A laser suitable for operation in a power range above 0.5 watts comprises a compact housing block defining at least first and second recesses and formed with cooling fluid channels that debouch into the first recess. A pumping source and a laser crystal are mounted in the first recess of the laser housing and beam generating and beam guiding components are mounted in the second recess of the laser housing and define conduits that are connected to the cooling fluid channels.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is filed as a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/194,745 filed Feb. 9, 1994, now abandoned the disclosure of which application is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
A solid state laser device according to the present invention comprises a pumping semiconductor laser 11 for oscillating a laser light as a pumping light, a collimator lens 12 for leading the laser light to parallel rays, a focusing lens 21 for focusing the laser light led to the parallel rays by the collimator lens 12 and leading the focused laser light to a laser medium 22, the laser medium 22 for absorbing the laser light and outputting a spontaneous emission light and an optical resonator 25 for confining the spontaneous emission light to make the laser light oscillated by an induced emission, wherein the solid state laser device includes a housing 10 for storing the a pumping semiconductor laser 11 and the collimator lens 12 in a state of positioning them on the same optical axis 16, and a housing 20 for housing the focusing lens 21, the laser medium 22 and the optical resonator 25 in a state of positioning them on the same optical axis, and the housings are detachable.
Disclosed is an optical component packaging assembly including a rectangular plastic box with an upper half and a lower half. In the lower half, a thermal plastic vacuum formed insert is positioned within the lower half. The lower insert has a recess. The recess has opposed convex ends and central finger recesses. The opposed convex ends prevent the end faces of the optical component from being brought into contact with the insert. The convex ends may be v-shaped or semi-circular. The finger recesses provide convenient access to the laser rod so that the person unpackaging the laser rod from the optical component packaging is most likely to engage the laser rod at a center portion thereof rather than grasping the laser rod at the end faces thereof, thereby inadvertently damaging the optical surfaces of the laser rod. When the optical component packaging box is closed, a downwardly extending portion from an insert placed in the upper half of the box engages the outer diameter of the laser rod and secures the laser rod in position in the recess.
A laser system based on a common platform capable of being tailored to meet specific application requirements through simple and flexible means is disclosed. The output beam characteristics of the laser source are fully determined by a plug-in module that can be easily replaced on demand to modify one or more of those output beam characteristics. A connection module provides a robust, flexible and detachable connection between the common laser platform and the plug-in module, thus ensuring stable and well defined laser output beam without precluding on demand adjustment of its characteristics. Several embodiments are disclosed for a laser system with single or multiple output beams both with similar or dissimilar characteristics.
