Apparatus and method for optical isolation

摘要

Provided herein is an apparatus for optically isolating a light beam from a laser, comprising an optical isolator configured to isolate a light beam having a beam quality; a reference plane; an output connector disposed at the output of the optical isolator, wherein the output connector is configured with a common collimator interface to connect to a collimator which is capable of being mechanically referenced to the reference plane; a first lens arrangement disposed proximal to a distal end of the output connector, wherein the first lens arrangement is selected to provide an output light beam having a predetermined divergence. The laser can be selected from the group consisting of a fiber laser, a disk laser and a rod laser. Also provided herein are a system, a plurality of lasers, and a method of providing a light beam that has a consistent divergence and distance from a reference plane.

主权项

1. An apparatus for optically isolating a light beam from a laser, which light beam has a beam quality defined by an M2 value, and which apparatus comprises:
an input lens; an optical isolator configured to isolate the light beam; a reference plane; an output connector disposed at the output of the optical isolator, wherein the output connector is configured with a common collimator interface to connect to a collimator which is capable of being mechanically referenced to the reference plane; and a first lens arrangement disposed proximal to a distal end of the output connector, and wherein: the M2 value is between 1 and 25; the optical isolator is a polarization independent isolator; the light beam is not collimated in the optical isolator; the input lens is disposed to receive the light beam and to focus the light beam through the optical isolator to the first lens arrangement; the input lens provides a light beam diameter within the optical isolator of less than 1 mm, which light beam diameter is dependent on the M2 value; the first lens arrangement provides an output light beam having a predetermined divergence that is independent of the M2 value, and the collimator interface and the predetermined divergence that is independent of the M2 value enable a family of interchangeable collimators to be used in the apparatus, each collimator providing a different pre-determined beam diameter that is independent of M2 when the collimator is fitted to the apparatus.