A method and a device for detecting a focal position of a laser beam, particularly a machining laser beam in a laser machining head, includes an optical element which is arranged in the laser beam converging toward the focal point and which is designed to outcouple a reflection from the laser beam path, and a sensor arrangement which is designed to detect beam characteristics of said laser beam in the region of the focal point in the laser extension direction, and which measures the outcoupled reflection of the laser beam at at least two locations that are offset to one another in the extension direction, in order to determine the current focal position.

Apparatus for additively manufacturing three-dimensional objects by means of successive layerwise selective irradiation and consolidation of layers of a build material which can be consolidated by means of an energy beam, which apparatus comprises an irradiation device adapted to guide an energy beam across a build plane, wherein a calibration device is provided comprising a positioning unit, a determination unit and a calibration unit, preferably arranged in a process chamber of the apparatus, that is adapted to at least partially reflect the energy beam, wherein the irradiation device is adapted to guide the energy beam to the calibration unit for generating a reflected part of the energy beam, wherein the positioning unit is adapted to position the irradiation device dependent on at least one parameter of the reflected part of the energy beam determined via the determination unit.

An exposure system that performs scanning exposure of a semiconductor substrate by irradiating a reticle with a pulse laser beam includes a laser apparatus configured to emit a pulse laser beam, an illumination optical system through which the pulse laser beam is guided to the reticle, a reticle stage, and a processor configured to control emission of the pulse laser beam from the laser apparatus and movement of the reticle by the reticle stage. The reticle includes a region in which multiple kinds of patterns are arranged in a mixed manner in a scanning width direction orthogonal to a scanning direction of the scanning exposure. The processor instructs the laser apparatus about a target wavelength such that the laser apparatus emits the pulse laser beam of a wavelength with which dispersion of best focus positions corresponding to respective patterns of the multiple kinds of patterns is minimum.

A method of confirming an optical axis of a laser processing apparatus includes placing an image capturing unit so as to be movable in X-axis directions, removing a second mirror and capturing an image of a laser beam with the image capturing unit for receiving the laser beam reflected by a first mirror, installing the second mirror and capturing an image of the laser beam with the image capturing unit for receiving the laser beam reflected by a third mirror, and determining whether an optical axis of the laser beam reflected by the first mirror and an optical axis of the laser beam reflected by the third mirror exist in one XZ plane or not on the basis of the captured images and a reference line in the captured images.

A laser cutting head associable to a machine tool comprises a collimating group to collimate a laser beam coming from a laser emitting apparatus, a focusing group to focus in a focal point the laser beam collimated, an optical element to receive said laser beam focused and reflect a focused first portion thereof, and a wavefront sensor to receive said focused first portion of the laser beam, perform a phase measurement of a wavefront of said focused first portion, obtain a reconstructed wavefront on the basis of the phase measurement and send the reconstructed wavefront to an electronic processor; the electronic processor compares the reconstructed wavefront and a reference wavefront, determines one or more optical aberrations to which the laser beam is subjected, reduces such optical aberrations and changes said focal point.

A reflected beam detection value obtained by detecting a reflected beam of a visible beam generated on a sheet metal or a scattered beam detection value obtained by detecting a scattered beam from an optical component is stored in a storage unit, the reflected beam or the scattered beam being detected at a time when the sheet metal is cut by irradiating the sheet metal with a laser beam under a predetermined processing condition. The reflected beam detection value or the scattered beam detection value stored in the storage unit is registered as a reference value associated with the predetermined processing condition.

A pulse duration measuring apparatus includes a polarizing beam splitter for splitting a pulsed laser beam into a first laser beam and a second laser beam, a first mirror for reflecting the first laser beam traveling toward the polarizing beam splitter, a second mirror for reflecting the second laser beam traveling toward the polarizing beam splitter, a first quarter wavelength plate disposed between the polarizing beam splitter and the first mirror, a second quarter wavelength plate disposed between the polarizing beam splitter and the second mirror, an optical path length changing unit for moving the first mirror or the second mirror to change the length of the respective optical paths, a nonlinear crystal body for allowing a combined laser beam to pass therethrough, and a photodetector for measuring an optical intensity of the combined laser beam that has passed through the nonlinear crystal body.

Disclosed is an annealing system integrated with laser and microwave. The annealing system is provided with a microwave system, a laser system, and a measurement and control system. The microwave system provides a microwave energy to a first area of a to-be-annealed object for annealing the first area of the to-be-annealed object. The laser system uses a laser to provide a laser energy to a second area of the to-be-annealed object for annealing the second area of the to-be-annealed object. The measurement and control system monitors and controls a power of a microwave and/or a laser. The annealing system is capable of reducing a time required for an overall annealing, and also capable of avoiding cracks or defects caused by large stress differences.

The invention relates to a laser brazing system, comprising a braze tool having a laser configured to emit a laser beam along a radiation path, and a braze wire tool being configured to guide a braze wire along a wire path intersecting the laser beam. The system comprises a jig comprising a first alignment surface and a first blocking surface, wherein the first alignment surface is configured to be in contact with the braze wire while the first blocking surface blocks at least a first part of the emitted laser beam, and a detector arranged in the radiation path and configured to detect the emitted light of the laser beam passing the jig.

A laser light irradiation device includes: a laser light source; a spatial light modulator including a display unit configured to display a phase pattern; an objective lens configured to condense a laser light emitted from the spatial light modulator at the object; an image-transfer optical system configured to transfer an image of the laser light on the display unit to an entrance pupil plane of the objective lens; a reflected light detector configured to detect reflected light of the laser light which is incident in the object and reflected by an opposite surface opposite to a laser light entrance surface; and a controller configured to control the phase pattern. When the reflected light detector detects the reflected light, the controller displays a reflected light aberration correction pattern which is the phase pattern correcting aberration generated in the event of the laser light being transmitted through the object having twice the predetermined thickness.