Flexure mounting of optical resonator for precision lasers

摘要

The laser beam produced by the improved precision laser maintains an axial stability of less than 20 micro-radians in the presence of ambient temperature changes and shock and vibration of as much as 100 g's, achieving a new milestone in stability. In the new laser one end of the resonator (7) is hard mounted to the laser bench (13) and the other end of the resonator is mounted to that laser bench by a flexure (17). The flexure is designed to resiliently yield in the presence of thermally induced strain on the bench while retaining sufficient stiffness against foreseeable shock and vibration.