Abstract:
The present disclosure relates to a modular fiber laser system operative to controllably guide a beam which is launched from a feeding fiber into a process fiber so that the high-aperture component is coupled and guided in cladding of the process fiber, and a low-aperture component is coupled into the core of the fiber. The laser system further has a reflective element configured with light-reflecting and light-transmitting portions. The high-aperture component at least partially decouples from the cladding into the core so that the core radiates the high-aperture and low-aperture components. The high-aperture component is incident upon the light-reflecting portion and backreflected into the process fiber so that a sensor array, which is located between the feeding and process fibers, detects the reflected light. The laser system further includes an adjustment system operatively connected to the sensor array and configured to displace the fibers relative to one another to an alignment position after the sensor array detects a maximum signal of the reflected high-aperture component.
Abstract:
A hand displaceable laser welding gun is configured with an elongated support column extending along a longitudinal axis and made from lightweight material. A support plate is displaceably mounted to the column while supporting thereon an optical head axially which is provided with optics. The optics is configured to direct a laser beam along a path towards a welding zone through a protective window of the optical head. The laser welding gun further is structured with a first arm mounted to the support plate and extending along a longitudinal axis of the gun diametrically opposite to the optical head. The inner surface of the displaceable arm has an inner surface defining a tunnel which is aligned with the optical head and axially traversed by the laser beam, a first axially flowing stream of pressurized gaseous medium, and a second axially flowing stream of gaseous medium. The second stream, entering the tunnel at a pressure lower than that one of the first stream in response to a pressure gradient generated in the column, does not generate vortexes within the column. The first and second streams exit through the downstream end of the tunnel next to the welding zone. As the streams flow out, they carry out welding debris flowing within the tunnel to the optical head.
Abstract:
A high power fiber laser system includes a booster winch is configured as a fiber amplifier extending over free space, pump source and laser head including a reflective element which receives pump light and reflects toward the output end of the booster in a counter signal-propagating direction. The booster is configured with concentric and coextending frustoconically shaped (“MM”) core and cladding around the core. The core includes a mode transition region expanding between small diameter SM input and large diameter MM output core ends and configured so that amplification of high order modes is substantially suppressed as a single mode (“SM”) signal light propagates from the input to output core ends. The laser head receives output ends of respective pump light delivery fibers and signal fiber, respectively. The pump source is structured with a plurality of independent sub pumps arranged around the booster. The laser head supports a segmented mirror configured to reflect pump lights from respective pump sub-sources to the output end of the booster in a counter propagating direction, wherein the booster is configured to emit the amplified signal light reaching up to MW power levels substantially in the SM.
Abstract:
A monolithic fiber is configured with a double bottleneck-shaped multimode (MM) core capable of supporting substantially only a fundamental mode at a given wavelength and having opposite end regions, frustoconically shaped transformer regions, which run inwards from the respective end regions, and a central uniformly dimensioned region, which bridges the transformer regions. The MM core has a refractive step-index profile which is configured with a centrally positioned dip having a variable width along the length of the fiber. The width of the dip is relatively small at the end regions of the MM core so as to support only the fundamental mode with a Gaussian profile. As the dip becomes larger along the input transformer region, it gradually shapes the Gaussian profile into the ring profile of the fundamental mode, which is guided along the central region of the MM core. The dip gradually becomes smaller along the output transition region so as to shape the ring profile back into the substantially Gaussian profile of the fundamental mode radiated from the output end region of the MM core. The refractive index profile has a ring area doped with one or more rare-earth elements and configured to amplify substantially only the fundamental mode.