A method of laser welding is described wherein a concentrated high power laser beam is moved along a workpiece surface at an interaction point where a flow of gas is introduced. It has thus been found that ordinarily a standing absorption cloud of ionized material is formed by the interaction of the high power laser energy and workpiece which then dissipates a large portion of the laser beam; however, when a gas is flowed across the interaction point, ionization is prevented and consequently sub...

This space vehicle carries a vaporizable propellant and energy is transmitted to the vehicle while in space by a laser beam originating on the ground or some other body or satellite. The space vehicle has replaceable propellant tanks and propellant flow from them through a transparent tube on the focal axis of a parabolic cylindrical reflector. A high energy laser beam concentrated by the reflector heats the propellant which then travels through a swivel to a rocket nozzle aligned with the vehic...

In a laser transmitter employing a glass laser rod, the laser rod, a flashlamp for exciting the rod, and pump light reflector are encapsulated in a resilient potting material and the resulting assembly is secured in a frame by means of a resilient potting material. The reflectors defining the laser cavity together with other elements of the cavity are also mounted in pockets defined in the frame. A circuit is provided to generate high voltages from a low voltage supply for energizing the flashla...

A bi-refringent sensor polarizes a laser beam to produce a pair of cross-arized beams having a frequency difference proportional to the stresses applied to the sensor. The instrument measures accelerations of a movable object and the stresses applied to the sensor are substantially responsive only to accelerations in a particular sensing direction or axis. For this purpose a flexure coupling pivotally supports a stress-producing proof mass and the coupling is pivotally responsive to acceleration...

A semiconductor diode laser has been fabricated from a lead-germanium telluride cyrstal. For example, a Pb.sub.0.95 Ge.sub.0.05 Te diode has been found to exhibit peak emission at a wavelength of 4.45.mu.. Compositional tuning of the device enables the selection of any desired peak emission wavelength within the approximate range of 2 to 6.mu., which is useful for the spectroscopic determination of atmospheric gases and/or pollutants, including particularly carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and ni...

A laser printing system wherein man readable alphanumeric characters and machine readable binary code marks are laser marked on card connector housings. A scanning galvanometer and mirror, lens, and wire mask print heads are provided for rendering the laser beam effective to print in accordance with input data from a punched card reader.

A laser transceiver device useful in combination with an object to be vie which object carries a suitably coded transponder, which laser transceiver includes a single objective lens system positioned for both transmission and reception of laser energy, a detector, and a tiltable mirror system for alternatively directing transmitted laser energy onto said objective lens system and said received laser energy onto said detector. The laser transceiver device can consist of a modified single lens ref...

A plurality of disks include solid laserable material and are in parallel spaced apart relation within a transparent tubular enclosure. Spaces between the disks constitute portions of a collant fluid passage within the tubular enclosure. Transparent end members at the opposite ends of the tubular enclosure are located in the path of radiant energy emitted by the laserable material. Coolant fluid passes radially through an exterior sleeve which encircles the end of the tubular enclosure. Sealing ...

The positions of the reflector and the optical element are regulated with respect to the active medium through a sleeve which surrounds a portion of the optical resonant cavity of a laser generator.

Endoscope equipped both with an observation optic and a Laser beam, including a deflectable reflector enabling the laser beam to scan the body tissue and a focus enabling the laser beam focal plane to be varied depth-wise in the body tissue.