Liesl Burger

A digital laser for on-demand laser modes

Customizing the output beam shape from a laser invariably involves specialized optical elements in the form of apertures, diffractive optics and free-form mirrors. Such optics require considerable design and fabrication effort and suffer from the further disadvantage of being immutably connected to the selection of a particular spatial mode. Here we overcome these limitations with the first digital laser comprising an electrically addressed reflective phase-only spatial light modulator as an intra-cavity digitally addressed holographic mirror. The phase and amplitude of the holographic mirror may be controlled simply by writing a computer-generated hologram in the form of a grey-scale image to the device, for on-demand laser modes. We show that we can digitally control the laser modes with ease, and demonstrate real-time switching between spatial modes in an otherwise standard solid-state laser resonator. Our work opens new possibilities for the customizing of laser modes at source.

Petal-like modes in Porro prism resonators

A new approach to modeling the spatial intensity profile from Porro prism resonators is proposed based on rotating loss screens to mimic the apex losses of the prisms. A numerical model based on this approach is presented which correctly predicts the output transverse field distribution found experimentally from such resonators.

Kaleidoscope modes in large aperture Porro prism resonators.

We apply a new method of modeling Porro prism resonators, using the concept of rotating loss screens, to study stable and unstable Porro prism resonator. We show that the previously observed petal--like modal output is in fact only the lowest order mode, and reveal that a variety of kaleidoscope beam modes will be produced by these resonators when the intra--cavity apertures are sufficiently large to allow higher order modes to oscillate. We also show that only stable resonators will produce these modes.

Porro prism lasers: a new perspective

Porro prism lasers are insensitive to misalignment caused by, for example, shock and temperature variation, making them useful in field applications, for example in target designation and range-finding systems. This property is a result of the property of Porro prisms that they return a reflected beam parallel to the incident beam, regardless of any tilt on the prism. These lasers are generally used in a marginally stable or unstable configuration for low divergence, but in the stable configuration some interesting kaleidoscope modes can be modelled. In previous work on Porro prism resonators we formulated an analytical method of determining which Porro angles resonate and result in petal output modes, as well as the corresponding number of petals. This work has been verified using a numerical model as well as experimentally. We have developed this work further and have investigated the losses associated with a range of Porro angles as well as the effects of these losses on the resulting modes. We conclude by summarizing the design considerations for Porro prism lasers.

ANALYSIS OF TRANSVERSE FIELD DISTRIBUTIONS IN PORRO PRISM RESONATORS

A model to describe the transverse field distribution of the output beam from porro prism resonators is proposed. The model allows the prediction of the output transverse field distribution by assuming that the main areas of loss are located at the apexes of the porro prisms. Experimental work on a particular system showed some interested correlations between the time domain behavior of the resonator and the transverse field output. These findings are presented and discussed.

Modeling laser brightness from cross Porro prism resonators

Laser brightness is a parameter often used to compare high power laser beam delivery from various sources, and incorporates both the power contained in the particular mode, as well as the propagation of that mode through the beam quality factor, M2. In this study a cross Porro prism resonator is considered; crossed Porro prism resonators have been known for some time, but until recently have not been modeled as a complete physical optics system that allows the modal output to be determined as a function of the rotation angle of the prisms. In this paper we consider the diffraction losses as a function of the prism rotation angle relative to one another, and combine this with the propagation of the specific modes to determine the laser output brightness as a function of the prism orientation.

Laser beam shaping limitations for laboratory simulation of turbulence using a phase-only spatial light modulator

Recent approaches to demonstrating adaptive optics and atmospheric turbulence have made use of spatial light modulators (SLMs) as the active phase element. However, there are limitations in using SLMs as an accurate method of simulating turbulence phase screens. In this work we investigate the limitation of laser beam shaping with a phase-only spatial light modulator for the simulation of dynamic and pseudo-random turbulence in the laboratory. We find that there are regimes where there are not sufficient pixels to resolve the phase. At the higher end of this range, at strong turbulence levels, the zonal regions are tightly packed. This leads to two simultaneous effects: a phase screen with low efficiency in some regions, and a modified turbulence structure due to the shifting of the zone peaks. These amplitude and phase distortions have a deleterious effect on the accurate simulation of the turbulence. At the lower end of the range, at weak turbulence, the phase change is too small to describe with sufficient grey scale levels, since the full 256 levels are associated with a full 2π phase shift. Further limitations include the frame rate of SLM for time-evolving turbulence. We show experimental results demonstrating these limitations, and discuss the impact this has on simulating turbulence with SLMs.