Short pulse laser with amplifier and adjustable pulse sequence

摘要

The invention relates to a short pulse laser (1) having a seed laser oscillator (2), a controllable pulse picker (4) for coupling out a laser pulse or a sequence of laser pulses, and an amplifier unit (5, 6) being mounted downstream of the pulse picker (5) and having at least one first amplifier stage (5) and a controllable first pump laser (8). The short pulse laser further includes a control unit (10) which is designed to control the pulse picker (4) and/or the first pump laser (8) such that the post-amplified laser pulses reach a predetermined power.

主权项

1. A short pulse laser comprising:
a control unit; a seed laser oscillator designed to generate a continuous pulse train; a controllable pulse picker connected downstream of the seed laser oscillator and configured to couple out a desired laser pulse or a sequence of desired laser pulses from the continuous pulse train; and an amplifier unit configured to amplify each coupled-out laser pulse to generate one or more postamplified laser pulses, said amplifier unit being connected downstream of the pulse picker, wherein:
the amplifier unit comprises a first amplifier stage having a controllable first pump laser;the control unit is designed to control the pulse picker and the first pump laser in order to attain a predefined energy of the one or more postamplified laser pulses by:
(i) generating a start signal based on a pulse repetition frequency of the seed laser oscillator,(ii) generating a first delay time,(iii) delaying the start signal by the first delay time to generate a delayed start signal,(iv) receiving an external trigger signal,(v) generating a second delay time,(vi) delaying the external trigger signal by the second delay time to generate a delayed trigger signal, and(vii) starting a control phase of the pulse picker based on the delayed start signal, wherein, during the control phase of the pulse picker, the desired laser pulse or the sequence of desired laser pulses are coupled out from the continuous pulse train, and(viii) starting a control phase of the first pump laser based on the delayed trigger signal, wherein, during the control phase of the first pump laser, energy of light from the first pump laser is increased.