Wittrock, Ulrich
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Faculty
Adaptive laser resonators with deformable MOEMS mirrors under closed-loop control are discussed and experimental results are presented. The requirements for deformable mirrors and for closed-loop control systems of these mirrors are analyzed. Several deformable mirrors have been characterized and the results are presented. Currently available membrane mirrors deform under laser load and need further development before they can be used for aberration correction of solid state lasers above some tens of Watts. Nevertheless, the results are encouraging and the requirements are within reach of currently available technology. Finally, we demonstrate an Nd.YVO4-laser with a closed-loop adaptive resonator and more than 6 W of output power. The closed-loop system was able to compensate artificially introduced aberrations from a phase plate.
The spatially varying intensity in a standing wave resonator leads to spatial hole burning in the gain medium of a laser. The spatial hole burning changes the gain of different longitudinal modes and can thus determine the optical spectrum of the laser. We simulate this longitudinal mode competition in standing wave resonators of thin-disk lasers. The resulting optical spectra of the laser are compared to measured optical spectra. We examine two types of resonators: I-resonators and V-resonators with different angles of incidence. In V-resonators, the non-normal incidence of the laser beam on the disk lifts the degeneracy of the polarization. Experiments show that the slight gain advantage for the p-polarization does not lead to polarized emission. For both types of resonators, the measured spectra are in good agreement with the simulated ones. The simulations allow to study the influence of spectral intra-cavity losses on the optical spectrum of a thin-disk laser.
We present, to the best of our knowledge, the first intracavity pumped Yb:YAG thin-disk laser. It operates at 1050.7 nm with a quantum defect of just 1.74% due to pumping at 1032.4 nm. Low absorption of the pump light at the pump wavelength of 1032.4 nm is compensated for by placing the disk inside the resonator of another Yb:YAG thin-disk laser which is diode-pumped at 940 nm. The intra-cavity pumped laser has an output power of 10.3 W and a slope efficiency of 8.3%
We present a novel pump concept that should lead to single-frequency operation of thin-disk lasers without the need for etalons or other spectral filters. The single-frequency operation is due to matching the standing wave pattern of partially coherent pump light to the standing wave pattern of the laser light inside the disk. The output power and the optical efficiency of our novel pump concept are compared with conventional pumping. The feasibility of our pump concept was shown in previous experiments.
The actuator pattern of an adaptive mirror determines the amplitudes and the fidelities of the mirror deformations that can be achieved. In this study, we analyze and compare different electrode patterns of piezoelectric unimorph deformable mirrors using a numerical finite element model. The analysis allows us to determine the optimum actuator pattern, and it is also applicable to bimorph mirrors. The model is verified by comparing its predictions with experimental results of our prototype of a novel unimorph deformable mirror.
Over the past 5 years we have developed a new type of unimorph deformable mirror. The main advantages of this mirror technology are · very low surface scattering due to the use of superpolished glass · excellent coatings, even suitable for high power lasers, can be applied · active diameter of the mirrors can be between 10 mm and 100 mm · large strokes can be achieved even for small mirror diameters · integrated monolithic tip/tilt functionality based on a spiral arm design We have modeled these mirrors by analytical models as well as by the finite element method. This allows us to quickly design new mirrors tailored to specific applications. One example is a mirror for laser applications that has a diameter of 10 mm and can achieve a stroke in defocus mode of 5 μm. The stroke for these mirrors scales as the square of the mirror diameter, meaning that we can achieve, for example, a stroke of 125 μm for a mirror of 50 mm diameter. We will present design criteria and tradeoffs for these mirrors. We characterize our mirrors by the maximum stroke they can deliver for various Zernike modes, under the boundary condition that the Zernike mode has to be created with a certain fidelity, usually defined by the Maréchal criterion.
Novel unimorph deformable mirror with monolithic tip-tilt functionality for solid state lasers
(2011)
We present a new type of unimorph deformable mirror with monolithic tip-tilt functionality. The tip-tilt actuation is based on a spiral arm design. The mirror will be used in high-power laser resonators for real-time intracavity phase control. The additional tip-tilt correction with a stroke up to 6 μm simplifies the resonator alignment significantly. The mirror is optimized for a laser beam footprint of about 10 mm. We have modeled and optimized this mirror by finite element calculations and we will present design criteria and tradeoffs for this mirrors. The mirror is manufactured from a super-polished glass substrate with very low surface scattering and excellent dielectric coating.
It has been shown that the beam quality and the efficiency of high-power solid-state lasers could be enhanced by the use of deformable mirrors in order to compensate for optical aberrations. An intracavity compensation requires a deformable mirror which is capable of handling very high laser intensities. The active diameter of the deformable mirror should be a few millimeters in order to match typical fundamental mode laser beam diameters. There is a wide variety of commercially available deformable mirrors, but neither meets all requirements.
We present a novel unimorph deformable mirror with a diameter of only 10 mm that will be used in adaptive resonators of high power solid state lasers. The relationship between applied voltage and deformation of a unimorph mirror depends on the piezoelectric material properties, layer thicknesses, boundary conditions, and the electrode pattern. An analytical equation for the deflection of the piezoelectric unimorph structure is derived, based on the electro-elastic and thin plate theory. The validity of the proposed analytical model has been proven by numerical finite-element modelling and experimental results. Our mirror design has been optimized to obtain the highest possible stroke and a high resonance frequency.
We have developed a new type of unimorph deformable mirror, designed to correct for low-order Zernike modes. The mirror has a clear optical aperture of 50 mm combined with large peak-to-valley Zernike amplitudes of up to 35 μm. Newly developed fabrication processes allow the use of prefabricated super-polished and coated glass substrates. The mirror's unique features suggest the use in several stronomical applications like the precompensation of atmospheric aberrations seen by laser beacons and the use in woofer-tweeter systems. Additionally, the design enables an efficient correction of the inevitable wavefront error imposed by the floppy structure of primary mirrors in future large space-based telescopes. We have modeled the mirror by using analytical as well as finite element models. We will present design, key features and manufacturing steps of the deformable mirror.
On-the-fly remote laser processing plays an increasingly important role in modern fabrication techniques. These processes require guiding of the focus of a laser beam along the contours of the workpiece in three dimensions.
State-of-the-art galvanometer scanners already provide highly dynamic and precise transverse x−y beam steering. However, longitudinal focus shifting (“z-shifting”) relying on conventional optics is restricted to a bandwidth of a few hundred Hz. We have developed and manufactured a fast piezo-based z-shifting mirror with diffraction-limited surface fidelity providing a focus shift of 1z> 60 mm with an actuation rate of 2 kHz.
Cross-saturation of the gain media in intra-cavity pumped lasers leads to complex dynamics of the laser power. We present experimental results and a detailed theoretical analysis of this nonlinear dynamics for an intra-cavity pumped Yb:YAG thin-disk laser in the framework of a rate-equation model. The gain medium of this laser is residing in the resonator of a conventional, diode-pumped Yb:YAG thin-disk laser. Continuous-wave operation, periodic pulse trains, and chaotic fluctuations of the optical power of both lasers were observed. The dynamics is not driven by external perturbations but arises naturally in this laser system. Further examination revealed that these modes of operation can be controlled by the resonator length of the diode-pumped laser but that the system can also show hysteresis and multi-stability.
Astronomy is driven by the quest for higher sensitivity and improved angular resolution in order to detect fainter or smaller objects. The far-infrared to submillimeter domain is a unique probe of the cold and obscured Universe, harboring for instance the precious signatures of key elements such as water. Space observations are mandatory given the blocking effect of our atmosphere. However the methods we have relied on so far to develop increasingly larger telescopes are now reaching a hard limit, with the JWST illustrating this in more than one way (e.g. it will be launched by one of the most powerful rocket, it requires the largest existing facility on Earth to be qualified). With the Thinned Aperture Light Collector (TALC) project, a concept of a deployable 20 m annular telescope, we propose to break out of this deadlock by developing novel technologies for space telescopes, which are disruptive in three aspects: • An innovative deployable mirror whose topology, based on stacking rather than folding, leads to an optimum ratio of collecting area over volume, and creates a telescope with an eight times larger collecting area and three times higher angular resolution compared to JWST from the same pre-deployed volume; • An ultra-light weight segmented primary mirror, based on electrodeposited Nickel, Composite and Honeycomb stacks, built with a replica process to control costs and mitigate the industrial risks; • An active optics control layer based on piezo-electric layers incorporated into the mirror rear shell allowing control of the shape by internal stress rather than by reaction on a structure. We present in this paper the roadmap we have built to bring these three disruptive technologies to technology readiness level 3. We will achieve this goal through design and realization of representative elements: segments of mirrors for optical quality verification, active optics implemented on representative mirror stacks to characterize the shape correction capabilities, and mechanical models for validation of the deployment concept. Accompanying these developments, a strong system activity will ensure that the ultimate goal of having an integrated system can be met, especially in terms of (a) scalability toward a larger structure, and (b) verification philosophy.
We have developed and manufactured a unimorph deformable mirror for space telescopes based on piezoelectric actuation. The mirror features 44 actuators, has an aperture of 50 mm, and is designed to reproduce low-order Zernike modes with a stroke of several tens of µm. We assessed the space compliance by operating the mirror in thermal vacuum, and exposing it to random and sinusoidal vibrations, as well as to ionizing irradiation. Additionally, the operational life time and the laser power handling capability were tested. The mirror was successfully operated in thermal vacuum at 100 K. We report on the conducted tests and the methods used to evaluate the mirror´s performance, and discuss the compliance with the demanded requirements
Concepts for future large space telescopes require an active optics system to mitigate aberrations caused by thermal deformation and gravitational release. Such a system would allow on-site correction of wave-front errors and ease the requirements for thermal and gravitational stability of the optical train. In the course of the ESA project "Development of Adaptive Deformable Mirrors for Space Instruments" we have developed a unimorph deformable mirror designed to correct for low-order aberrations and dedicated to be used in space environment. We briefly report on design and manufacturing of the deformable mirror and present results from performance verifications and environmental testing.