A porro prism stabilized q-switched laser system including a gain material, a partial reflector optically connected to the gain material, an oscillating mirror operably connected to the gain material, and a porro prism optically connected to the oscillating mirror. The system has a first path located between the partial reflector and the oscillating mirror, and a second path located between the oscillating mirror and the porro prism. The stabilized laser system having larger alignment tolerances making for more stable and less expensive systems. The stabilized laser system having a shorter cavity length than traditional q-switched laser systems.

A light source having a gain chip, a retro reflecting prism and a first actuator is disclosed. The gain chip amplifies light passing therethrough. The retro reflecting prism is characterized by a pivot axis within the retro reflecting prism, an input light direction, an output light direction, and a diffraction grating that receives light emitted by the gain chip traveling in the input direction, returns a diffracted light beam to the gain chip along the input light direction and generates an output light beam. The first actuator causes the retro reflecting prism to rotate about the pivot axis in response to a control signal being coupled to the first actuator.

A light source having a gain chip, a retro reflecting prism and a first actuator is disclosed. The gain chip amplifies light passing therethrough. The retro reflecting prism is characterized by a pivot axis within the retro reflecting prism, an input light direction, an output light direction, and a diffraction grating that receives light emitted by the gain chip traveling in the input direction, returns a diffracted light beam to the gain chip along the input light direction and generates an output light beam. The first actuator causes the retro reflecting prism to rotate about the pivot axis in response to a control signal being coupled to the first actuator.

A laser beam combination apparatus includes: a lasers array, an optical turning element, a transformation lens, a dispersion element and an external cavity mirror. The lasers array comprises M rows of lasers, and each row of the lasers comprises N lasers; MN laser beams output by the lasers array, after passing through the optical turning element, parallel exit, where the N laser beams corresponding to each row of the lasers constitute a coplanar laser beam array, planes where the M laser beam arrays lie are parallel to one another, and planes where two adjacent laser beam arrays lie are spaced apart by a designated distance; the N laser beams in each laser beam array, after going through the convergence by the transformation lens, individually incident on the dispersion element at different angles; and the N laser beams in each laser beam array, after going through the dispersion element, are combined into one beam of output light, and M output beams corresponding to the M laser beam arrays are parallel output through the external cavity mirror.

A laser beam combination apparatus includes: a lasers array, an optical turning element, a transformation lens, a dispersion element and an external cavity mirror. The lasers array comprises M rows of lasers, and each row of the lasers comprises N lasers; MN laser beams output by the lasers array, after passing through the optical turning element, parallel exit, where the N laser beams corresponding to each row of the lasers constitute a coplanar laser beam array, planes where the M laser beam arrays lie are parallel to one another, and planes where two adjacent laser beam arrays lie are spaced apart by a designated distance; the N laser beams in each laser beam array, after going through the convergence by the transformation lens, individually incident on the dispersion element at different angles; and the N laser beams in each laser beam array, after going through the dispersion element, are combined into one beam of output light, and M output beams corresponding to the M laser beam arrays are parallel output through the external cavity mirror.

The compact, laser cavity with a single-axis scanning element as the optical Q-switch incorporates all optical components required for a short-pulse laser. These optical components are locked into alignment forming an optical laser cavity for diode laser or flash lamp pumping. The optical laser cavity does not need optical alignment after it is fabricated. Unfortunately, during the alignment process of the optical laser cavity there are small shifts due to the bonding process of the optical elements. These small shifts introduce alignment errors which results in a decrease in output energy and beam quality. The improvement presented adds a single circular wedge prism that corrects these alignment errors returning the output back to its optimum energy output and beam quality.