To open up new opportunities in laser material processing, combining multiple processes in parallel or fast sequence schemes is a promising concept. A single laser source with dynamic and flexible operation modes is highly demanded for these tasks. In this contribution, we will present a versatile laser system which is the first step toward the Universal Laser Machine capable of being used for a broad range of laser-based manufacturing tasks. The laser system presented here consists of a single thin-disk multipass amplifier capable of sequentially or simultaneously amplifying both Continuous Wave (CW) and Ultra-Short Pulsed (USP) laser radiation and delivering kW-class average output power. The approach uses a polarization-multiplexing scheme to amplify two seeds (CW and sub-10 picoseconds) within a common amplifier. This allows for the generation of a single, nearly diffraction-limited output beam composed of CW or USP or both CW and USP radiation at a wavelength of 1030 nm. High versatility of the system is achieved by the implementation of multiple acousto-optic modulators, which enables fast (on a microsecond timescale) switching capabilities between different powers and operation modes. A quick change between the operation state of sole CW, sole USP, and combined output radiation with arbitrary power ratio can thus be realized. Furthermore, our system includes the possibility of a seamless adjustment of the absolute average output power values of each CW and USP fraction of the generated beam.
We present a novel technique for the control of the spectral profiles of fiber Bragg gratings written with ultrashort laser pulses and the phase mask technique. Instead of controlling the modification strength along the grating, the apodisation is realized by controlling the cross-sectional overlap of modification and fiber core by a custom designed shaping aperture. As a proof of concept, gratings were realized with super-Gaussian shaped profiles with different orders, producing the expected spectral profiles, which was verified by simulations.
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