laser illumination light source, is provided, mainly including a pumping source and an optical fiber loop mirror, and further including the strong-coupling multi-core optical fiber with/without a single-mode optical fiber. Through directly adopting the strong-coupling multi-core optical fiber or combining the single-mode optical fiber with the strong-coupling multi-core optical fiber to serve as a main device in the RFL-based illumination light source, the generated RFL has multiple transvers modes and low spatial coherence which prevent speckle formation during illumination, which provides an ideal illumination light source for high-speed full-field speckle-free imaging technology.

An inventory management system includes a plurality of apparatuses, an information management device connected to the apparatuses, and an information processor. The information processor calculates the sum of cumulative failure rates that is the sum value of the cumulative failure rates of all of designated components having the same specifications used in the apparatuses at a certain point in time, in consideration of an acceleration depending on a driving condition with respect to a standard cumulative failure rate of each type of the designated components having the same specifications used in the apparatuses under a standard driving condition, and calculates the appropriate inventory quantity of the designated components based on the calculated sum of the cumulative failure rates.

A burst logging system logs and transmits to a local or remote computing system event data related to errors in and or potential failures of laser system components. The system further provides for capturing data at different rates from different sensors, synchronization of data capture associated with system events and the possibility for aggregation of data from multiple systems, which can in turn be leveraged to predict and or remediate future system events.

There is provided a photoacoustic measurement apparatus including a laser light source unit that has a flash lamp for emitting excitation light and a laser rod for emitting laser light in response to incidence of the excitation light, an excitation light source power supply unit that has a capacitor bank for supplying a voltage to the flash lamp, an IGBT for controlling an output of the voltage charged in the capacitor bank to the flash lamp, a discharge control circuit for generating a driving pulse for driving the IGBT, and a pulse width limiting circuit for limiting a pulse width of the driving pulse output from the discharge control circuit, the pulse width limiting circuit being formed of a passive element, and a photoacoustic wave detection unit that detects photoacoustic waves generated inside a subject by emission of light emitted from the laser light source unit to the subject.

A laser module produces pulsed laser energy in a wavelength range of 495-580 nm based on duration, peak power, and interval parameter information. An envelope timer controls the total duration of all micropulses based on the duration and interval parameters via a pulse-width modulated (PWM) output to a micropulse timer, which in turn outputs a PWM micropulse signal. A light emitting diode driver outputs a laser current through a diode based on the micropulse signal and a dimming signal to produce the pulsed laser energy. The integrator compares a signal corresponding to a detected power level of the laser energy to a signal corresponding to the peak power parameter and outputs the dimming signal. The resulting micropulse durations are in the range of 50 to 300 microseconds for periods of about 2 milliseconds, with a duty cycle ranging from 5 to 15%. The overall pulse parameters are duration from 10 microseconds to 1.5 seconds, with periods of any value. The pulsed laser energy is delivered by ophthalmologic laser treatment devices to an eye of a patient.

A pulse laser apparatus (100) for creating laser pulses (1), in particular soliton laser pulses (1), based on Kerr lens mode locking of a circulating light field in an oscillator cavity (10), comprises at least two resonator mirrors (11, 12, . . . ) spanning a resonator beam path (2) of the oscillator cavity (10), at least one Kerr-medium (21, 22, 23) for introducing self-phase modulation and self-focusing to the circulating light field in the oscillator cavity (10), at least one gain-medium (31) for amplifying the circulating light field in the oscillator cavity (10), and a tuning device (40) for setting a first mode-locking condition and a second mode-locking condition of the oscillator cavity (10) such that an intra-cavity threshold-power for mode-locking at the first mode-locking condition is lower than that at the second mode-locking condition, wherein the first mode-locking condition is adapted for starting or shutting-down of the Kerr lens mode locking and the second mode-locking condition is adapted for continuous Kerr lens mode locking and a resonator-internal peak-power of the circulating light field is higher at the second mode-locking condition than at the first mode-locking condition. Furthermore, a method of operating a pulse laser apparatus is described.

A photonic lantern couples light from several fibers or fiber cores into one or more fibers or fiber cores. Photonic lanterns are often used to combine several lower-power beams into a single higher-power beam. They can also be used to couple light from multi-core fibers into single-mode, multi-mode, or other multi-core fibers. By modulating the phases of the input beams, the light can be switched from output to outputfor example, between output cores of a multi-core output fiber. If desired, the beams can also be amplified using an active fiber in or coupled to the photonic lantern. A first photonic lantern couples signal light and pump light into the core and cladding, respectively, of an active multi-mode or multi-core fiber. And the active multi-mode or multi-core fiber couples amplified signal light into output fiber(s) via a second photonic lantern.