CA2074749C - Multiwavelength solid state laser using frequency conversion techniques - Google Patents
Multiwavelength solid state laser using frequency conversion techniques Download PDFInfo
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Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02F—OPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS
- G02F1/00—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics
- G02F1/35—Non-linear optics
- G02F1/353—Frequency conversion, i.e. wherein a light beam is generated with frequency components different from those of the incident light beams
- G02F1/3532—Arrangements of plural nonlinear devices for generating multi-colour light beams, e.g. arrangements of SHG, SFG, OPO devices for generating RGB light beams
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02F—OPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS
- G02F1/00—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics
- G02F1/35—Non-linear optics
- G02F1/37—Non-linear optics for second-harmonic generation
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02F—OPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS
- G02F1/00—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics
- G02F1/35—Non-linear optics
- G02F1/353—Frequency conversion, i.e. wherein a light beam is generated with frequency components different from those of the incident light beams
- G02F1/3534—Three-wave interaction, e.g. sum-difference frequency generation
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02F—OPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS
- G02F1/00—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics
- G02F1/35—Non-linear optics
- G02F1/37—Non-linear optics for second-harmonic generation
- G02F1/377—Non-linear optics for second-harmonic generation in an optical waveguide structure
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02F—OPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS
- G02F1/00—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics
- G02F1/35—Non-linear optics
- G02F1/39—Non-linear optics for parametric generation or amplification of light, infrared or ultraviolet waves
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- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Nonlinear Science (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Optics & Photonics (AREA)
- Optical Modulation, Optical Deflection, Nonlinear Optics, Optical Demodulation, Optical Logic Elements (AREA)
- Lasers (AREA)
- Optical Communication System (AREA)
Abstract
A process and apparatus are disclosed for producing multiwavelength coherent radiations ranging from deep-ultraviolet to mid-infrared. The basic laser 1 is a pulsed Nd:YAG or Nd:YLF laser which is frequency converted by a set of novel nonlinear crystals, including D-CDA, LBO, BBO, KTP, and KNbO3, where efficient schemes using noncritical phase matching and cylindrical focusing are employed. A
computer controlled integrated system (Figs. 4 & 5) suitable for multiple industrial and medical applications is described, particularly where a UV (at 210 nm and 213 nm) solid state laser is desired such as in refractive surgery. Furthermore, using optical parametric oscillation and nonlinear crystals, the laser system can produce tunable (1.5 - 4.5 microns) wavelengths covering a variety of medical applications.
computer controlled integrated system (Figs. 4 & 5) suitable for multiple industrial and medical applications is described, particularly where a UV (at 210 nm and 213 nm) solid state laser is desired such as in refractive surgery. Furthermore, using optical parametric oscillation and nonlinear crystals, the laser system can produce tunable (1.5 - 4.5 microns) wavelengths covering a variety of medical applications.
Description
2074~~9 2 1. Field of the Invention 3 This invention relates generally to 4 multiwavelength laser sources using novel nonlinear crystals for frequency conversion of solid state 6 lasers. More particularly, this invention relates the 7 generation of coherent radiations at ultraviolet, 8 visible and infrared wavelengths which are selected by 9 frequency converters for multiple industrial and surgical applications. This invention is 11 particularly, but not exclusively, useful for 12 ophthalmic surgery.
13 2. Prior Art 14 Various commercial lasers have been used for surgical treatments including gas lasers (such as COZ, 16 excimer, argon, cu- vapor lasers), liquid lasers (dye 17 lasers) and solid state lasers (such as YAG, 18 semiconductor, Ti:sapphire lasers). Important 19 parameters for laser technology include wavelength, energy (or fluence), intensity (or power) and 21 repetition rate which are designed for the particular 22 purpose being employed. For medical applications 23 which are governed mainly by the laser beam's 24 wavelength, there is a strong need for a multiple-purpose laser system in which 26 multiwavelengths may be generated from a single laser 27 unit. A variety of laser active media are currently 28 used for the generation of different wavelengths 20'4749 1 suitable for particular surgical applications.
2 Typical examples of these laser active media are:
3 Nd:YAG (for 1.064 microns), Ho:YAG (for 2.1 microns), 4 Er:YAG (for 2.94 microns) and excimer lasers (for ultraviolet, 193-351 nm). A dual-wavelength (at 532 6 nm and 1064 nm) solid state laser using a 7 frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser is currently used for 8 surgical treatments such as gynecology. For 9 ophthalmic surgery, YAG-based lasers with dopants of Nd, Ho, or Er with output wavelengths at approximately 11 1, 2 and 3 microns and excimer lasers (at 193 nm, 308 12 nm) have been used, where the Ho:YAG, Er:YAG and 13 excimer lasers (at 193) are known as the candidates 14 for refractive surgery using either external ablation (corneal tissue bond-breaking) or internal ablation 16 (elastic alternation).
17 In light of the above, it is an object of the 18 present invention to incorporate a frequency-converter 19 using nonlinear crystals capable of producing a multiwavelength beam having all the wavelengths 21 described above (from ultraviolet to infrared), where 22 a particular surgical treatment may be achieved from 23 a single laser system by switching the 24 frequency-converter. In particular, the invention discloses a solid state laser at wavelength 210 nm or 26 213 nm which is a potential substitute for the argon 27 fluoride excimer laser but has the advantages of 28 lower-cost, smaller- size, less-maintenance, greater 29 precision and, more importantly, the absence of toxic .
and hazardous materials. Another objective of the 31 present invention is to produce a yellow laser with 32 wavelength around 585-589 nm by using frequency mixing 2074'49 1 of two solid state lasers in lithium triborate (LBO) 2 crystal. This yellow laser provides a variety of 3 surgical applications which are currently being 4 performed by krypton or copper vapor lasers. It is yet another object of the present invention to use 6 optical parametric oscillation in nonlinear crystals, 7 in which the disclosed laser system can produce 8 tunable (1.5-4.5 microns) wavelengths covering medical 9 applications which currently use holmium and erbium io lasers.
11 Besides ophthalmic surgery, the multiwavelength 12 solid state laser disclosed in this invention may be 13 applied to many other medical surgeries such as laser 14 angiosurgery, laser lithotripsy and laser neurosurgery. Among many potential industrial 16 applications, the ultraviolet wavelength produced by 17 the present invention provides a fast and precise tool 18 for optical processing and micromachining.
19 Nonlinear crystals are the essential elements of the present invention. Efficiency is always the key 21 issue of any frequency conversion technique (FCT) 22 using nonlinear crystals. The FCTs used in this ' 23 invention include second harmonic generation (SHG), 24 fourth harmonic generation (4HG) and fifth harmonic generation (5HG) which converts a laser output into 26 shorter wavelengths 1/2, 1/4 and 1/5 of the 27 fundamental wavelength, respectively. The frequency 28 conversion efficiency depends on both the laser and 29 the nonlinear crystal parameters such as beam divergence, beam quality, focusing, beam walk-off and 31 crystal damage threshold. Moreover, this invention 32 also employs the optical parametric oscillation (oPO) 1 process which converts the fundamental wavelength to 2 longer but tunable wavelengths.
3 The present invention uses nonlinear crystals 4 including beta barium borate (BBO), lithium triborate (LBO), potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) and potassium 6 niobate (KNb03). Among these crystals, LBO is a new 7 novel crystal suitable for high-power laser 8 application and BBO is a unique crystal which provides 9 the ultraviolet wavelength (shorter than 220 nm). The properties, applications and description of the 11 frequency conversion techniques used in this invention 12 were published by the inventor, J.T. Lin, in Optical 13 and Quantum Electronics, Vol. 22, 5383-5313 (1990):
14 Optics Communication, Vol. 80, 159 (1990). Another object of the present invention is to integrate these 16 nonlinear crystals into one single unit for multiple 17 medical applications and, in particular, for 18 ophthalmic surgery using the ultraviolet and mid-19 infrared wavelength produced by the all solid state multiwavelength laser.
21 Prior art U.S. Patents that for the making of 22 beta barium borate can be seen in U.S. Patent No.
23 4,897,249 for a Barium Borate Preparation and in 24 patent No. 4,931,133 for a High Temperature Solution Growth of Barium Borate (BaB202). Other U.S. patents 26 suggesting the use of Barium Borate in a laser system 27 can be seen in patent No. 4,809,291 for a Diode Pumped 28 Laser and Doubling to obtain Blue Light which suggest 29 the use of a number of non linear electro-optic doubler materials including beta barium borate and in 31 patent No. 4, 933,945 for an Arrangement for 32 Converting the Frequency of a Laser Beam which 1 suggests that if the frequency is to be tripled in the 2 apparatus shown, then a BBO crystal can be used in 3 lieu of the KTP crystal. In patent # 4,879,722 for a 4 Generation of Coherent Optical Radiation by Optical Mixing a diode pumped neodymium doped lasant material 6 such as Nd:YAG is used with a nonlinear crystal in the 7 same cavity and suggests the use of potassium titanyl 8 phosphate (KTiOP04) but also mentions other known 9 nonlinear crystals as including beta barium borate.
Patent # 4,884, 277 also uses a diode pumped Nd:YAG
11 laser having two or more nonlinear crystals in the 12 same cavity and suggests beta barium borate as one of 13 the crystals in which all of the crystals can be of ;r 14 the same material or may include different crystals ;.
used in combination.
17 Towards this end and according to the present 18 invention, a preferred embodiment of the novel 19 multiwavelength solid state laser apparatus includes a standard commercial Nd:YAG or Nd:YLF pulsed laser 21 which is frequency converted by a set of nonlinear 22 crystals consisting of LBO, BBO, KTP and KNb03 having 23 output wavelengths of ultraviolet (UV), green, yellow 24 and infrared (IR). One or more than one multiwavelength may be selected by switching to the 26 appropriate frequency converters which are integrated 27 in one laser unit. The selected wavelengths) is then 28 delivered by the appropriate optics for a particular 29 surgery. The process and apparatus of the present ~o~~ ~~~
1 invention embody the following features and 2 applications:
3 (1) Use of temperature-controlled LBO crystal 4 which is operated at the noncritical phase-matching (NCPM); high efficiency of frequency doubling (for 6 green laser) and frequency mixing (for yellow laser) 7 are achieved under this condition which causes no beam 8 walk-off. LBO is the crystal having the highest 9 damage threshold among the existing crystals.
High-power green and yellow lasers are uniquely 11 achieved in the NCPM LBO crystal. High efficient 12 second harmonic generation (SHG) is essential for the 13 generation of high-power UV radiation.
14 (2) Two BBO crystals with phase matching angle cuts at 47.6° and 51° respectively are used for the 4HG
16 and 5HG of the fundamental laser, where BBO is the 17 crystal for the UV radiation using the 5HG of a YAG
18 laser.
19 (3) KTP or KNb03 crystals are chosen for tunable IR radiation, where these crystals are pumped by the 21 fundamental laser. High efficiency is achievable by 22 using the NCPM (at room temperature) of KTP and the 23 high nonlinearity of KNb03.
24 (4) A preferred embodiment of the present invention is based on state-of-the-art laser 26 technology using the commercial Nd:YAG or Nd:YLF
27 laser. These basic lasers are well-established and 28 may be operated at pulse durations of subpicosecond to 29 tens of nanoseconds, and at repetition rates of few Hz to GHz. Therefore, the multiwavelength laser 31 disclosed in the present invention can also reserve 32 all the good features of the basic lasers while 1 expanding their spectra from UV to IR ranges using a 2 set of nonlinear crystals.
3 (5) Fox refractive surgery, the present 4 invention provides the all-solid-state laser with UV
wavelengths (at 210 nm or 213 nm) which has 6 significant advantages over the currently used excimer 7 laser (at 193 nm) including lower-cost, smaller-size, 8 less-maintenance, more-precision and the absence of 9 toxic gas and hazardous material. Furthermore, the fourth harmonic (at 263 nm or 266 nm) has a better 11 fiber transmission than that of the argon fluoride 12 excimer laser (at 193 nm) and may be used for laser 13 trabeculoplasty and laser photocoagulation.
14 (6) The multiwavelength laser system of the present invention provides a unique system which is 16 capable of multiple applications by simply switching 17 the frequency converters.
18 The foregoing and other features and advantages 19 of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of preferred embodiments 21 thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
23 FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the harmonic 24 generation of a pulsed solid state laser with multiwavelengths of IR, green, and W spectra;
26 FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the polarization 27 directions of the fundamental and the harmonic beams 28 associated with FIG. 1;
2~747~9 1 FIG. 3, 3A and 3B are schematic diagrams of the 2 generation of tunable IR sources using optical 3 parametric oscillation;
4 FTG. 4 is a block diagram showing an integrated system which combines FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 for 6 multiwavelength surgical applications; and 7 FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the generation 8 of yellow coherent source using frequency mixing in 9 nonlinear crystal.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
11 Referring to FIG. 1, the optical system according 12 to this embodiment of the present invention, comprises 13 a commercial pulsed solid state laser 1 having an IR
14 wavelength 2 (1.064 nm for Nd:YAG, 1.053 nm for Nd:YLF) and is coupled by optics 3 into the first 16 nonlinear doubling crystal 4 producing a second 17 harmonic beam having a green wavelength (530 nm for 18 Nd:YAG, 527 nm for Nd:YLF). The harmonic beam 5 is 19 further frequency converted by the second nonlinear crystal 6 producing a fourth harmonic beam having a W
21 wavelength 7 (266 nm for Nd:YAG, 260 nm for Nd:YLF).
22 The fundamental beam 2 and the fourth harmonic 7 are 23 then frequency mixed in the third nonlinear crystal 8 24 producing a fifth harmonic beam having a shorter UV
wavelength 9 (213 nm for Nd:YAG, 210 nm for Nd:YLF).
26 Still referring to FIG. 1, the basic solid state 27 laser 1, according to the present invention, is an 28 optically pumped system (either flashlamp pumped or 29 diode laser pumped) which is commercially available with a pulse duration ranging from subpicosecond to 2074"r49 1 few tens nanoseconds with a repetition rate ranging 2 from a few Hz to a few GHz. It is well known that 3 this basic laser 1 is available by the standard means 4 of Q-switch or mode-lock and is available from laser companies such as Coherent, Inc. and Quantronix, Inc., 6 where the preferred lasing media of the present ' 7 invention are Nd:YAG and Nd:YLF.
8 The nonlinear crystals used in FIG. 1 in general 9 should include D-CDA (deuterated cecium dihydrogen arsenate), D-KDP (deuterated potassium dihydrogen il phosphate), KTP (potassium titanyl phosphate), LBO
12 (lithium triborate), and BBO (beta barium borate).
13 The first preferred embodiment of the present 14 invention consists of LBO or KTP for doubling, and BBO
for fourth and fifth harmonic generation. In this 16 embodiment the LBO crystal was housed in an oven at a 17 temperature around 149°C (for Nd:YAG laser) and 161°C
18 (for Nd:YLF laser), which were measured to be the 19 noncritical phase matching (NCPM) condition. Under this NCPM condition, conversion efficiency was 21 optimized in the absence of beam walk-off. The fourth 22 and the fifth harmonic generation crystals of BBO, 6 23 and 8, were angle cut at 47.6° and 51°, respectively, 24 for the type I operation.
The second preferred embodiment of the present z6 invention consists of type I D-CDA for doubling and 27 type I D-KDP for quadrupling, where efficient room 28 temperature operation can be achieved due to the small 29 beam walk-off effects and long crystal length (20 to 30 mm). Moreover, for the case of high power lasers 31 which may damage the crystal, a large beam spot size 32 is preferred and a large crystal size is required.
2~7~74~
1 The combination of D-CDA and D-KDP provides the cost 2 effective operation.
3 The present invention recognizes that BBO crystal 4 is the unique nonlinear crystal having W transmission and is phase matchable for fifth harmonic generation 6 of a Nd:YAG or Nd:YLF laser. The combination of LBO
7 and BBO crystals in the preferred embodiment of the 8 present invention provides a high overall efficiency 9 for the generation of multiwavelengths at green and two UV wavelengths. Furthermore, the conversion 11 efficiency can be improved by using a cylindrical 12 focal lens in the optical component 3, where the 13 fundamental beam 2 is focused more tightly along the 14 insensitive direction of the LBO and BBO crystals.
As illustrated in FIG. 2, there are two 16 alternative embodiments which are able to produce the 17 fifth harmonic generation using either type I or type 18 II operations. Figure 2.A shows the polarization 19 direction of the fundamental and the harmonic using type I operation, where a good spatial overlap between 21 the fundamental 2 and the fourth harmonic 7 beam is 22 achieved in the appropriate polarization for the 23 generation of fifth harmonic 9. As shown in FIG. 2.B, 24 the fifth harmonic can also be produced by combining type II doubling (using KTP or D-KDP) and tripling, 26 where the third harmonic 10 (produced by a type II
27 tripling crystal 11, LBO or BBO) is mixed with the 28 second harmonic 5 in a BBO crystal 12 (angle cut at 29 69.5° for type II operation) for the fifth harmonic generation 9. This preferred embodiment represents 31 the simplest structure that combines three nonlinear ,.
32 crystals having the appropriate polarization 1 orientations for both type I and type II operations.
2 No waveplates are required in this embodiment.
3 FIG. 3 illustrates the basic pulsed solid state 4 laser 1 having the IR wavelengths 2 which is focused by the optics 3 into an optical parametric oscillation 6 (OPO) cavity 13 to produce the tunable IR wavelength 7 14 ranging from 1.5 to 4.5 nm. Three preferred 8 embodiments of the OPO cavities are disclosed in the 9 present invention. The first embodiment 13 is compressed of a nonlinear crystal 15 (KTP or KNb03) and 11 a pair of mirrors 16 and 17 with the appropriate 12 coatings: mirror 16 has high transmission at the pump 13 (fundamental) wavelength and high reflection at the 14 signal (1.5-4.5 nm) wavelengths; mirror 17 should be coated for coupling at 10% to 20% at the signal 16 wavelength.
17 The second embodiment I3 shown in FIG. 3 is 18 comprised of two nonlinear crystals I9 and 20 which 19 are slightly oriented in the extraordinary index direction to compensate the beam walk-off inside the 21 crystals 19 and 20. The third embodiment 13 shows 22 that the output power of the signal 14 can be further 23 enhanced by going through another nonlinear crystal 21 24 which serves as an amplifier.
Referring to FIG. 3B, the optics 3 is preferred 26 to be a cylindrical focal length resulting in tighter 27 focusing of the fundamental beam 2 in the insensitive 28 direction of the nonlinear crystals 15, 19, 20, and 29 21. The nonlinear crystals used in the OPO cavity should be angle cut for the appropriate tuning ranges.
31 For example, KTP should be cut at approximately 50° in 32 the XZ plane of the crystal, where the tuning range of ~~~4~49 1 1.5 to 4.5 nm is achievable by angle tuning of a few 2 degrees. Alternatively, an angle cut at 54° is 3 preferred for the generation of signal wavelengths of 4 around 2 nm using the degenerate point. The present invention also recognizes that noncritical phase 6 matching (NCPM) in KTP can be achieved at room 7 temperature, where the pumping beam can propagate 8 along X or Y axis ,of the crystal. Under this NCPM
9 condition, high efficiency is achievable for the generation of IR wavelengths at around 1.54-1.6 11 microns and 3.2-3.4 microns due to the absence of the 12 beam walk-off effect. The alternative nonlinear 13 crystal KNbo3 which has a higher nonlinearity than KTP
14 is also recognized in the present invention, where an angle cut at around 41° in the XZ plane is preferred 16 for the OPO output signal wavelength range of 1.5 to 17 4.5 nm. KNb03 has narrower acceptance widths (angular 18 and spectral) than that of KTP, whereas KNb03 has the 19 higher efficiency and tunability. In the present invention we also disclose that the eye safe 21 wavelength at 1.54 nm can be achieved efficiently by 22 using KNb03 (angle cut) or KTP (NCPM condition with the 23 pump beam propagating along the Y axis), where the 24 NCPM in KTP is a unique operation achieving the eye safe radiation at 1.54 nm.
26 As illustrated in FIG. 4, a preferred embodiment 27 for the integrated system combining the 28 multiwavelengths generated from FIGS. 1 and 3. A
29 novel feature of this integrated system includes the multiwavelength flexibility achievable from a 31 commercially available single solid state laser, where 32 the system can be upgraded to cover a wide range of 2~'~47~9 1 spectra (UV to IR) simply by incorporating additional 2 frequency converters. These frequency converters are 3 comprised of one or more than one nonlinear crystals) 4 defined in FTGS. 1 and 3. As shown in FIG. 4, specific wavelengths 2, 5, 7, 9 and 14 can be easily 6 selected by the beam splatters 22 to 26 for either one 7 specific or multiple applications including industry, 8 scientific, or medical uses. Examples of applications 9 of this integrated system as discussed in the summary of the present invention should include, but not be 11 limited to, ophthalmic surgery (such as refractive 12 surgery using UV and mid-IR wavelengths), laser 13 angiosurgery, laser lithotripsy and laser 14 neurosurgery, high resolution optical processing and micromachining.
16 Still referring to FIG. 4, the multiwavelengths, 17 2, 5, 7, 9 and 14, can be controlled and selected by 18 a computer system 27 and delivered to the target 28 by 19 the delivery system 29. The computer system 27 is comprised of a software package designed for 21 wavelength selection, energy/power adjustability and 22 stabilization, and the total fluence applied to the 23 target 28. The target 28 can be tissue or any other 24 material.
Referring to FIG. 5, two basic solid state 26 lasers, 1 and 30, having a wavelength 2 at 1.064 nm 27 for Nd:YAG (or 1.053 nm for Nd:YLF) and having a 28 wavelength 31 at 1.319 nm (or 1.32 nm) are locked by 29 a phase locker 32 and coupled by a turning mirror 33 and a polarization coupler 34. These two wavelengths, 31 2 and 31, are then focused by optics 3 into a 32 nonlinear crystal 35 for sum frequency mixing into a ~0~4749 1 wavelength 36 at 589 nm (for Nd:YAG) or 585 nm (f.or 2 Nd:YLF).
3 The nonlinear crystals for frequency mixing 4 include KTP, BBO, KNb03 and LBO. The preferred nonlinear crystal 35, for the case of high power 6 lasers in the present invention, is the noncritical 7 phase matching LBO crystal which is temperature tuned 8 at around 42°C for a high efficiency in the absence of 9 beam walk-off effects.
l0 Still referring to FIG. 5, the IR lasers, 1 and 11 30, with wavelengths, 2 and 31, can be delivered by 12 mirrors, 37 and 38, and focused by optics 3 into a 13 doubling crystal 39 for the generation of the 14 harmonics with wavelengths 5 (at 527 nm or 532 nm) and 40 (at 660 nm).
16 It is recognized by the present invention that 17 visible coherent sources at green, yellow, and red 18 spectra produced by the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 19 provides the alternative for medical applications which are currently performed by cu-vapor, krypton, 21 argon ion, or doubled-YAG lasers. Moreover, the three 22 color laser with wavelengths at green, yellow and red, 23 has potential applications for large screen TVs. It 24 is also recognized in the present invention that the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 can also be integrated into .
26 the embodiment shown in FIG. 4. The integrated system 27 is then capable of producing multiwavelengths 28 including UV (210 nm, 213 nm, 263 nm, 266 nm), visible 29 (yellow, green, red), and TR (1.064 um, 1.053 um, 1.5 to 4.5 um) spectra.
31 One of the preferred ophthalmic applications 32 using the UV wavelengths generated by the present 1 invention described in FIG. 1 is further described as 2 follows. The UV wavelengths 9 (either 213 nm or 210 3 nm) are recognized in the present invention as 4 excellent candidates for refractive surgery including the correction of nearsightedness, farsightedness, 6 astigmatism, and other vision deficiencies. The solid 7 state UV laser disclosed at the present invention will 8 offer ophthalmologists significant advantages over 9 excimer lasers, including lower cost, smaller-size, lower maintenance, greater precision, and absence of 11 toxic and hazardous materials. Moreover, this 12 integrated system will offer multiple surgical 13 capabilities using the unique triple wavelength 14 technology controlled by the frequency converters.
Triple wavelengths at the near-IR (around 1 um), 16 green, and UV are achieved by the embodiment shown in 17 FIG. 1, and three IR wavelengths at around 1, 2, and 18 3 um are achievable by the embodiment shown in FIG. 3.
19 Moreover, precise microsurgery can be done by scanning the predetermined-wavelength beam on the corneal 21 surface, where beam spot sizes range from a few 22 microns to a few millimeters are available. For the 23 case of short pulse (subpicosecond to a few picosecond 24 duration) and high repetition rate (kHz to GHz), very high beam density can be achieved by tight focusing of 26 the beam, where photoablation processes can be done 27 when the laser power density is higher than the 28 photoablation threshold. On the other hand, for the 29 case of longer pulse (nanosecond range) and low repetition rate (5 to 50 Hz), larger area corneal 31 ablation can be achieved when the laser fluence is 32 higher than the ablation threshold. Moreover, the :2~~4~49 1 computer control system 27 is able to predetermine the 2 shape of the corneal surface that needs to be reshaped 3 by beam delivery systems such as diaphragm, rotating 4 disc, or rotating slits, where the predetermined wavelength beam can be delivered to the target in the 6 predetermined pattern by using the commercially 7 available scanning systems.
8 While the nonlinear crystals are herein shown and 9 disclosed in detail are crystals in bulk form which suitable for high peak power lasers, nonlinear Z1 crystals in the waveguided form should not be excluded 12 from consideration particularly for diode-pumped low.
13 power lasers. These nonlinear waveguides should 14 include KTP, MgO: LiNb03, LiTao3, and the self-frequency doubling crystal of NYAB (neodymium yttrium aluminum 16 borate). The NYAB crystal is particularly attractive 17 for the generation of green coherent source (at 531 18 nm) using diode lasers as the pumping source.
19 Furthermore, the solid state lasers, 1 and 30, can be diode laser pumped systems or systems which combine 21 flashlamp pumped and diode pumped lasers, where good 22 beam quality, single mode lasers are commercially 23 available by using injection seeding.
24 While the invention has been shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it 26 will be understood by those skilled in the art that 27 the foregoing and other changes and variations in form 28 and detail may be made therein without departing from 29 the spirit, scope and teaching to the invention.
Accordingly, the method and apparatus, and the 31 industry and medical applications herein disclosed are 1 to be considered merely as illustrative and the 2 invention is to be limited only as specified in the 3 claims.
13 2. Prior Art 14 Various commercial lasers have been used for surgical treatments including gas lasers (such as COZ, 16 excimer, argon, cu- vapor lasers), liquid lasers (dye 17 lasers) and solid state lasers (such as YAG, 18 semiconductor, Ti:sapphire lasers). Important 19 parameters for laser technology include wavelength, energy (or fluence), intensity (or power) and 21 repetition rate which are designed for the particular 22 purpose being employed. For medical applications 23 which are governed mainly by the laser beam's 24 wavelength, there is a strong need for a multiple-purpose laser system in which 26 multiwavelengths may be generated from a single laser 27 unit. A variety of laser active media are currently 28 used for the generation of different wavelengths 20'4749 1 suitable for particular surgical applications.
2 Typical examples of these laser active media are:
3 Nd:YAG (for 1.064 microns), Ho:YAG (for 2.1 microns), 4 Er:YAG (for 2.94 microns) and excimer lasers (for ultraviolet, 193-351 nm). A dual-wavelength (at 532 6 nm and 1064 nm) solid state laser using a 7 frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser is currently used for 8 surgical treatments such as gynecology. For 9 ophthalmic surgery, YAG-based lasers with dopants of Nd, Ho, or Er with output wavelengths at approximately 11 1, 2 and 3 microns and excimer lasers (at 193 nm, 308 12 nm) have been used, where the Ho:YAG, Er:YAG and 13 excimer lasers (at 193) are known as the candidates 14 for refractive surgery using either external ablation (corneal tissue bond-breaking) or internal ablation 16 (elastic alternation).
17 In light of the above, it is an object of the 18 present invention to incorporate a frequency-converter 19 using nonlinear crystals capable of producing a multiwavelength beam having all the wavelengths 21 described above (from ultraviolet to infrared), where 22 a particular surgical treatment may be achieved from 23 a single laser system by switching the 24 frequency-converter. In particular, the invention discloses a solid state laser at wavelength 210 nm or 26 213 nm which is a potential substitute for the argon 27 fluoride excimer laser but has the advantages of 28 lower-cost, smaller- size, less-maintenance, greater 29 precision and, more importantly, the absence of toxic .
and hazardous materials. Another objective of the 31 present invention is to produce a yellow laser with 32 wavelength around 585-589 nm by using frequency mixing 2074'49 1 of two solid state lasers in lithium triborate (LBO) 2 crystal. This yellow laser provides a variety of 3 surgical applications which are currently being 4 performed by krypton or copper vapor lasers. It is yet another object of the present invention to use 6 optical parametric oscillation in nonlinear crystals, 7 in which the disclosed laser system can produce 8 tunable (1.5-4.5 microns) wavelengths covering medical 9 applications which currently use holmium and erbium io lasers.
11 Besides ophthalmic surgery, the multiwavelength 12 solid state laser disclosed in this invention may be 13 applied to many other medical surgeries such as laser 14 angiosurgery, laser lithotripsy and laser neurosurgery. Among many potential industrial 16 applications, the ultraviolet wavelength produced by 17 the present invention provides a fast and precise tool 18 for optical processing and micromachining.
19 Nonlinear crystals are the essential elements of the present invention. Efficiency is always the key 21 issue of any frequency conversion technique (FCT) 22 using nonlinear crystals. The FCTs used in this ' 23 invention include second harmonic generation (SHG), 24 fourth harmonic generation (4HG) and fifth harmonic generation (5HG) which converts a laser output into 26 shorter wavelengths 1/2, 1/4 and 1/5 of the 27 fundamental wavelength, respectively. The frequency 28 conversion efficiency depends on both the laser and 29 the nonlinear crystal parameters such as beam divergence, beam quality, focusing, beam walk-off and 31 crystal damage threshold. Moreover, this invention 32 also employs the optical parametric oscillation (oPO) 1 process which converts the fundamental wavelength to 2 longer but tunable wavelengths.
3 The present invention uses nonlinear crystals 4 including beta barium borate (BBO), lithium triborate (LBO), potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) and potassium 6 niobate (KNb03). Among these crystals, LBO is a new 7 novel crystal suitable for high-power laser 8 application and BBO is a unique crystal which provides 9 the ultraviolet wavelength (shorter than 220 nm). The properties, applications and description of the 11 frequency conversion techniques used in this invention 12 were published by the inventor, J.T. Lin, in Optical 13 and Quantum Electronics, Vol. 22, 5383-5313 (1990):
14 Optics Communication, Vol. 80, 159 (1990). Another object of the present invention is to integrate these 16 nonlinear crystals into one single unit for multiple 17 medical applications and, in particular, for 18 ophthalmic surgery using the ultraviolet and mid-19 infrared wavelength produced by the all solid state multiwavelength laser.
21 Prior art U.S. Patents that for the making of 22 beta barium borate can be seen in U.S. Patent No.
23 4,897,249 for a Barium Borate Preparation and in 24 patent No. 4,931,133 for a High Temperature Solution Growth of Barium Borate (BaB202). Other U.S. patents 26 suggesting the use of Barium Borate in a laser system 27 can be seen in patent No. 4,809,291 for a Diode Pumped 28 Laser and Doubling to obtain Blue Light which suggest 29 the use of a number of non linear electro-optic doubler materials including beta barium borate and in 31 patent No. 4, 933,945 for an Arrangement for 32 Converting the Frequency of a Laser Beam which 1 suggests that if the frequency is to be tripled in the 2 apparatus shown, then a BBO crystal can be used in 3 lieu of the KTP crystal. In patent # 4,879,722 for a 4 Generation of Coherent Optical Radiation by Optical Mixing a diode pumped neodymium doped lasant material 6 such as Nd:YAG is used with a nonlinear crystal in the 7 same cavity and suggests the use of potassium titanyl 8 phosphate (KTiOP04) but also mentions other known 9 nonlinear crystals as including beta barium borate.
Patent # 4,884, 277 also uses a diode pumped Nd:YAG
11 laser having two or more nonlinear crystals in the 12 same cavity and suggests beta barium borate as one of 13 the crystals in which all of the crystals can be of ;r 14 the same material or may include different crystals ;.
used in combination.
17 Towards this end and according to the present 18 invention, a preferred embodiment of the novel 19 multiwavelength solid state laser apparatus includes a standard commercial Nd:YAG or Nd:YLF pulsed laser 21 which is frequency converted by a set of nonlinear 22 crystals consisting of LBO, BBO, KTP and KNb03 having 23 output wavelengths of ultraviolet (UV), green, yellow 24 and infrared (IR). One or more than one multiwavelength may be selected by switching to the 26 appropriate frequency converters which are integrated 27 in one laser unit. The selected wavelengths) is then 28 delivered by the appropriate optics for a particular 29 surgery. The process and apparatus of the present ~o~~ ~~~
1 invention embody the following features and 2 applications:
3 (1) Use of temperature-controlled LBO crystal 4 which is operated at the noncritical phase-matching (NCPM); high efficiency of frequency doubling (for 6 green laser) and frequency mixing (for yellow laser) 7 are achieved under this condition which causes no beam 8 walk-off. LBO is the crystal having the highest 9 damage threshold among the existing crystals.
High-power green and yellow lasers are uniquely 11 achieved in the NCPM LBO crystal. High efficient 12 second harmonic generation (SHG) is essential for the 13 generation of high-power UV radiation.
14 (2) Two BBO crystals with phase matching angle cuts at 47.6° and 51° respectively are used for the 4HG
16 and 5HG of the fundamental laser, where BBO is the 17 crystal for the UV radiation using the 5HG of a YAG
18 laser.
19 (3) KTP or KNb03 crystals are chosen for tunable IR radiation, where these crystals are pumped by the 21 fundamental laser. High efficiency is achievable by 22 using the NCPM (at room temperature) of KTP and the 23 high nonlinearity of KNb03.
24 (4) A preferred embodiment of the present invention is based on state-of-the-art laser 26 technology using the commercial Nd:YAG or Nd:YLF
27 laser. These basic lasers are well-established and 28 may be operated at pulse durations of subpicosecond to 29 tens of nanoseconds, and at repetition rates of few Hz to GHz. Therefore, the multiwavelength laser 31 disclosed in the present invention can also reserve 32 all the good features of the basic lasers while 1 expanding their spectra from UV to IR ranges using a 2 set of nonlinear crystals.
3 (5) Fox refractive surgery, the present 4 invention provides the all-solid-state laser with UV
wavelengths (at 210 nm or 213 nm) which has 6 significant advantages over the currently used excimer 7 laser (at 193 nm) including lower-cost, smaller-size, 8 less-maintenance, more-precision and the absence of 9 toxic gas and hazardous material. Furthermore, the fourth harmonic (at 263 nm or 266 nm) has a better 11 fiber transmission than that of the argon fluoride 12 excimer laser (at 193 nm) and may be used for laser 13 trabeculoplasty and laser photocoagulation.
14 (6) The multiwavelength laser system of the present invention provides a unique system which is 16 capable of multiple applications by simply switching 17 the frequency converters.
18 The foregoing and other features and advantages 19 of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of preferred embodiments 21 thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
23 FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the harmonic 24 generation of a pulsed solid state laser with multiwavelengths of IR, green, and W spectra;
26 FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the polarization 27 directions of the fundamental and the harmonic beams 28 associated with FIG. 1;
2~747~9 1 FIG. 3, 3A and 3B are schematic diagrams of the 2 generation of tunable IR sources using optical 3 parametric oscillation;
4 FTG. 4 is a block diagram showing an integrated system which combines FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 for 6 multiwavelength surgical applications; and 7 FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the generation 8 of yellow coherent source using frequency mixing in 9 nonlinear crystal.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
11 Referring to FIG. 1, the optical system according 12 to this embodiment of the present invention, comprises 13 a commercial pulsed solid state laser 1 having an IR
14 wavelength 2 (1.064 nm for Nd:YAG, 1.053 nm for Nd:YLF) and is coupled by optics 3 into the first 16 nonlinear doubling crystal 4 producing a second 17 harmonic beam having a green wavelength (530 nm for 18 Nd:YAG, 527 nm for Nd:YLF). The harmonic beam 5 is 19 further frequency converted by the second nonlinear crystal 6 producing a fourth harmonic beam having a W
21 wavelength 7 (266 nm for Nd:YAG, 260 nm for Nd:YLF).
22 The fundamental beam 2 and the fourth harmonic 7 are 23 then frequency mixed in the third nonlinear crystal 8 24 producing a fifth harmonic beam having a shorter UV
wavelength 9 (213 nm for Nd:YAG, 210 nm for Nd:YLF).
26 Still referring to FIG. 1, the basic solid state 27 laser 1, according to the present invention, is an 28 optically pumped system (either flashlamp pumped or 29 diode laser pumped) which is commercially available with a pulse duration ranging from subpicosecond to 2074"r49 1 few tens nanoseconds with a repetition rate ranging 2 from a few Hz to a few GHz. It is well known that 3 this basic laser 1 is available by the standard means 4 of Q-switch or mode-lock and is available from laser companies such as Coherent, Inc. and Quantronix, Inc., 6 where the preferred lasing media of the present ' 7 invention are Nd:YAG and Nd:YLF.
8 The nonlinear crystals used in FIG. 1 in general 9 should include D-CDA (deuterated cecium dihydrogen arsenate), D-KDP (deuterated potassium dihydrogen il phosphate), KTP (potassium titanyl phosphate), LBO
12 (lithium triborate), and BBO (beta barium borate).
13 The first preferred embodiment of the present 14 invention consists of LBO or KTP for doubling, and BBO
for fourth and fifth harmonic generation. In this 16 embodiment the LBO crystal was housed in an oven at a 17 temperature around 149°C (for Nd:YAG laser) and 161°C
18 (for Nd:YLF laser), which were measured to be the 19 noncritical phase matching (NCPM) condition. Under this NCPM condition, conversion efficiency was 21 optimized in the absence of beam walk-off. The fourth 22 and the fifth harmonic generation crystals of BBO, 6 23 and 8, were angle cut at 47.6° and 51°, respectively, 24 for the type I operation.
The second preferred embodiment of the present z6 invention consists of type I D-CDA for doubling and 27 type I D-KDP for quadrupling, where efficient room 28 temperature operation can be achieved due to the small 29 beam walk-off effects and long crystal length (20 to 30 mm). Moreover, for the case of high power lasers 31 which may damage the crystal, a large beam spot size 32 is preferred and a large crystal size is required.
2~7~74~
1 The combination of D-CDA and D-KDP provides the cost 2 effective operation.
3 The present invention recognizes that BBO crystal 4 is the unique nonlinear crystal having W transmission and is phase matchable for fifth harmonic generation 6 of a Nd:YAG or Nd:YLF laser. The combination of LBO
7 and BBO crystals in the preferred embodiment of the 8 present invention provides a high overall efficiency 9 for the generation of multiwavelengths at green and two UV wavelengths. Furthermore, the conversion 11 efficiency can be improved by using a cylindrical 12 focal lens in the optical component 3, where the 13 fundamental beam 2 is focused more tightly along the 14 insensitive direction of the LBO and BBO crystals.
As illustrated in FIG. 2, there are two 16 alternative embodiments which are able to produce the 17 fifth harmonic generation using either type I or type 18 II operations. Figure 2.A shows the polarization 19 direction of the fundamental and the harmonic using type I operation, where a good spatial overlap between 21 the fundamental 2 and the fourth harmonic 7 beam is 22 achieved in the appropriate polarization for the 23 generation of fifth harmonic 9. As shown in FIG. 2.B, 24 the fifth harmonic can also be produced by combining type II doubling (using KTP or D-KDP) and tripling, 26 where the third harmonic 10 (produced by a type II
27 tripling crystal 11, LBO or BBO) is mixed with the 28 second harmonic 5 in a BBO crystal 12 (angle cut at 29 69.5° for type II operation) for the fifth harmonic generation 9. This preferred embodiment represents 31 the simplest structure that combines three nonlinear ,.
32 crystals having the appropriate polarization 1 orientations for both type I and type II operations.
2 No waveplates are required in this embodiment.
3 FIG. 3 illustrates the basic pulsed solid state 4 laser 1 having the IR wavelengths 2 which is focused by the optics 3 into an optical parametric oscillation 6 (OPO) cavity 13 to produce the tunable IR wavelength 7 14 ranging from 1.5 to 4.5 nm. Three preferred 8 embodiments of the OPO cavities are disclosed in the 9 present invention. The first embodiment 13 is compressed of a nonlinear crystal 15 (KTP or KNb03) and 11 a pair of mirrors 16 and 17 with the appropriate 12 coatings: mirror 16 has high transmission at the pump 13 (fundamental) wavelength and high reflection at the 14 signal (1.5-4.5 nm) wavelengths; mirror 17 should be coated for coupling at 10% to 20% at the signal 16 wavelength.
17 The second embodiment I3 shown in FIG. 3 is 18 comprised of two nonlinear crystals I9 and 20 which 19 are slightly oriented in the extraordinary index direction to compensate the beam walk-off inside the 21 crystals 19 and 20. The third embodiment 13 shows 22 that the output power of the signal 14 can be further 23 enhanced by going through another nonlinear crystal 21 24 which serves as an amplifier.
Referring to FIG. 3B, the optics 3 is preferred 26 to be a cylindrical focal length resulting in tighter 27 focusing of the fundamental beam 2 in the insensitive 28 direction of the nonlinear crystals 15, 19, 20, and 29 21. The nonlinear crystals used in the OPO cavity should be angle cut for the appropriate tuning ranges.
31 For example, KTP should be cut at approximately 50° in 32 the XZ plane of the crystal, where the tuning range of ~~~4~49 1 1.5 to 4.5 nm is achievable by angle tuning of a few 2 degrees. Alternatively, an angle cut at 54° is 3 preferred for the generation of signal wavelengths of 4 around 2 nm using the degenerate point. The present invention also recognizes that noncritical phase 6 matching (NCPM) in KTP can be achieved at room 7 temperature, where the pumping beam can propagate 8 along X or Y axis ,of the crystal. Under this NCPM
9 condition, high efficiency is achievable for the generation of IR wavelengths at around 1.54-1.6 11 microns and 3.2-3.4 microns due to the absence of the 12 beam walk-off effect. The alternative nonlinear 13 crystal KNbo3 which has a higher nonlinearity than KTP
14 is also recognized in the present invention, where an angle cut at around 41° in the XZ plane is preferred 16 for the OPO output signal wavelength range of 1.5 to 17 4.5 nm. KNb03 has narrower acceptance widths (angular 18 and spectral) than that of KTP, whereas KNb03 has the 19 higher efficiency and tunability. In the present invention we also disclose that the eye safe 21 wavelength at 1.54 nm can be achieved efficiently by 22 using KNb03 (angle cut) or KTP (NCPM condition with the 23 pump beam propagating along the Y axis), where the 24 NCPM in KTP is a unique operation achieving the eye safe radiation at 1.54 nm.
26 As illustrated in FIG. 4, a preferred embodiment 27 for the integrated system combining the 28 multiwavelengths generated from FIGS. 1 and 3. A
29 novel feature of this integrated system includes the multiwavelength flexibility achievable from a 31 commercially available single solid state laser, where 32 the system can be upgraded to cover a wide range of 2~'~47~9 1 spectra (UV to IR) simply by incorporating additional 2 frequency converters. These frequency converters are 3 comprised of one or more than one nonlinear crystals) 4 defined in FTGS. 1 and 3. As shown in FIG. 4, specific wavelengths 2, 5, 7, 9 and 14 can be easily 6 selected by the beam splatters 22 to 26 for either one 7 specific or multiple applications including industry, 8 scientific, or medical uses. Examples of applications 9 of this integrated system as discussed in the summary of the present invention should include, but not be 11 limited to, ophthalmic surgery (such as refractive 12 surgery using UV and mid-IR wavelengths), laser 13 angiosurgery, laser lithotripsy and laser 14 neurosurgery, high resolution optical processing and micromachining.
16 Still referring to FIG. 4, the multiwavelengths, 17 2, 5, 7, 9 and 14, can be controlled and selected by 18 a computer system 27 and delivered to the target 28 by 19 the delivery system 29. The computer system 27 is comprised of a software package designed for 21 wavelength selection, energy/power adjustability and 22 stabilization, and the total fluence applied to the 23 target 28. The target 28 can be tissue or any other 24 material.
Referring to FIG. 5, two basic solid state 26 lasers, 1 and 30, having a wavelength 2 at 1.064 nm 27 for Nd:YAG (or 1.053 nm for Nd:YLF) and having a 28 wavelength 31 at 1.319 nm (or 1.32 nm) are locked by 29 a phase locker 32 and coupled by a turning mirror 33 and a polarization coupler 34. These two wavelengths, 31 2 and 31, are then focused by optics 3 into a 32 nonlinear crystal 35 for sum frequency mixing into a ~0~4749 1 wavelength 36 at 589 nm (for Nd:YAG) or 585 nm (f.or 2 Nd:YLF).
3 The nonlinear crystals for frequency mixing 4 include KTP, BBO, KNb03 and LBO. The preferred nonlinear crystal 35, for the case of high power 6 lasers in the present invention, is the noncritical 7 phase matching LBO crystal which is temperature tuned 8 at around 42°C for a high efficiency in the absence of 9 beam walk-off effects.
l0 Still referring to FIG. 5, the IR lasers, 1 and 11 30, with wavelengths, 2 and 31, can be delivered by 12 mirrors, 37 and 38, and focused by optics 3 into a 13 doubling crystal 39 for the generation of the 14 harmonics with wavelengths 5 (at 527 nm or 532 nm) and 40 (at 660 nm).
16 It is recognized by the present invention that 17 visible coherent sources at green, yellow, and red 18 spectra produced by the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 19 provides the alternative for medical applications which are currently performed by cu-vapor, krypton, 21 argon ion, or doubled-YAG lasers. Moreover, the three 22 color laser with wavelengths at green, yellow and red, 23 has potential applications for large screen TVs. It 24 is also recognized in the present invention that the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 can also be integrated into .
26 the embodiment shown in FIG. 4. The integrated system 27 is then capable of producing multiwavelengths 28 including UV (210 nm, 213 nm, 263 nm, 266 nm), visible 29 (yellow, green, red), and TR (1.064 um, 1.053 um, 1.5 to 4.5 um) spectra.
31 One of the preferred ophthalmic applications 32 using the UV wavelengths generated by the present 1 invention described in FIG. 1 is further described as 2 follows. The UV wavelengths 9 (either 213 nm or 210 3 nm) are recognized in the present invention as 4 excellent candidates for refractive surgery including the correction of nearsightedness, farsightedness, 6 astigmatism, and other vision deficiencies. The solid 7 state UV laser disclosed at the present invention will 8 offer ophthalmologists significant advantages over 9 excimer lasers, including lower cost, smaller-size, lower maintenance, greater precision, and absence of 11 toxic and hazardous materials. Moreover, this 12 integrated system will offer multiple surgical 13 capabilities using the unique triple wavelength 14 technology controlled by the frequency converters.
Triple wavelengths at the near-IR (around 1 um), 16 green, and UV are achieved by the embodiment shown in 17 FIG. 1, and three IR wavelengths at around 1, 2, and 18 3 um are achievable by the embodiment shown in FIG. 3.
19 Moreover, precise microsurgery can be done by scanning the predetermined-wavelength beam on the corneal 21 surface, where beam spot sizes range from a few 22 microns to a few millimeters are available. For the 23 case of short pulse (subpicosecond to a few picosecond 24 duration) and high repetition rate (kHz to GHz), very high beam density can be achieved by tight focusing of 26 the beam, where photoablation processes can be done 27 when the laser power density is higher than the 28 photoablation threshold. On the other hand, for the 29 case of longer pulse (nanosecond range) and low repetition rate (5 to 50 Hz), larger area corneal 31 ablation can be achieved when the laser fluence is 32 higher than the ablation threshold. Moreover, the :2~~4~49 1 computer control system 27 is able to predetermine the 2 shape of the corneal surface that needs to be reshaped 3 by beam delivery systems such as diaphragm, rotating 4 disc, or rotating slits, where the predetermined wavelength beam can be delivered to the target in the 6 predetermined pattern by using the commercially 7 available scanning systems.
8 While the nonlinear crystals are herein shown and 9 disclosed in detail are crystals in bulk form which suitable for high peak power lasers, nonlinear Z1 crystals in the waveguided form should not be excluded 12 from consideration particularly for diode-pumped low.
13 power lasers. These nonlinear waveguides should 14 include KTP, MgO: LiNb03, LiTao3, and the self-frequency doubling crystal of NYAB (neodymium yttrium aluminum 16 borate). The NYAB crystal is particularly attractive 17 for the generation of green coherent source (at 531 18 nm) using diode lasers as the pumping source.
19 Furthermore, the solid state lasers, 1 and 30, can be diode laser pumped systems or systems which combine 21 flashlamp pumped and diode pumped lasers, where good 22 beam quality, single mode lasers are commercially 23 available by using injection seeding.
24 While the invention has been shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it 26 will be understood by those skilled in the art that 27 the foregoing and other changes and variations in form 28 and detail may be made therein without departing from 29 the spirit, scope and teaching to the invention.
Accordingly, the method and apparatus, and the 31 industry and medical applications herein disclosed are 1 to be considered merely as illustrative and the 2 invention is to be limited only as specified in the 3 claims.
Claims (31)
1. A laser apparatus for producing a fifth harmonic generation beam of predetermined wavelength comprising:
a solid state laser;
a first nonlinear crystal for producing a second harmonic beam;
focusing optics for focusing said solid state laser beam into said first nonlinear crystal;
a second nonlinear crystal positioned adjacent said first nonlinear crystal for receiving a beam therefrom and producing a fourth harmonic beam; and a third nonlinear crystal of beta barium borate positioned adjacent said second nonlinear crystal for receiving a beam therefrom and producing a fifth harmonic beam; whereby a solid state laser produces a fifth harmonic coherent beam of predetermined wavelength.
a solid state laser;
a first nonlinear crystal for producing a second harmonic beam;
focusing optics for focusing said solid state laser beam into said first nonlinear crystal;
a second nonlinear crystal positioned adjacent said first nonlinear crystal for receiving a beam therefrom and producing a fourth harmonic beam; and a third nonlinear crystal of beta barium borate positioned adjacent said second nonlinear crystal for receiving a beam therefrom and producing a fifth harmonic beam; whereby a solid state laser produces a fifth harmonic coherent beam of predetermined wavelength.
2. A laser apparatus for producing a fifth harmonic generation beam of predetermined wavelength in accordance with claim 1 in which said second nonlinear crystal is beta barium borate.
3. A laser apparatus for producing a fifth harmonic generation beam of predetermined wavelength in accordance with claim 1 in which said solid state laser is an optically-pumped Nd:YAG laser with pulse durations of (10-13 - 10-6) second and repetition rate of (1-10 9) Hertz.
4. A laser apparatus for producing a fifth harmonic generation beam of predetermined wavelength in accordance with claim 1 in which said solid state laser is an optically-pumped Nd:YLF laser with pulse duration of (10-13 - 10-6) second and repetition rate of (1-10 9) Hertz.
5. A laser apparatus for producing a fifth harmonic generation beam of predetermined wavelength in accordance with claim 1 in which said first nonlinear crystal (4) is potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP).
6. A laser apparatus for producing a fifth harmonic generation beam of predetermined wavelength in accordance with claim 3 in which said first nonlinear crystal is lithium triborate (LBO) operated at the NCPM temperatures of approximately 149°C.
7. A laser apparatus for producing a fifth harmonic generation beam of predetermined wavelength in accordance with claim 4 in which said first nonlinear crystal is lithium triborate (LBO) operated at the NCPM temperatures of approximately 161°C.
8. A laser apparatus for producing a fifth harmonic generation beam of predetermined wavelength in accordance with claim 1 in which said first nonlinear crystal is D-CDA.
9. A laser apparatus for producing a fifth harmonic generation beam of predetermined wavelength in accordance with claim 1 in which said second nonlinear crystal is type I D-KDP.
10. A laser apparatus for producing a fifth harmonic generation beam of predetermined wavelength in accordance with claim 1 in which said second nonlinear crystal is BBO
having an angle cut of approximately 47.6 degrees.
having an angle cut of approximately 47.6 degrees.
11. A laser apparatus for producing a fifth harmonic generation beam of predetermined wavelength in accordance with claim 1 in which said third nonlinear crystal is a type I LBO crystal having an angle cut of approximately 51 degrees.
12. A laser apparatus for producing a fifth harmonic generation beam of predetermined wavelength in accordance with claim 1 in which said first nonlinear crystal is a type II doubler crystal, the second nonlinear crystal is a type II tripler crystal and the third nonlinear crystal is a type II fifth harmonic generation using a BBO crystal.
13. A laser apparatus for producing a fifth harmonic generation beam of predetermined wavelength in accordance with claim 1 in which said focusing optics includes a cylindrical lens.
14. An integrated laser apparatus for producing multiwavelength coherent energy sources comprising:
a solid state laser;
beam splitter means mounted to receive the output beam from said solid state laser and to split the beam into at least three separate beams;
a delivery system for receiving a plurality of laser beams of difference wavelength and outputting one of the plurality of laser beams;
a first nonlinear crystal positioned adjacent said beam splitter means for receiving one said beam therefrom and for generating a second harmonic beam therefrom;
a second harmonic beam splitter positioned adjacent said first nonlinear crystal for directing the second harmonic beam to said delivery system;
a second nonlinear crystal positioned adjacent said second harmonic beam splitter for receiving a beam from first nonlinear crystal and generating a fourth harmonic beam therefrom;
a fourth harmonic beam splitter positioned adjacent said second nonlinear crystal for directing a fourth harmonic beam to said delivery system;
a third nonlinear crystal positioned adjacent said fourth harmonic beam splitter for receiving a beam therefrom and generating a fifth harmonic beam and directing said fifth harmonic beam therefrom to said delivery system;
a second beam from said beam splitter means being directed to said delivery system; and an optical parametric oscillator positioned adjacent said beam splitter means to receive a third beam therefrom and having a continuously tunable output beam directed towards said delivery system, whereby a plurality of coherent light beams of different frequencies are directed towards delivery system which selectively output one of said input beams.
a solid state laser;
beam splitter means mounted to receive the output beam from said solid state laser and to split the beam into at least three separate beams;
a delivery system for receiving a plurality of laser beams of difference wavelength and outputting one of the plurality of laser beams;
a first nonlinear crystal positioned adjacent said beam splitter means for receiving one said beam therefrom and for generating a second harmonic beam therefrom;
a second harmonic beam splitter positioned adjacent said first nonlinear crystal for directing the second harmonic beam to said delivery system;
a second nonlinear crystal positioned adjacent said second harmonic beam splitter for receiving a beam from first nonlinear crystal and generating a fourth harmonic beam therefrom;
a fourth harmonic beam splitter positioned adjacent said second nonlinear crystal for directing a fourth harmonic beam to said delivery system;
a third nonlinear crystal positioned adjacent said fourth harmonic beam splitter for receiving a beam therefrom and generating a fifth harmonic beam and directing said fifth harmonic beam therefrom to said delivery system;
a second beam from said beam splitter means being directed to said delivery system; and an optical parametric oscillator positioned adjacent said beam splitter means to receive a third beam therefrom and having a continuously tunable output beam directed towards said delivery system, whereby a plurality of coherent light beams of different frequencies are directed towards delivery system which selectively output one of said input beams.
15. An integrated multiwavelength coherent energy sources in accordance with claim 14 having a pair of focusing cylindrical lens, one cylindrical lens being positioned adjacent said beam splitter means for focusing one laser beam onto said first nonlinear crystal and a second cylindrical lens for focusing said third beam from said beam splitter means into said optical parametric cavity.~
16. An integrated multiwavelength coherent energy sources in accordance with claim 15 in which said delivery system includes computer controlled optic means for receiving a plurality of input beams of different frequencies and outputting one of said plurality of input beams towards a target.
17. An integrated multiwavelength coherent energy sources in accordance with claim 14 in which said second nonlinear crystal is LBO.
18. An integrated multiwavelength coherent energy sources in accordance with claim 14 in which said second nonlinear crystal is KTP.
19. An integrated multiwavelength coherent energy sources in accordance with claim 14 in which said second nonlinear crystal is BBO.
20. An integrated multiwavelength coherent energy sources in accordance with claim 14 in which said second nonlinear crystal is KNbO3.
21. An integrated multiwavelength coherent energy sources in accordance with claim 14 in which said first nonlinear crystal is a nonlinear waveguide made of KTP.
22. An integrated multiwavelength coherent energy sources in accordance with claim 14 in which said second nonlinear crystal is a nonlinear waveguide made of KTP.
23. An integrated multiwavelength coherent energy sources in accordance with claim 14 in which said delivery system includes computer controlled optic means for receiving a plurality of input beams of different frequencies and outputting one of said plurality of input beams towards a target.
24. An integrated multiwavelength coherent energy sources in accordance with claim 14 in which said delivery system includes computer controlled optic means for receiving a plurality of input beams of different frequencies and outputting one of said plurality of input beams towards a target.
25. An integrated multiwavelength coherent energy sources in accordance with claim 14 in which said delivery system includes computer controlled optic means for receiving a plurality of input beams of different frequencies and outputting one of said plurality of input beams towards a target.
26 26. A multi-wavelength laser apparatus for producing coherent sources of energy comprising:
a first solid. state laser;
a second solid state laser;
phase lock means coupling said first and second solid state lasers to phase lock the beams from the first and second solid state lasers;
a polarization coupler coupling the beams from said first and second solid state lasers together to produce a laser beam having two wavelengths;
a beam splitter positioned to split the beam from the polarization coupler into first and second beam paths;
a first nonlinear crystal positioned to receive the first beam from said beam splitter for sum wavelength mixing two wavelengths to produce a third wavelength;
a second nonlinear crystal positioned to receive a second beam from said beam splitter for generating a harmonic wavelength therefrom, whereby a plurality of coherent light beams of different wavelengths are produced at the output of the laser system.
a first solid. state laser;
a second solid state laser;
phase lock means coupling said first and second solid state lasers to phase lock the beams from the first and second solid state lasers;
a polarization coupler coupling the beams from said first and second solid state lasers together to produce a laser beam having two wavelengths;
a beam splitter positioned to split the beam from the polarization coupler into first and second beam paths;
a first nonlinear crystal positioned to receive the first beam from said beam splitter for sum wavelength mixing two wavelengths to produce a third wavelength;
a second nonlinear crystal positioned to receive a second beam from said beam splitter for generating a harmonic wavelength therefrom, whereby a plurality of coherent light beams of different wavelengths are produced at the output of the laser system.
27. A multi-wavelength laser apparatus for producing coherent sources of energy in accordance with claim 26 in which said first nonlinear crystal is lithium triborate (LBO).
28. A multi-wavelength laser apparatus for producing coherent sources of energy in accordance with claim 26 in which said second nonlinear crystal is lithium triborate (LBO).
29. A multi-wavelength laser apparatus for producing coherent sources of energy in accordance with claim 26 in which said second nonlinear crystal is KTP.
30. A multi-wavelength laser apparatus for producing coherent sources of energy in accordance with claim 26 in which said second nonlinear crystal is BBO.
31. A multi-wavelength laser apparatus for producing coherent sources of energy in accordance with claim 26 in which said second nonlinear crystal is KNbO3.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US736,931 | 1991-07-29 | ||
| US07/736,931 US5144630A (en) | 1991-07-29 | 1991-07-29 | Multiwavelength solid state laser using frequency conversion techniques |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2074749A1 CA2074749A1 (en) | 1993-01-30 |
| CA2074749C true CA2074749C (en) | 2001-06-19 |
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ID=24961925
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| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002074749A Expired - Fee Related CA2074749C (en) | 1991-07-29 | 1992-07-28 | Multiwavelength solid state laser using frequency conversion techniques |
Country Status (9)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| US (1) | US5144630A (en) |
| EP (1) | EP0597044B1 (en) |
| JP (1) | JPH06509445A (en) |
| AT (1) | ATE162667T1 (en) |
| AU (1) | AU660049B2 (en) |
| CA (1) | CA2074749C (en) |
| DE (1) | DE69224197T2 (en) |
| ES (1) | ES2111649T3 (en) |
| WO (1) | WO1993003523A1 (en) |
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1991
- 1991-07-29 US US07/736,931 patent/US5144630A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
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1992
- 1992-07-24 AU AU25819/92A patent/AU660049B2/en not_active Ceased
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- 1992-07-24 EP EP92919772A patent/EP0597044B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
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- 1992-07-24 WO PCT/US1992/006219 patent/WO1993003523A1/en active IP Right Grant
- 1992-07-24 DE DE69224197T patent/DE69224197T2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 1992-07-28 CA CA002074749A patent/CA2074749C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
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| CA2074749A1 (en) | 1993-01-30 |
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| JPH06509445A (en) | 1994-10-20 |
| EP0597044B1 (en) | 1998-01-21 |
| ATE162667T1 (en) | 1998-02-15 |
| AU2581992A (en) | 1993-03-02 |
| EP0597044A4 (en) | 1994-08-31 |
| DE69224197D1 (en) | 1998-02-26 |
| DE69224197T2 (en) | 1998-08-20 |
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