Pulse modification apparatus comprising at least one pulse stretching and/or pulse compression device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12580357-B2
Application number	US-202418408618-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 10, 2024
Priority date	Jul 12, 2021
Publication date	Mar 17, 2026
Grant date	Mar 17, 2026

Abstract

A pulse modification apparatus includes at least one pulse stretcher for dispersive stretching of laser pulses and/or at least one pulse compressor for dispersive compression of the laser pulses, an actuator for setting a dispersion of the at least one pulse stretcher or a dispersion of the at least one pulse compressor by setting at least one manipulated variable, a controller for controlling the actuator based on a measurement signal, and an ambient sensor for detecting at least one ambient parameter as the measurement signal. The dispersion of the at least one pulse stretcher or the dispersion of the at least one pulse compressor is dependent on the at least one ambient parameter.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . A pulse modification apparatus, comprising:
at least one pulse stretcher for dispersive stretching of laser pulses and/or at least one pulse compressor for dispersive compression of the laser pulses, an actuator for setting a dispersion of the at least one pulse stretcher or a dispersion of the at least one pulse compressor by setting at least one manipulated variable, a controller for controlling the actuator based on a measurement signal, and an ambient sensor for detecting at least one ambient parameter as the measurement signal, wherein the dispersion of the at least one pulse stretcher or the dispersion of the at least one pulse compressor is dependent on the at least one ambient parameter.

2 . The pulse modification apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one pulse stretcher or the at least one pulse compressor comprises at least one dispersive optical element for angle separation and combination of spectral components of the laser pulses.

3 . The pulse modification apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the actuator comprises a plane-parallel transmissive optical element arranged such that the angle-separated spectral components of the laser pulses pass through the plane-parallel transmissive optical element and experience an incidence-angle-dependent parallel offset, and wherein a rotation angle of the plane-parallel transmissive optical element forms the at least one manipulated variable.

4 . The modification apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the at least one pulse stretcher or the at least one pulse compressor comprises two dispersive optical elements, and the actuator is configured to alter a distance between the two dispersive optical elements, and wherein the distance between the two dispersive optical elements forms the at least one manipulated variable.

5 . The pulse modification apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the at least one pulse stretcher or the at least one pulse compressor comprises one dispersive optical element and a deflector, and the actuator is configured to alter a distance between the one dispersive optical element and the deflector, and wherein the distance between the dispersive optical element and the deflector forms the manipulated variable.

6 . The pulse modification apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one pulse stretcher comprises a Bragg grating in a transparent material.

7 . The pulse modification apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the actuator comprises a heating and/or cooling device configured to cause a temperature profile in the transparent material, the temperature profile serving as the at least one manipulated variable.

8 . The pulse modification apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the actuator is configured to cause a profile of a mechanical stress in the transparent material, the profile of the mechanical stress serving as the at least one manipulated variable.

9 . A pulse modification apparatus, comprising:
at least one pulse stretcher for dispersive stretching of laser pulses and/or at least one pulse compressor for dispersive compression of the laser pulses, a modulator for dispersive modulation of the laser pulses, an actuator for setting a dispersion of the modulator, a controller for controlling the actuator based on a measurement signal, and an ambient sensor for detecting at least one ambient parameter as the measurement signal, a dispersion of the at least one pulse stretcher or a dispersion of the at least one pulse compressor is dependent on the at least one ambient parameter.

10 . The pulse modification apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the at least one ambient parameter is a temperature and/or an ambient pressure.

11 . The pulse modification apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the controller is configured to control the actuator depending on the measurement signal based on an experimentally determined calibration curve describing a relationship between the dispersion of the at least one pulse stretcher or or the dispersion of the at least one pulse compressor and the at least one ambient parameter.

12 . The pulse modification apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the controller is configured to control the actuator depending on the measurement signal based on a mathematical relationship of a form
dβ 2 =F (β 3 ,β 4 , . . . , β m ω 0 ,dn )
wherein dn is an alteration of a refractive index within the at least one pulse stretcher or within the at least one pulse compressor, wherein the alteration of the refractive index results from an alteration of the at least one ambient parameter, and wherein dβ 2 is an alteration of a group delay dispersion, β 3 , β 4 , . . . , β m are higher-order dispersions, and ω 0 is a central frequency of the laser pulses.

13 . The pulse modification apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the mathematical relationship is as follows:
dβ 2 =β 3 ω 0 dn.

14 . The pulse modification apparatus according to claim 9 , further comprising an amplifier for amplifying the laser pulses according to a principle of chirped pulse amplification.

Assignees

• Trumpf Laser Gmbh

Inventors

• Scelle Raphael
• Diekamp Holger
• Budnicki Aleksander

Classifications

• H01S3/0014 Primary

  Monitoring arrangements not otherwise provided for (photometry G01J1/00, e.g. G01J1/4257; radiation pyrometry G01J5/00; measuring coherence of light G01J9/00; measuring wavelength of light G01J9/00, e.g. G01J9/0246; measuring optical pulses G01J11/00; calorimetrically measuring power of laser beams G01K17/003) · CPC title

• H01S3/067

  Fibre lasers · CPC title

• H01S3/10053

  Phase control · CPC title

• H01S3/0057 Primary

  Temporal shaping, e.g. pulse compression, frequency chirping (soliton generation and propagation G02F1/3513, H01S3/063 and H01S3/108) · CPC title