The digital laser: on-demand laser modes with the click of a button

Forbes, Andrew; Ngcobo, Sandile; Burger, Liesl; Litvin, Igor A.

doi:10.1117/12.2048372

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Recent advancements in laser beam shape engineering employing electronically controlled spatial light modulators (SLMs) [1][2][3], anamorphic optical systems [4][5][6], as well as coherent beam combination based on optical phased array (OPA) principles [7][8][9] have resulted in a variety of structured laser beam shapes. When applying existing industry techniques for the characterization of beam propagation characteristics, such as beam size, results may raise some reasonable questions justifying a closer look at the problem.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Propagation characteristics and characterization challenges of complex laser field distributions

Soskind

2016

Photonic Instrumentation Engineering III

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The paper presents the propagation characteristics of several complex laser field distributions. It also outlines the challenges associated with characterizing laser fields based on their M 2 parameter. To alleviate the challenges, we introduce a new beam characterization technique for defining the propagation characteristics of arbitrary laser beams. The new technique is based on calculating laser beam propagation characteristics as a function of the field's lateral coordinates, and provides a quantitative way of accounting for the fractional beam power diffracted outside of the beam central node. The technique, called FM 2 (FM-squared), accounts for the spatial evolution of the M 2 beam quality parameter. It provides insights into the beam quality of laser beams, including the quality of laser beams affected by diffraction or by wavefront distortions, as well as the complex field distributions resulting from a coherent superposition of the individual beams contained within optical phased arrays.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Propagation characteristics and characterization challenges of complex laser field distributions

Soskind

2016

Photonic Instrumentation Engineering III

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“…An intracavity optically addressed SLM has also been used to manipulate the beam intensity profile [8], but required a complex intracavity imaging system to create a phase screen. More recently we have demonstrated the on-demand creation of modes with an intracavity electrically addressed SLM [9][10][11][12]. The unique advantages of using an intracavity electrically-addressed SLM are the ability to create a very wide range of free-space beams, and the ability to do so dynamically.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implementation of a spatial light modulator for intracavity beam shaping

Burger

Litvin

Ngcobo

et al. 2014

J. Opt.

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In this paper we outline the steps necessary to create a laser with an intra-cavity spatial light modulator (SLM) for transverse mode control. We employ a commercial SLM as the back reflector in an otherwise conventional diode-pumped solid state laser. We show that the geometry of the liquid crystal (LC) arrangement strongly influences the operating regime of the laser, from nominally amplitude-only mode control for twisted nematic LCs to nominally phaseonly mode control for parallel-aligned LCs. We demonstrate both operating regimes experimentally and discuss the potential advantages of and improvements to this new technology.

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Nonlinear multimode photonics: nonlinear optics with many degrees of freedom

Wright

Renninger

Christodoulides

et al. 2022

Optica

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The overall goal of photonics research is to understand and control light in new and richer ways to facilitate new and richer applications. Many major developments to this end have relied on nonlinear optical techniques, such as lasing, mode-locking, and parametric downconversion, to enable applications based on the interactions of coherent light with matter. These processes often involve nonlinear interactions between photonic and material degrees of freedom spanning multiple spatiotemporal scales. While great progress has been made with relatively simple optimizations, such as maximizing single-mode coherence or peak intensity alone, the ultimate achievement of coherent light engineering is complete, multidimensional control of light–light and light–matter interactions through tailored construction of complex optical fields and systems that exploit all of light’s degrees of freedom. This capability is now within sight, due to advances in telecommunications, computing, algorithms, and modeling. Control of highly multimode optical fields and processes also facilitates quantitative and qualitative advances in optical imaging, sensing, communication, and information processing since these applications directly depend on our ability to detect, encode, and manipulate information in as many optical degrees of freedom as possible. Today, these applications are increasingly being enhanced or enabled by both multimode engineering and nonlinearity. Here, we provide a brief overview of multimode nonlinear photonics, focusing primarily on spatiotemporal nonlinear wave propagation and, in particular, on promising future directions and routes to applications. We conclude with an overview of emerging processes and methodologies that will enable complex, coherent nonlinear photonic devices with many degrees of freedom.

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The digital laser: on-demand laser modes with the click of a button

Cited by 3 publications

References 22 publications

Propagation characteristics and characterization challenges of complex laser field distributions

Propagation characteristics and characterization challenges of complex laser field distributions

Implementation of a spatial light modulator for intracavity beam shaping

Nonlinear multimode photonics: nonlinear optics with many degrees of freedom

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