Laser beam delivery at ELI-NP

DOE PAGES

Ursescu, Daniel; Cheriaux, G.; Audebert, P.; ...

2017-01-01

The Laser Beam Delivery (LBD) system technical design report covers the interface between the High Power Laser System (HPLS) and the experiments, together with the pulse quality management. Here, the laser transport part of the LBD has a number of subsystems as follows: the beam transport lines for the six main outputs of HPLS, the additional short and long pulses and the synchronization system including the timing of the laser pulses with the Gamma Beam System (GBS) and the experiments on femtosecond timescale. Pulse quality management, discussed further here, consist in the generation and delivery of multiple HPLS pulses, coherentmore » combining of the HPLS arms, laser pulse diagnostics on target, laser beam dumps, shutters and output energy adaption.« less

Technical Note: Evaluation of the latency and the beam characteristics of a respiratory gating system using an Elekta linear accelerator and a respiratory indicator device, Abches.

PubMed

Saito, Masahide; Sano, Naoki; Ueda, Koji; Shibata, Yuki; Kuriyama, Kengo; Komiyama, Takafumi; Marino, Kan; Aoki, Shinichi; Onishi, Hiroshi

2018-01-01

To evaluate the basic performance of a respiratory gating system using an Elekta linac and an Abches respiratory-monitoring device. The gating system was comprised of an Elekta Synergy linac equipped with a Response TM gating interface module and an Abches respiratory-monitoring device. The latencies from a reference respiratory signal to the resulting Abches gating output signal and the resulting monitor-ion-chamber output signal were measured. Then, the flatness and symmetry of the gated beams were measured using a two-dimensional ionization chamber array for fixed and arc beams, respectively. Furthermore, the beam quality, TPR 20,10 , and the output of the fixed gated beams were also measured using a Farmer chamber. Each of the beam characteristics was compared with each of those for nongated irradiation. The full latencies at beam-on and beam-off for 6-MV gated beams were 336.4 ± 23.4 ms and 87.6 ± 7.1 ms, respectively. The differences in flatness between the gated and nongated beams were within 0.91% and 0.87% for the gun-target and left-right directions, respectively. In the same manner, the beam symmetries were within 0.68% and 0.82%, respectively. The percentage differences in beam quality and beam output were below 1% for a beam-on time range of 1.1-7 s. The latency of the Elekta gating system combined with Abches was found to be acceptable using our measurement method. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the beam characteristics of the gating system using our respiratory indicator were comparable with the nongated beams for a single-arc gated beam delivery. © 2017 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

The Australian radiation protection and nuclear safety agency megavoltage photon thermoluminescence dosimetry postal audit service 2007-2010.

PubMed

Oliver, C P; Butler, D J; Webb, D V

2012-03-01

The Australian radiation protection and nuclear safety agency (ARPANSA) has continuously provided a level 1 mailed thermoluminescence dosimetry audit service for megavoltage photons since 2007. The purpose of the audit is to provide an independent verification of the reference dose output of a radiotherapy linear accelerator in a clinical environment. Photon beam quality measurements can also be made as part of the audit in addition to the output measurements. The results of all audits performed between 2007 and 2010 are presented. The average of all reference beam output measurements calculated as a clinically stated dose divided by an ARPANSA measured dose is 0.9993. The results of all beam quality measurements calculated as a clinically stated quality divided by an ARPANSA measured quality is 1.0087. Since 2011 the provision of all auditing services has been transferred from the Ionizing Radiation Standards section to the Australian Clinical Dosimetry Service (ACDS) which is currently housed within ARPANSA.

Incoherent beam combining of fiber lasers by an all-fiber 7 × 1 signal combiner at a power level of 14 kW.

PubMed

Lei, Chengmin; Gu, Yanran; Chen, Zilun; Wang, Zengfeng; Zhou, Pu; Ma, Yanxing; Xiao, Hu; Leng, Jinyong; Wang, Xiaolin; Hou, Jing; Xu, Xiaojun; Chen, Jinbao; Liu, Zejin

2018-04-16

We demonstrate an all-fiber 7 × 1 signal combiner with an output core diameter of 50 μm for high power incoherent beam combining of seven self-made Yb-doped single-mode fiber lasers around a wavelength of 1080 nm and output power of 2 kW. 14.1 kW combined output power is achieved with a total transmission efficiency of higher than 98.5% and a beam quality of M 2 = 5.37, which is close to the theoretical results based on finite-difference beam propagation technique. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest output power ever reported for all-fiber structure beam combining generation, which indicates the feasibility and potential of >10 kW high brightness incoherent beam combining based on an all-fiber signal combiner.

High power broadband all fiber super-fluorescent source with linear polarization and near diffraction-limited beam quality.

PubMed

Ma, Pengfei; Huang, Long; Wang, Xiaolin; Zhou, Pu; Liu, Zejin

2016-01-25

In this manuscript, a high power broadband superfluorescent source (SFS) with linear polarization and near-diffraction-limited beam quality is achieved based on an ytterbium-doped (Yb-doped), all fiberized and polarization-maintained master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) configuration. The MOPA structure generates a linearly polarized output power of 1427 W with a slope efficiency of 80% and a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 11 nm, which is power scaled by an order of magnitude compared with the previously reported SFSs with linear polarization. In the experiment, both the polarization extinction ratio (PER) and beam quality (M(2) factor) are degraded little during the power scaling process. At maximal output power, the PER and M(2) factor are measured to be 19.1dB and 1.14, respectively. The root-mean-square (RMS) and peak-vale (PV) values of the power fluctuation at maximal output power are just 0.48% and within 3%, respectively. Further power scaling of the whole system is limited by the available pump sources. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of kilowatt level broadband SFS with linear polarization and near-diffraction-limited beam quality.

Methods for slow axis beam quality improvement of high power broad area diode lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

An, Haiyan; Xiong, Yihan; Jiang, Ching-Long J.; Schmidt, Berthold; Treusch, Georg

2014-03-01

For high brightness direct diode laser systems, it is of fundamental importance to improve the slow axis beam quality of the incorporated laser diodes regardless what beam combining technology is applied. To further advance our products in terms of increased brightness at a high power level, we must optimize the slow axis beam quality despite the far field blooming at high current levels. The later is caused predominantly by the built-in index step in combination with the thermal lens effect. Most of the methods for beam quality improvements reported in publications sacrifice the device efficiency and reliable output power. In order to improve the beam quality as well as maintain the efficiency and reliable output power, we investigated methods of influencing local heat generation to reduce the thermal gradient across the slow axis direction, optimizing the built-in index step and discriminating high order modes. Based on our findings, we have combined different methods in our new device design. Subsequently, the beam parameter product (BPP) of a 10% fill factor bar has improved by approximately 30% at 7 W/emitter without efficiency penalty. This technology has enabled fiber coupled high brightness multi-kilowatt direct diode laser systems. In this paper, we will elaborate on the methods used as well as the results achieved.

Injection locked oscillator system for pulsed metal vapor lasers

DOEpatents

Warner, Bruce E.; Ault, Earl R.

1988-01-01

An injection locked oscillator system for pulsed metal vapor lasers is disclosed. The invention includes the combination of a seeding oscillator with an injection locked oscillator (ILO) for improving the quality, particularly the intensity, of an output laser beam pulse. The present invention includes means for matching the first seeder laser pulses from the seeding oscillator to second laser pulses of a metal vapor laser to improve the quality, and particularly the intensity, of the output laser beam pulse.

Beam shaping by using small-aperture SLM and DM in a high power laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Sensen; Lu, Zhiwei; Du, Pengyuan; Wang, Yulei; Ding, Lei; Yan, Xiusheng

2018-03-01

High-power laser plays an important role in many fields, such as directed energy weapon, optoelectronic contermeasures, inertial confinement fusion, industrial processing and scientific research. The uniform nearfield and wavefront are the important part of the beam quality for high power lasers, which is conducive to maintaining the high spatial beam quality in propagation. We demonstrate experimentally that the spatial intensity and wavefront distribution at the output is well compensated in the complex high-power solid-state laser system by using the small-aperture spatial light modulator (SLM) and deformable mirror (DM) in the front stage. The experimental setup is a hundred-Joule-level Nd:glass laser system operating at three wavelengths at 1053 nm (1ω), 527 nm (2ω) and 351 nm (3ω) with 3 ns pulse duration with the final output beam aperture of 60 mm. While the clear arperture of the electrically addressable SLM is less than 20 mm and the effective diameter of the 52-actuators DM is about 15 mm. In the beam shaping system, the key point is that the two front-stage beam shaping devices needs to precompensate the gain nonuniform and wavefront distortion of the laser system. The details of the iterative algorithm for improving the beam quality are presented. Experimental results show that output nearfield and wavefont are both nearly flat-topped with the nearfield modulation of 1.26:1 and wavefront peak-to-valley value of 0.29 λ at 1053nm after beam shaping.

Enhancement of the beam quality of non-uniform output slab laser amplifier with a 39-actuator rectangular piezoelectric deformable mirror.

PubMed

Yang, Ping; Ning, Yu; Lei, Xiang; Xu, Bing; Li, Xinyang; Dong, Lizhi; Yan, Hu; Liu, Wenjing; Jiang, Wenhan; Liu, Lei; Wang, Chao; Liang, Xingbo; Tang, Xiaojun

2010-03-29

We present a slab laser amplifier beam cleanup experimental system based on a 39-actuator rectangular piezoelectric deformable mirror. Rather than use a wave-front sensor to measure distortions in the wave-front and then apply a conjugation wave-front for compensating them, the system uses a Stochastic Parallel Gradient Descent algorithm to maximize the power contained within a far-field designated bucket. Experimental results demonstrate that at the output power of 335W, more than 30% energy concentrates in the 1x diffraction-limited area while the beam quality is enhanced greatly.

Method for separating FEL output beams from long wavelength radiation

DOEpatents

Neil, George; Shinn, Michelle D.; Gubeli, Joseph

2016-04-26

A method for improving the output beam quality of a free electron laser (FEL) by reducing the amount of emission at wavelengths longer than the electron pulse length and reducing the amount of edge radiation. A mirror constructed of thermally conductive material and having an aperture therein is placed at an oblique angle with respect to the beam downstream of the bending magnet but before any sensitive use of the FEL beam. The aperture in the mirror is sized to deflect emission longer than the wavelength of the FEL output while having a minor impact on the FEL output beam. A properly sized aperture will enable the FEL radiation, which is coherent and generally at a much shorter wavelength than the bending radiations, to pass through the aperture mirror. The much higher divergence bending radiations will subsequently strike the aperture mirror and be reflected safely out of the way.

Fabrication of the polarization independent spectral beam combining grating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Quan; Jin, Yunxia; Wu, Jianhong; Guo, Peiliang

2016-03-01

Owing to damage, thermal issues, and nonlinear optical effects, the output power of fiber laser has been proven to be limited. Beam combining techniques are the attractive solutions to achieve high-power high-brightness fiber laser output. The spectral beam combining (SBC) is a promising method to achieve high average power output without influencing the beam quality. A polarization independent spectral beam combining grating is one of the key elements in the SBC. In this paper the diffraction efficiency of the grating is investigated by rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA). The theoretical -1st order diffraction efficiency of the grating is more than 95% from 1010nm to 1080nm for both TE and TM polarizations. The fabrication tolerance is analyzed. The polarization independent spectral beam combining grating with the period of 1.04μm has been fabricated by holographic lithography - ion beam etching, which are within the fabrication tolerance.

Improving the output voltage waveform of an intense electron-beam accelerator based on helical type Blumlein pulse forming line

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Xin-Bing; Liu, Jin-Liang; Zhang, Hong-Bo; Feng, Jia-Huai; Qian, Bao-Liang

2010-07-01

The Blumlein pulse forming line (BPFL) consisting of an inner coaxial pulse forming line (PFL) and an outer coaxial PFL is widely used in the field of pulsed power, especially for intense electron-beam accelerators (IEBA). The output voltage waveform determines the quality and characteristics of the output beam current of the IEBA. Comparing with the conventional BPFL, an IEBA based on a helical type BPFL can increase the duration of the output voltage in the same geometrical volume. However, for the helical type BPFL, the voltage waveform on a matched load may be distorted which influences the electron-beam quality. In this paper, an IEBA based on helical type BPFL is studied theoretically. Based on telegrapher equations of the BPFL, a formula for the output voltage of IEBA is obtained when the transition section is taken into account, where the transition section is between the middle cylinder of BPFL and the load. From the theoretical analysis, it is found that the wave impedance and transit time of the transition section influence considerably the main pulse voltage waveform at the load, a step is formed in front of the main pulse, and a sharp spike is also formed at the end of the main pulse. In order to get a well-shaped square waveform at the load and to improve the electron-beam quality of such an accelerator, the wave impedance of the transition section should be equal to that of the inner PFL of helical type BPFL and the transit time of the transition section should be designed as short as possible. Experiments performed on an IEBA with the helical type BPFL show reasonable agreement with theoretical analysis.

Influence of thermal deformation in cavity mirrors on beam propagation characteristics of high-power slab lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zhen; Xiao, Longsheng; Wang, Wei; Wu, Chao; Tang, Xiahui

2018-01-01

Owing to their good diffusion cooling and low sensitivity to misalignment, slab-shape negative-branch unstable-waveguide resonators are widely used for high-power lasers in industry. As the output beam of the resonator is astigmatic, an external beam shaping system is required. However, the transverse dimension of the cavity mirrors in the resonator is large. For a long-time operation, the heating of cavity mirrors can be non-uniform. This results in micro-deformation and a change in the radius of curvature of the cavity mirrors, and leads to an output beam of an offset optical axis of the resonator. It was found that a change in the radius of curvature of 0.1% (1 mm) caused by thermal deformation generates a transverse displacement of 1.65 mm at the spatial filter of the external beam shaping system, and an output power loss of more than 80%. This can potentially burn out the spatial filter. In order to analyze the effect of the offset optical axis of the beam on the external optical path, we analyzed the transverse displacement and rotational misalignments of the spatial filter. For instance, if the transverse displacement was 0.3 mm, the loss in the output power was 9.6% and a sidelobe appeared in the unstable direction. If the angle of rotation was 5°, the loss in the output power was 2%, and the poles were in the direction of the waveguide. Based on these results, by adjusting the bending mirror, the deviation angle of the output beam of the resonator cavity was corrected, in order to obtain maximum output power and optimal beam quality. Finally, the propagation characteristics of the corrected output beam were analyzed.

Wavefront measurement of single-mode quantum cascade laser beam for seed application in laser-produced plasma extreme ultraviolet system.

PubMed

Nowak, Krzysztof M; Ohta, Takeshi; Suganuma, Takashi; Yokotsuka, Toshio; Fujimoto, Junichi; Mizoguchi, Hakaru

2012-12-01

Quantum cascade laser (QCL) is a very attractive seed source for a multikilowatt pulsed CO2 lasers applied for driving extreme ultraviolet emitting plasmas. In this Letter, we investigate output beam properties of a QCL designed to address P18 and P20 lines of 10.6 micron band of CO2 molecule. In particular, output beam quality and stability are investigated for the first time. A well-defined linear polarization and a single-mode operation enabled a use of phase retrieval method for full description of QCL output beam. A direct, multi-image numerical phase retrieval technique was developed and successfully applied to the measured intensity patterns of a QCL beam. Very good agreement between the measured and reconstructed beam profiles was observed at distances ranging from QCL aperture to infinity, proving a good understanding of the beam propagation. The results also confirm a high spatial coherence and high stability of the beam parameters, the features expected from an excellent seed source.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shlapakovski, A.; Gorev, S.; Krasik, Ya. E.

The influence of laser beam parameters on the output pulses of a resonant microwave compressor with a laser-triggered plasma switch was investigated. The S-band compressor, consisting of a rectangular waveguide-based cavity and H-plane waveguide tee with a shorted side arm, was filled with pressurized dry air and pumped by 1.8-μs-long microwave pulses of up to 450 kW power. A Nd:YAG laser was used to ignite the gas discharge in the tee side arm for output pulse extraction. The laser beam (at 213 nm or 532 nm) was directed along the RF electric field lines. It was found that the compressor operated most effectivelymore » when the laser beam was focused at the center of the switch waveguide cross-section. In this case, the power extraction efficiency reached ∼47% at an output power of ∼14 MW, while when the laser beam was not focused the maximal extraction efficiency was only ∼20% at ∼6 MW output power. Focusing the laser beam resulted also in a dramatic decrease (down to <1 ns) in the delay of the output pulses' appearance with respect to the time of the beam's entrance into the switch, and the jitter of the output pulses' appearance was minimized. In addition, the quality of the output pulses' waveform was significantly improved.« less

High energy, high average power solid state green or UV laser

DOEpatents

Hackel, Lloyd A.; Norton, Mary; Dane, C. Brent

2004-03-02

A system for producing a green or UV output beam for illuminating a large area with relatively high beam fluence. A Nd:glass laser produces a near-infrared output by means of an oscillator that generates a high quality but low power output and then multi-pass through and amplification in a zig-zag slab amplifier and wavefront correction in a phase conjugator at the midway point of the multi-pass amplification. The green or UV output is generated by means of conversion crystals that follow final propagation through the zig-zag slab amplifier.

High-power narrow-linewidth quasi-CW diode-pumped TEM00 1064 nm Nd:YAG ring laser.

PubMed

Liu, Yuan; Wang, Bao-shan; Xie, Shi-yong; Bo, Yong; Wang, Peng-yuan; Zuo, Jun-wei; Xu, Yi-ting; Xu, Jia-lin; Peng, Qin-jun; Cui, Da-fu; Xu, Zu-yan

2012-04-01

We demonstrated a high average power, narrow-linewidth, quasi-CW diode-pumped Nd:YAG 1064 nm laser with near-diffraction-limited beam quality. A symmetrical three-mirror ring cavity with unidirectional operation elements and an etalon was employed to realize the narrow-linewidth laser output. Two highly efficient laser modules and a 90° quartz rotator for birefringence compensation were used for the high output power. The maximum average output power of 62.5 W with the beam quality factor M(2) of 1.15 was achieved under a pump power of 216 W at a repetition rate of 500 Hz, corresponding to the optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 28.9%. The linewidth of the laser at the maximum output power was measured to be less than 0.2 GHz.

Delivery of high intensity beams with large clad step-index fibers for engine ignition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joshi, Sachin; Wilvert, Nick; Yalin, Azer P.

2012-09-01

We show, for the first time, that step-index silica fibers with a large clad (400 μm core and 720 μm clad) can be used to transmit nanosecond duration pulses in a way that allows reliable (consistent) spark formation in atmospheric pressure air by the focused output light from the fiber. The high intensity (>100 GW/cm2) of the focused output light is due to the combination of high output power (typical of fibers of this core size) with high output beam quality (better than that typical of fibers of this core size). The high output beam quality, which enables tight focusing, is due to the large clad which suppresses microbending-induced diffusion of modal power to higher order modes owing to the increased rigidity of the core-clad interface. We also show that extending the pulse duration provides a means to increase the delivered pulse energy (>20 mJ delivered for 50 ns pulses) without causing fiber damage. Based on this ability to deliver high energy sparks, we report the first reliable laser ignition of a natural gas engine including startup under typical procedures using silica fiber optics for pulse delivery.

Program Predicts Performance of Optical Parametric Oscillators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cross, Patricia L.; Bowers, Mark

2006-01-01

A computer program predicts the performances of solid-state lasers that operate at wavelengths from ultraviolet through mid-infrared and that comprise various combinations of stable and unstable resonators, optical parametric oscillators (OPOs), and sum-frequency generators (SFGs), including second-harmonic generators (SHGs). The input to the program describes the signal, idler, and pump beams; the SFG and OPO crystals; and the laser geometry. The program calculates the electric fields of the idler, pump, and output beams at three locations (inside the laser resonator, just outside the input mirror, and just outside the output mirror) as functions of time for the duration of the pump beam. For each beam, the electric field is used to calculate the fluence at the output mirror, plus summary parameters that include the centroid location, the radius of curvature of the wavefront leaving through the output mirror, the location and size of the beam waist, and a quantity known, variously, as a propagation constant or beam-quality factor. The program provides a typical Windows interface for entering data and selecting files. The program can include as many as six plot windows, each containing four graphs.

Appropriate Measures and Consistent Standard for High Energy Laser Beam Quality (Postprint)

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-08-01

another. a We follow the 99% criteria [ Siegman , Lasers , chapter 17.1] which corresponds to a... Siegman , “ Lasers ” University Science Books, 1986. • A.E. Siegman , “New developments in laser resonators”, SPIE Vol. 1224, Optical Resonators, 1990...pp. 1-14. • Anthony E. Siegman & Steven W. Townsend, “Output Beam Propagation and Beam Quality from a Multimode Stable-Cavity Laser ”, IEEE Journal

High power, high beam quality regenerative amplifier

DOEpatents

Hackel, L.A.; Dane, C.B.

1993-08-24

A regenerative laser amplifier system generates high peak power and high energy per pulse output beams enabling generation of X-rays used in X-ray lithography for manufacturing integrated circuits. The laser amplifier includes a ring shaped optical path with a limited number of components including a polarizer, a passive 90 degree phase rotator, a plurality of mirrors, a relay telescope, and a gain medium, the components being placed close to the image plane of the relay telescope to reduce diffraction or phase perturbations in order to limit high peak intensity spiking. In the ring, the beam makes two passes through the gain medium for each transit of the optical path to increase the amplifier gain to loss ratio. A beam input into the ring makes two passes around the ring, is diverted into an SBS phase conjugator and proceeds out of the SBS phase conjugator back through the ring in an equal but opposite direction for two passes, further reducing phase perturbations. A master oscillator inputs the beam through an isolation cell (Faraday or Pockels) which transmits the beam into the ring without polarization rotation. The isolation cell rotates polarization only in beams proceeding out of the ring to direct the beams out of the amplifier. The diffraction limited quality of the input beam is preserved in the amplifier so that a high power output beam having nearly the same diffraction limited quality is produced.

High power, high beam quality regenerative amplifier

DOEpatents

Hackel, Lloyd A.; Dane, Clifford B.

1993-01-01

A regenerative laser amplifier system generates high peak power and high energy per pulse output beams enabling generation of X-rays used in X-ray lithography for manufacturing integrated circuits. The laser amplifier includes a ring shaped optical path with a limited number of components including a polarizer, a passive 90 degree phase rotator, a plurality of mirrors, a relay telescope, and a gain medium, the components being placed close to the image plane of the relay telescope to reduce diffraction or phase perturbations in order to limit high peak intensity spiking. In the ring, the beam makes two passes through the gain medium for each transit of the optical path to increase the amplifier gain to loss ratio. A beam input into the ring makes two passes around the ring, is diverted into an SBS phase conjugator and proceeds out of the SBS phase conjugator back through the ring in an equal but opposite direction for two passes, further reducing phase perturbations. A master oscillator inputs the beam through an isolation cell (Faraday or Pockels) which transmits the beam into the ring without polarization rotation. The isolation cell rotates polarization only in beams proceeding out of the ring to direct the beams out of the amplifier. The diffraction limited quality of the input beam is preserved in the amplifier so that a high power output beam having nearly the same diffraction limited quality is produced.

Dual Q-switched laser outputs from a single lasing medium using an intracavity MEMS micromirror array.

PubMed

Bauer, Ralf; Lubeigt, Walter; Uttamchandani, Deepak

2012-09-01

An intracavity array of individually controlled microelectromechanical system scanning micromirrors was used to actively Q-switch a single side-pumped Nd:YAG gain medium. Two equal power independent laser outputs were simultaneously obtained by separate actuation of two adjacent micromirrors with a combined average output power of 125 mW. Pulse durations of 28 ns FWHM at 8.7 kHz repetition frequency and 34 ns FWHM at 7.9 kHz repetition frequency were observed for the two output beams with beam quality factors M2 of 1.2 and 1.1 and peak powers of 253 W and 232 W, respectively.

On the need for quality assurance in superficial kilovoltage radiotherapy.

PubMed

Austerlitz, C; Mota, H; Gay, H; Campos, D; Allison, R; Sibata, C

2008-01-01

External auditing of beam output and energy qualities of four therapeutic X-ray machines were performed in three radiation oncology centres in northeastern Brazil. The output and half-value layers (HVLs) were determined using a parallel-plate ionisation chamber and high-purity aluminium foils, respectively. The obtained values of absorbed dose to water and energy qualities were compared with those obtained by the respective institutions. The impact on the prescribed dose was analysed by determining the half-value depth (D(1/2)). The beam outputs presented percent differences ranging from -13 to +25%. The ratio between the HVL in use by the institution and the measurements obtained in this study ranged from 0.75 to 2.33. Such deviations in HVL result in percent differences in dose at D(1/2) ranging from -52 to +8%. It was concluded that dosimetric quality audit programmes in radiation therapy should be expanded to include dermatological radiation therapy and such audits should include HVL verification.

Beam Output Audit results within the EORTC Radiation Oncology Group network.

PubMed

Hurkmans, Coen W; Christiaens, Melissa; Collette, Sandra; Weber, Damien Charles

2016-12-15

Beam Output Auditing (BOA) is one key process of the EORTC radiation therapy quality assurance program. Here the results obtained between 2005 and 2014 are presented and compared to previous results.For all BOA reports the following parameters were scored: centre, country, date of audit, beam energies and treatment machines audited, auditing organisation, percentage of agreement between stated and measured dose.Four-hundred and sixty-one BOA reports were analyzed containing the results of 1790 photon and 1366 electron beams, delivered by 755 different treatment machines. The majority of beams (91.1%) were within the optimal limit of ≤ 3%. Only 13 beams (0.4%; n = 9 electrons; n = 4 photons), were out of the range of acceptance of ≤ 5%. Previous reviews reported a much higher percentage of 2.5% or more of the BOAs with >5% deviation.The majority of EORTC centres present beam output variations within the 3% tolerance cutoff value and only 0.4% of audited beams presented with variations of more than 5%. This is an important improvement compared to previous BOA results.

Poster - 23: Dosimetric Characterization and Transferability of an Accessory Mounted Mini-Beam Collimator

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Davis, William; Crewson, Cody; Alexander, Andrew

Objective: The dosimetric characterization of an accessory-mounted mini-beam collimator across three beam matched linear accelerators. Materials and Methods: Percent depth dose and profiles were measured for the open and mini-beam collimated fields. The average beam quality and peak-to-valley dose ratio (PVDR), the ratio of average peak dose to average valley dose, were obtained from these measurements. The open field relative output and the mini-beam collimator factor, the ratio of the mini-beam dose to open field dose at the beam center, were measured for square fields of side 2, 3, 4, and 5 cm. Mini-beam output as a function of collimatormore » inclination angle relative to the central axis was also investigated. Results and Discussion: Beam quality for both the open and mini-beam collimated fields agreed across all linacs to within ±1.0%. The PVDR was found to vary by up to ±6.6% from the mean. For the 2, 3, and 4 cm fields the average open field relative output with respect to the 5 cm field was 0.874±0.4%, 0.921±0.3%, and 0.962±0.1%. The average collimator factors were 0.450±3.9%, 0.443±3.9%, 0.438±3.9%, and 0.434±3.9%. A decrease in collimator factor greater than 7% was found for an inclination angle change of 0.09°. Conclusion: The mini-beam collimator has revealed a difference between the three linacs not apparent in the open field data, yet transferability can still be attained through thorough dosimetric characterization.« less

Effect of fluoroscopic X-ray beam spectrum on air-kerma measurement accuracy: implications for establishing correction coefficients on interventional fluoroscopes with KAP meters.

PubMed

Wunderle, Kevin A; Rakowski, Joseph T; Dong, Frank F

2016-05-08

The first goal of this study was to investigate the accuracy of the displayed reference plane air kerma (Ka,r) or air kerma-area product (Pk,a) over a broad spectrum of X-ray beam qualities on clinically used interventional fluoroscopes incorporating air kerma-area product meters (KAP meters) to measure X-ray output. The second goal was to investigate the accuracy of a correction coefficient (CC) determined at a single beam quality and applied to the measured Ka,r over a broad spectrum of beam qualities. Eleven state-of-the-art interventional fluoroscopes were evaluated, consisting of eight Siemens Artis zee and Artis Q systems and three Philips Allura FD systems. A separate calibrated 60 cc ionization chamber (external chamber) was used to determine the accuracy of the KAP meter over a broad range of clinically used beam qualities. For typical adult beam qualities, applying a single CC deter-mined at 100 kVp with copper (Cu) in the beam resulted in a deviation of < 5% due to beam quality variation. This result indicates that applying a CC determined using The American Association of Physicists in Medicine Task Group 190 protocol or a similar protocol provides very good accuracy as compared to the allowed ± 35% deviation of the KAP meter in this limited beam quality range. For interventional fluoroscopes dedicated to or routinely used to perform pediatric interventions, using a CC established with a low kVp (~ 55-60 kVp) and large amount of Cu filtration (~ 0.6-0.9 mm) may result in greater accuracy as compared to using the 100 kVp values. KAP meter responses indicate that fluoroscope vendors are likely normalizing or otherwise influencing the KAP meter output data. Although this may provide improved accuracy in some instances, there is the potential for large discrete errors to occur, and these errors may be difficult to identify.

Highly stable, efficient Tm-doped fiber laser—a potential scalpel for low invasive surgery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michalska, M.; Brojek, W.; Rybak, Z.; Sznelewski, P.; Mamajek, M.; Swiderski, J.

2016-11-01

We report an all-fiber, diode-pumped, continuous-wave Tm3+-doped fiber laser emitting 37.4 W of output power with a slope efficiency as high as 57% with respect to absorbed pump power at 790 nm. The laser operated at ~1.94 µm and the output beam quality factor M 2 was measured to be ~1.2. The output beam was very stable with power fluctuations  <1% measured over 1 h. The laser system is to be implemented as a scalpel for low-invasive soft-tissue surgery.

Thulium fiber laser for the use in low-invasive endoscopic and robotic surgery of soft biological tissues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michalska, M.; Brojek, W.; Rybak, Z.; Sznelewski, P.; Mamajek, M.; Gogler, S.; Swiderski, J.

2016-12-01

An all-fiber, diode-pumped, continuous-wave Tm3+-doped fiber laser operated at a wavelength of 1.94 μm was developed. 37.4 W of output power with a slope efficiency as high as 57% with respect to absorbed pump power at 790 nm was demonstrated. The laser output beam quality factor M2 was measured to be 1.2. The output beam was very stable with power fluctuations <1% measured over 1 hour. The laser system is to be implemented as a scalpel for surgery of soft biological tissues.

Novel, compact, and simple ND:YVO4 laser with 12 W of CW optical output power and good beam quality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zimer, H.; Langer, B.; Wittrock, U.; Heine, F.; Hildebrandt, U.; Seel, S.; Lange, R.

2017-11-01

We present first, promising experiments with a novel, compact and simple Nd:YVO4 slab laser with 12 W of 1.06 μm optical output power and a beam quality factor M2 2.5. The laser is made of a diffusion-bonded YVO4/Nd:YVO4 composite crystal that exhibits two unique features. First, it ensures a one-dimensional heat removal from the laser crystal, which leads to a temperature profile without detrimental influence on the laser beam. Thus, the induced thermo-optical aberrations to the laser field are low, allowing power scaling with good beam quality. Second, the composite crystal itself acts as a waveguide for the 809 nm pump-light that is supplied from a diode laser bar. Pump-light shaping optics, e.g. fast- or slow-axis collimators can be omitted, reducing the complexity of the system. Pump-light redundancy can be easily achieved. Eventually, the investigated slab laser might be suitable for distortion-free high gain amplification of weak optical signals.

Nd-glass laser for deep-penetration welding and hardening

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kayukov, Serguei V.; Yaresko, Sergey I.; Mikheyev, Pavel A.

2000-04-01

Pulsed Nd-glass lasers usually have low beam quality (200 - 300 mm-mrad), and are used only for surface hardening of metals. However, high pulse energy make them feasible for deep penetration welding if their beam quality could be improved. We investigated beam properties of Nd-glass laser with unstable resonator with semitransparent output coupler (URSOC). We had found that beam divergence of the laser with URSOC was an order of magnitude smaller than that of the laser with stable resonator. The achieved beam quality (40 - 50 mm-mrad) permitted to perform deep penetration welding with the aspect ratio of approximately 8. For beam divergence of 3 mrad melt depth of 6.3 mm was achieved with the ratio of depth to pulse energy of 0.27 mm/J.

Two-beam combined 3.36  J, 100  Hz diode-pumped high beam quality Nd:YAG laser system.

PubMed

Qiu, J S; Tang, X X; Fan, Z W; Wang, H C; Liu, H

2016-07-20

In this paper, we develop a diode-pumped all-solid-state high-energy and high beam quality Nd:YAG laser system. A master oscillator power amplifier structure is used to provide a high pulse energy laser output with a high repetition rate. In order to decrease the amplifier working current so as to reduce the impact of the thermal effect on the beam quality, a beam splitting-amplifying-combining scheme is adopted. The energy extraction efficiency of the laser system is 50.68%. We achieve 3.36 J pulse energy at a 100 Hz repetition rate with a pulse duration of 7.1 ns, a far-field beam spot 1.71 times the diffraction limit, and 1.07% energy stability (RMS).

Polarized millijoule fiber laser system with high beam quality and pulse shaping ability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Rui; Tian, Xiaocheng; Xu, Dangpeng; Zhou, Dandan; Zong, Zhaoyu; Li, Hongxun; Fan, Mengqiu; Huang, Zhihua; Zhu, Na; Su, Jingqin; Zhu, Qihua; Jing, Feng

2017-05-01

The coherent amplification network (CAN) aims at developing a laser system based on the coherent combination of multiple laser beams, which are produced through a network of high beam quality optical fiber amplifiers. The scalability of the CAN laser facilitates the development of many novel applications, such as fiber-based acceleration, orbital debris removal and inertial confinement fusion energy. According to the requirements of CAN and the front end of high-power laser facilities, a millijoule polarized fiber laser system was studied in this paper. Using polarization maintaining Ytterbium-fiber laser system as the seed, and 10-μm core Yb-doped fiber amplifier as the first power amplifier and 40-μm core polarizing (PZ) photonic crystal fiber (PCF) as the second power amplifier, the all-fiber laser system outputs 1.06-mJ energy at 10 ns and diffraction limited mode quality. Using 85-μm rod-type PCF as the third power amplifiers, 2.5-mJ energy at 10-ns pulse width was obtained with better than 500:1 peak-to-foot pulse shaping ability and fundamental mode beam quality. The energy fluctuation of the system is 1.3% rms with 1-mJ output in one hour. When using phase-modulated pulse as the seed, the frequency modulation to amplitude modulation (FM-to-AM) conversion ratio of the system is better than 5%. This fiber laser system has the advantages of high beam quality, high beam shaping ability, good stability, small volume and free of maintenance, which can be used in many applications.

Performance study of highly efficient 520 W average power long pulse ceramic Nd:YAG rod laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choubey, Ambar; Vishwakarma, S. C.; Ali, Sabir; Jain, R. K.; Upadhyaya, B. N.; Oak, S. M.

2013-10-01

We report the performance study of a 2% atomic doped ceramic Nd:YAG rod for long pulse laser operation in the millisecond regime with pulse duration in the range of 0.5-20 ms. A maximum average output power of 520 W with 180 J maximum pulse energy has been achieved with a slope efficiency of 5.4% using a dual rod configuration, which is the highest for typical lamp pumped ceramic Nd:YAG lasers. The laser output characteristics of the ceramic Nd:YAG rod were revealed to be nearly equivalent or superior to those of high-quality single crystal Nd:YAG rod. The laser pump chamber and resonator were designed and optimized to achieve a high efficiency and good beam quality with a beam parameter product of 16 mm mrad (M2˜47). The laser output beam was efficiently coupled through a 400 μm core diameter optical fiber with 90% overall transmission efficiency. This ceramic Nd:YAG laser will be useful for various material processing applications in industry.

Diode-pumped solid state green laser for ophthalmologic application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eno, Taizo; Goto, Yoshiaki; Momiuchi, Masayuki

2002-10-01

We have developed diode pumped solid state green laser suitable for ophthalmologic applications. Beam parameters were designed by considering the coagulation system. We have lowered the beam quality to multi transverse and longitudinal mode on purpose to improve the speckle noise of the slit lamp output beam. The beam profile shows homogeneous intensity and it is very useful for ophthalmologic application. End pumping and short cavity configuration made it possible.

Electron trajectory evaluation in laser-plasma interaction for effective output beam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zobdeh, P.; Sadighi-Bonabi, R.; Afarideh, H.

2010-06-01

Using the ellipsoidal cavity model, the quasi-monoenergetic electron output beam in laser-plasma interaction is described. By the cavity regime the quality of electron beam is improved in comparison with those generated from other methods such as periodic plasma wave field, spheroidal cavity regime and plasma channel guided acceleration. Trajectory of electron motion is described as hyperbolic, parabolic or elliptic paths. We find that the self-generated electron bunch has a smaller energy width and more effective gain in energy spectrum. Initial condition for the ellipsoidal cavity is determined by laser-plasma parameters. The electron trajectory is influenced by its position, energy and cavity electrostatic potential.

Kilohertz Pulse Repetition Frequency Slab Ti:sapphire Lasers with High Average Power (10 W)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wadsworth, William J.; Coutts, David W.; Webb, Colin E.

1999-11-01

High-average-power broadband 780-nm slab Ti:sapphire lasers, pumped by a kilohertz pulse repetition frequency copper vapor laser (CVL), were demonstrated. These lasers are designed for damage-free power scaling when pumped by CVL s configured for maximum output power (of order 100 W) but with poor beam quality ( M 2 300 ). A simple Brewster-angled slab laser side pumped by a CVL produced 10-W average power (1.25-mJ pulses at 8 kHz) with 4.2-ns FWHM pulse duration at an absolute efficiency of 15% (68-W pump power). Thermal lensing in the Brewster slab laser resulted in multitransverse mode output, and pump absorption was limited to 72% by the maximum doping level for commercially available Ti:sapphire (0.25%). A slab laser with a multiply folded zigzag path was therefore designed and implemented that produced high-beam-quality (TEM 00 -mode) output when operated with cryogenic cooling and provided a longer absorption path for the pump. Excessive scattering of the Ti:sapphire beam at the crystal surfaces limited the efficiency of operation for the zigzag laser, but fluorescence diagnostic techniques, gain measurement, and modeling suggest that efficient power extraction ( 15 W TEM 00 , 23% efficiency) from this laser would be possible for crystals with an optical quality surface polish.

Beam control of high-power broad-area photonic crystal lasers using ladderlike groove structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Tao; Wang, Lijie; Shu, Shili; Tian, Sicong; Lu, Zefeng; Hou, Guanyu; Lu, Huanyu; Tong, Cunzhu; Wang, Lijun

2017-06-01

The high-power broad-area (BA) photonic bandgap crystal (PBC) diode laser is promising as a high-brightness laser source, however, it suffers from poor lateral beam quality owing to the intrinsic drawback of BA lasers. In this paper, a ladderlike groove structure (LLGS) was proposed to improve both the lateral beam quality and emission power of BA PBC lasers. An approximately 15.4% improvement in output power and 25.2% decrease in the lateral beam parameter product (BPP) were realized and the underlying mechanism was discussed. On the basis of the one-dimensional PBC epitaxial structure, a stable vertical far field was demonstrated.

Implementation of a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser with quick-change output couplers for high-beam quality 1064 or 532 nm wavelength generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Chun-Hao; Tsai, Ming-Jong

2009-06-01

A novel diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser system that employs a fixed active laser medium and a pair of quick-change output couplers on a precision linear stage for 1064 or 532 nm wavelength generation is presented. Fixed elements include a rear mirror, an acousto-optical Q-switch, and a diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSSL). Movable elements for 1064 nm generation include an intra-cavity aperture as a mode selection element (MSE) and an output coupler. Movable elements for 532 nm generation include an intra-cavity frequency conversion with KTP, an intra-cavity aperture as a mode selection element (MSE), and an output coupler. Under stable operating conditions, the 1064 nm configuration produced a beam propagation ratio of 1.18 whereas the 532 nm configuration produced a beam propagation ratio of 1.1, both of which used an intra-cavity MSE with an aperture of 1.2 mm and a length of 5 mm.

Evaluation of the TrueBeam machine performance check (MPC) beam constancy checks for flattened and flattening filter-free (FFF) photon beams.

PubMed

Barnes, Michael P; Greer, Peter B

2017-01-01

Machine Performance Check (MPC) is an automated and integrated image-based tool for verification of beam and geometric performance of the TrueBeam linac. The aims of the study were to evaluate the MPC beam performance tests against current daily quality assurance (QA) methods, to compare MPC performance against more accurate monthly QA tests and to test the sensitivity of MPC to changes in beam performance. The MPC beam constancy checks test the beam output, uniformity, and beam center against the user defined baseline. MPC was run daily over a period of 5 months (n = 115) in parallel with the Daily QA3 device. Additionally, IC Profiler, in-house EPID tests, and ion chamber measurements were performed biweekly and results presented in a form directly comparable to MPC. The sensitivity of MPC was investigated using controlled adjustments of output, beam angle, and beam position steering. Over the period, MPC output agreed with ion chamber to within 0.6%. For an output adjustment of 1.2%, MPC was found to agree with ion chamber to within 0.17%. MPC beam center was found to agree with the in-house EPID method within 0.1 mm. A focal spot position adjustment of 0.4 mm (at isocenter) was measured with MPC beam center to within 0.01 mm. An average systematic offset of 0.5% was measured in the MPC uniformity and agreement of MPC uniformity with symmetry measurements was found to be within 0.9% for all beams. MPC uniformity detected a change in beam symmetry of 1.5% to within 0.3% and 0.9% of IC Profiler for flattened and FFF beams, respectively. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

Beam shaping optics to enhance performance of interferometry techniques in grating manufacture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laskin, Alexander; Laskin, Vadim; Ostrun, Aleksei

2018-02-01

Improving of industrial holographic and interferometry techniques is of great importance in interference lithography, computer-generated holography, holographic data storage, interferometry recording of Bragg gratings as well as gratings of various types in semiconductor industry. Performance of mentioned techniques is essentially enhanced by providing a light beam with flat phase front and flat-top irradiance distribution. Therefore, transformation of Gaussian distribution of a TEM00 laser to flat-top (top hat, uniform) distribution is an important optical task. There are different refractive and diffractive beam shaping approaches used in laser industrial and scientific applications, but only few of them are capable to fulfil the optimum conditions for beam quality demanding holography and interferometry. As a solution it is suggested to apply refractive field mapping beam shaping optics πShaper, which operational principle presumes almost lossless transformation of Gaussian to flat-top beam with flatness of output wavefront, conserving of beam consistency, providing collimated low divergent output beam, high transmittance, extended depth of field, negligible wave aberration, and achromatic design provides capability to work with several lasers with different wavelengths simultaneously. High optical quality of resulting flat-top beam allows applying additional optical components to build various imaging optical systems for variation of beam size and shape to fulfil requirements of a particular application. This paper will describe design basics of refractive beam shapers and optical layouts of their applying in holography and laser interference lithography. Examples of real implementations and experimental results will be presented as well.

Efficient excitations of radially and azimuthally polarized Nd3+:YAG ceramic microchip laser by use of subwavelength multilayer concentric gratings composed of Nb2O5/SiO2.

PubMed

Li, Jian-Lang; Ueda, Ken-ichi; Zhong, Lan-xiang; Musha, Mitsuru; Shirakawa, Akira; Sato, Takashi

2008-07-07

Cylindrical vector beams were produced from laser diode end-pumped Nd:YAG ceramic microchip laser by use of two types of subwavelength multilayer gratings as the axisymmetric-polarization output couplers respectively. The grating mirrors are composed of high- and low-refractive- index (Nb(2)O(5)/SiO(2)) layers alternately while each layer is shaped into triangle and concentric corrugations. For radially polarized laser output, the beam power reached 610mW with a polarization extinction ratio (PER) of 61:1 and a slope efficiency of 68.2%; for azimuthally polarized laser output, the beam power reached 626mW with a PER of 58:1 and a slope efficiency of 47.6%. In both cases, the laser beams had near-diffraction limited quality. Small differences of beam power, PER and slope efficiency between radially and azimuthally polarized laser outputs were not critical, and could be minimized by further optimized adjustment to laser cavity and the reflectances of respective grating mirrors. The results manifested, by use of the photonic crystal gratings mirrors and end-pumped microchip laser configuration, CVBs can be generated efficiently with high modal symmetry and polarization purity.

Modeling of static and flowing-gas diode pumped alkali lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barmashenko, Boris D.; Auslender, Ilya; Yacoby, Eyal; Waichman, Karol; Sadot, Oren; Rosenwaks, Salman

2016-03-01

Modeling of static and flowing-gas subsonic, transonic and supersonic Cs and K Ti:Sapphire and diode pumped alkali lasers (DPALs) is reported. A simple optical model applied to the static K and Cs lasers shows good agreement between the calculated and measured dependence of the laser power on the incident pump power. The model reproduces the observed threshold pump power in K DPAL which is much higher than that predicted by standard models of the DPAL. Scaling up flowing-gas DPALs to megawatt class power is studied using accurate three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model, taking into account the effects of temperature rise and losses of alkali atoms due to ionization. Both the maximum achievable power and laser beam quality are estimated for Cs and K lasers. The performance of subsonic and, in particular, supersonic DPALs is compared with that of transonic, where supersonic nozzle and diffuser are spared and high power mechanical pump (needed for recovery of the gas total pressure which strongly drops in the diffuser), is not required for continuous closed cycle operation. For pumping by beams of the same rectangular cross section, comparison between end-pumping and transverse-pumping shows that the output power is not affected by the pump geometry, however, the intensity of the output laser beam in the case of transverse-pumped DPALs is strongly non-uniform in the laser beam cross section resulting in higher brightness and better beam quality in the far field for the end-pumping geometry where the intensity of the output beam is uniform.

Design and Characterization of Optically Pumped Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-12-01

technology to make VCSELs (e.g. Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) and Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD)) motivated the research in this area over the...Resistances for Current Injected VCSELs 3-14 4.1. Equipment Configuration used for Output Beam Characterization . . . 4-1 4.2. Optical Pump Beam and Focusing...pursued over the past few years because VCSELs have ad- ditional inherent advantages. The VCSEL design exhibits better exit beam quality, is of smaller

Recent developments in CO2 lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Keming

1993-05-01

CO2 lasers have been used in industry mainly for such things as cutting, welding, and surface processing. To conduct a broad spectrum of high-speed and high-quality applications, most of the developments in industrial CO2 lasers at the ILT are aimed at increasing the output power, optimizing the beam quality, and reducing the production costs. Most of the commercial CO2 lasers above 5 kW are transverse-flow systems using dc excitation. The applications of these lasers are limited due to the lower beam quality, the poor point stability, and the lower modulation frequency. To overcome the problems we developed a fast axial- flow CO2 laser using rf excitation with an output of 13 kW. In section 2 some of the results are discussed concerning the gas flow, the discharge, the resonator design, optical effects of active medium, the aerodynamic window, and the modulation of the output power. The first CO2 lasers ever built are diffusion-cooled systems with conventional dc excited cylindrical discharge tubes surrounded by cooling jackets. The output power per unit length is limited to 50 W/m by those lasers with cylindrical tubes. In the past few years considerable increases in the output power were achieved, using new mechanical geometries, excitation- techniques, and resonator designs. This progress in diffusion-cooled CO2 lasers is presented in section 3.

Fiber optic diffraction grating maker

DOEpatents

Deason, V.A.; Ward, M.B.

1991-05-21

A compact and portable diffraction grating maker is comprised of a laser beam, optical and fiber optics devices coupling the beam to one or more evanescent beam splitters, and collimating lenses or mirrors directing the split beam at an appropriate photosensitive material. The collimating optics, the output ends of the fiber optic coupler and the photosensitive plate holder are all mounted on an articulated framework so that the angle of intersection of the beams can be altered at will without disturbing the spatial filter, collimation or beam quality, and assuring that the beams will always intersect at the position of the plate. 4 figures.

Fiber optic diffraction grating maker

DOEpatents

Deason, Vance A.; Ward, Michael B.

1991-01-01

A compact and portable diffraction grating maker comprised of a laser beam, optical and fiber optics devices coupling the beam to one or more evanescent beam splitters, and collimating lenses or mirrors directing the split beam at an appropriate photosensitive material. The collimating optics, the output ends of the fiber optic coupler and the photosensitive plate holder are all mounted on an articulated framework so that the angle of intersection of the beams can be altered at will without disturbing the spatial filter, collimation or beam quality, and assuring that the beams will always intersect at the position of the plate.

Method to improve optical parametric oscillator beam quality

DOEpatents

Smith, Arlee V.; Alford, William J.; Bowers, Mark S.

2003-11-11

A method to improving optical parametric oscillator (OPO) beam quality having an optical pump, which generates a pump beam at a pump frequency greater than a desired signal frequency, a nonlinear optical medium oriented so that a signal wave at the desired signal frequency and a corresponding idler wave are produced when the pump beam (wave) propagates through the nonlinear optical medium, resulting in beam walk off of the signal and idler waves, and an optical cavity which directs the signal wave to repeatedly pass through the nonlinear optical medium, said optical cavity comprising an equivalently even number of non-planar mirrors that produce image rotation on each pass through the nonlinear optical medium. Utilizing beam walk off where the signal wave and said idler wave have nonparallel Poynting vectors in the nonlinear medium and image rotation, a correlation zone of distance equal to approximately .rho.L.sub.crystal is created which, through multiple passes through the nonlinear medium, improves the beam quality of the OPO output.

A new method to calculate the beam charge for an integrating current transformer

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wu Yuchi; Han Dan; Zhu Bin

2012-09-15

The integrating current transformer (ICT) is a magnetic sensor widely used to precisely measure the charge of an ultra-short-pulse charged particle beam generated by traditional accelerators and new laser-plasma particle accelerators. In this paper, we present a new method to calculate the beam charge in an ICT based on circuit analysis. The output transfer function shows an invariable signal profile for an ultra-short electron bunch, so the function can be used to evaluate the signal quality and calculate the beam charge through signal fitting. We obtain a set of parameters in the output function from a standard signal generated bymore » an ultra-short electron bunch (about 1 ps in duration) at a radio frequency linear electron accelerator at Tsinghua University. These parameters can be used to obtain the beam charge by signal fitting with excellent accuracy.« less

Propagation of rotational Risley-prism-array-based Gaussian beams in turbulent atmosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Feng; Ma, Haotong; Dong, Li; Ren, Ge; Qi, Bo; Tan, Yufeng

2018-03-01

Limited by the size and weight of prism and optical assembling, Rotational Risley-prism-array system is a simple but effective way to realize high power and superior beam quality of deflecting laser output. In this paper, the propagation of the rotational Risley-prism-array-based Gaussian beam array in atmospheric turbulence is studied in detail. An analytical expression for the average intensity distribution at the receiving plane is derived based on nonparaxial ray tracing method and extended Huygens-Fresnel principle. Power in the diffraction-limited bucket is chosen to evaluate beam quality. The effect of deviation angle, propagation distance and intensity of turbulence on beam quality is studied in detail by quantitative simulation. It reveals that with the propagation distance increasing, the intensity distribution gradually evolves from multiple-petal-like shape into the pattern that contains one main-lobe in the center with multiple side-lobes in weak turbulence. The beam quality of rotational Risley-prism-array-based Gaussian beam array with lower deviation angle is better than its counterpart with higher deviation angle when propagating in weak and medium turbulent (i.e. Cn2 < 10-13m-2/3), the beam quality of higher deviation angle arrays degrades faster as the intensity of turbulence gets stronger. In the case of propagating in strong turbulence, the long propagation distance (i.e. z > 10km ) and deviation angle have no influence on beam quality.

Over 10-watt pico-second diffraction-limited output from a Nd:YVO4 slab amplifier with a phase conjugate mirror.

PubMed

Ojima, Yasukuni; Nawata, Kouji; Omatsu, Takashige

2005-10-31

We have produced a high beam quality pico-second laser based on a continuous-wave diode pumped Nd:YVO4 slab amplifier with a photorefractive phase conjugate mirror. 12.8W diffraction-limited output with a pulse width of 8.7ps was obtained.

Hollow core waveguide as mid-infrared laser modal beam filter

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Patimisco, P.; Giglio, M.; Spagnolo, V.

2015-09-21

A novel method for mid-IR laser beam mode cleaning employing hollow core waveguide as a modal filter element is reported. The influence of the input laser beam quality on fiber optical losses and output beam profile using a hollow core waveguide with 200 μm-bore size was investigated. Our results demonstrate that even when using a laser with a poor spatial profile, there will exist a minimum fiber length that allows transmission of only the Gaussian-like fundamental waveguide mode from the fiber, filtering out all the higher order modes. This essentially single mode output is preserved also when the waveguide is bentmore » to a radius of curvature of 7.5 cm, which demonstrates that laser mode filtering can be realized even if a curved light path is required.« less

Multi-megawatt millimeter-wave source for plasma heating and control

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hirshfield, J.L.; Wang, C.; Ganguly, A.K.

1995-12-31

Results of a feasibility study are summarized for multi-megawatt mm-wavelength gyroharmonic converters for plasma heating applications. Output power in these devices is extracted at a high harmonic of the modulation frequency of a spatiotemporally gyrating electron beam prepared using cyclotron autoresonance acceleration. An example is described in which an output of 2.2 MW at 148.5 GHz is predicted at the 13th harmonic of an 8 MW 11.424 GHz CARA, after including waveguide ohmic wall losses. Achievement of this performance requires a high quality 200 kV, 16 A luminar pencil beam injected into CARA, and effective suppression of competing output modes;more » means to realize these requirements are discussed.« less

Practical use of a plastic scintillator for quality assurance of electron beam therapy.

PubMed

Yogo, Katsunori; Tatsuno, Yuya; Tsuneda, Masato; Aono, Yuki; Mochizuki, Daiki; Fujisawa, Yoshiki; Matsushita, Akihiro; Ishigami, Minoru; Ishiyama, Hiromichi; Hayakawa, Kazushige

2017-06-07

Quality assurance (QA) of clinical electron beams is essential for performing accurate and safe radiation therapy. However, with advances in radiation therapy, QA has become increasingly labor-intensive and time-consuming. In this paper, we propose a tissue-equivalent plastic scintillator for quick and easy QA of clinical electron beams. The proposed tool comprises a plastic scintillator plate and a charge-coupled device camera that enable the scintillation light by electron beams to be recorded with high sensitivity and high spatial resolution. Further, the Cerenkov image is directly subtracted from the scintillation image to discriminate Cerenkov emissions and accurately measure the dose profiles of electron beams with high spatial resolution. Compared with conventional methods, discrepancies in the depth profile improved from 7% to 2% in the buildup region via subtractive corrections. Further, the output brightness showed good linearity with dose, good reproducibility (deviations below 1%), and dose rate independence (within 0.5%). The depth of 50% dose measured with the tool, an index of electron beam quality, was within  ±0.5 mm of that obtained with an ionization chamber. Lateral brightness profiles agreed with the lateral dose profiles to within 4% and no significant improvement was obtained using Cerenkov corrections. Field size agreed to within 0.5 mm with those obtained with ionization chamber. For clinical QA of electron boost treatment, a disk scintillator that mimics the shape of a patient's breast is applied. The brightness distribution and dose, calculated using a treatment planning system, was generally acceptable for clinical use, except in limited zones. Overall, the proposed plastic scintillator plate tool efficiently performs QA for electron beam therapy and enables simultaneous verification of output constancy, beam quality, depth, and lateral dose profiles during monthly QAs at lower doses of irradiation (small monitor units, MUs).

Beam collimation and focusing and error analysis of LD and fiber coupling system based on ZEMAX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qiao, Lvlin; Zhou, Dejian; Xiao, Lei

2017-10-01

Laser diodde has many advantages, such as high efficiency, small volume, low cost and easy integration, so it is widely used. Because of its poor beam quality, the application of semiconductor laser has also been seriously hampered. In view of the poor beam quality, the ZEMAX optical design software is used to simulate the far field characteristics of the semiconductor laser beam, and the coupling module of the semiconductor laser and the optical fiber is designed and optimized. And the beam is coupled into the fiber core diameter d=200µm, the numerical aperture NA=0.22 optical fiber, the output power can reach 95%. Finally, the influence of the three docking errors on the coupling efficiency during the installation process is analyzed.

Effects of various cavity designs on the performance of a CO2 TEA laser with an unstable resonator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhao, Yanzeng; Post, Madison J.; Lawrence, T. R.

1992-01-01

Unstable resonator modeling has been carried out for an injection-seeded CO2 transversely excited atmosphere (TEA) laser in the NOAA/ERL/Wave Propagation Laboratory (WPL) Doppler lidar to examine the effects of various cavity designs on the quality of the output beam. The results show the effects of an injection pinhole, electrode spacing, mirror tilt, and radial reflectivity function of the output coupler. The electrode spacing in this laser has negligible effect. The injection pinhole, however, produces complicated structures in the output patterns. If the pinhole is removed, the output pattern is much smoother, and the frequency jitter is smaller. Misalignment sensitivity is very closely related to the radial reflectivity function. The superparabolic function provides the highest coupling efficiency, largest beam size, and good collimation, but produces a slightly higher misalignment sensitivity compared with a parabolic function. The Gaussian function provides the lowest misalignment sensitivity, but it produces the smallest beam size and the largest beam divergence. Also, the coupling coefficient is 50 percent lower than the optimum value. Methods for using a flat diffraction grating in unstable resonators are also investigated. The best way is to use a flat grating/positive lens combination to replace the back concave mirror.

Possibilities of using pulsed lasers and copper-vapour laser system (CVL and CVLS) in modern technological equipment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Labin, N. A.; Bulychev, N. A.; Kazaryan, M. A.; Grigoryants, A. G.; Shiganov, I. N.; Krasovskii, V. I.; Sachkov, V. I.; Plyaka, P. S.; Feofanov, I. N.

2015-12-01

Research on CVL installations with an average power of 20-25 W of cutting and drilling has shown wide range of applications of these lasers for micromachining of metals and a wide range of non-metallic materials up to 1-2 mm. From the analysis indicated that peak power density in the focused light spot of 10-30 μm diameter must be 109 -1012 W/cm2 the productivity and quality micromachining, when the treatment material is preferably in the evaporative mode micro explosions, followed by the expansion of the superheated vapor and the liquid. To achieve such levels of power density, a minimum heat affected zone (5- 10 μm) and a minimum surface roughness of the cut (1-2 μm), the quality of the output beam of radiation should be as high. Ideally, to ensure the quality of the radiation, the structure of CVL output beam must be single-beam, diffraction divergence and have at duration pulses τi = 20-40 ns. The pulse energy should have low values of 0.1-1 mJ at pulse repetition rates of 10-20 kHz. Axis of the radiation beam instability of the pattern to be three orders of magnitude smaller than the diffraction limit of the divergence. The spot of the focused radiation beam must have a circular shape with clear boundary, and a Gaussian intensity distribution.

High power single-frequency and frequency-doubled laser with active compensation for the thermal lens effect of terbium gallium garnet crystal.

PubMed

Yin, Qiwei; Lu, Huadong; Su, Jing; Peng, Kunchi

2016-05-01

The thermal lens effect of terbium gallium garnet (TGG) crystal in a high power single-frequency laser severely limits the output power and the beam quality of the laser. By inserting a potassium dideuterium phosphate (DKDP) slice with negative thermo-optical coefficient into the laser resonator, the harmful influence of the thermal lens effect of the TGG crystal can be effectively mitigated. Using this method, the stable range of the laser is broadened, the bistability phenomenon of the laser during the process of changing the pump power is completely eliminated, the highest output power of an all-solid-state continuous-wave intracavity-frequency-doubling single-frequency laser at 532 nm is enhanced to 30.2 W, and the beam quality of the laser is significantly improved.

CW 50W/M2 = 10.9 diode laser source by spectral beam combining based on a transmission grating.

PubMed

Zhang, Jun; Peng, Hangyu; Fu, Xihong; Liu, Yun; Qin, Li; Miao, Guoqing; Wang, Lijun

2013-02-11

An external cavity structure based on the -1st transmission grating is introduced to spectral beam combining a 970 nm diode laser bar. A CW output power of 50.8 W, an electro-optical conversion efficiency of 45%, a spectral beam combining efficiency of 90.2% and a holistic M(2) value of 10.9 are achieved. This shows a way for a diode laser source with several KW power and diffraction-limited beam quality at the same time.

High brightness KW-class direct diode laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Dan; Guo, Zhijie; Ma, Di; Zhang, Tujia; Guo, Weirong; Wang, Baohua; Xu, Ray; Chen, Xiaohua

2018-02-01

With certain emitter beam quality and BPP allowed by fiber, we have derived a spatial beam combination structure that approaches the BPP limit of the fiber. Using the spatial beam combination structure and polarization beam combination, BWT has achieved 1.1KW output from a fiber (one end coated) with NA 0.22 and core diameter of 200μm. The electro- optical efficiency is nearly 47%. Multiple emitters with wavelength of 976nm are packaged in a module with size of 600 ×350×80mm3.

External-cavity beam combining of 4-channel quantum cascade lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Yue; Zhang, Jin-Chuan; Zhou, Yu-Hong; Jia, Zhi-Wei; Zhuo, Ning; Zhai, Shen-Qiang; Wang, Li-Jun; Liu, Jun-Qi; Liu, Shu-Man; Liu, Feng-Qi; Wang, Zhan-Guo

2017-09-01

We demonstrate an external-cavity (EC) beam combining of 4-channel quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) with an output coupler which makes different QCL beams propagating coaxially. A beam combining efficiency of 35% (up to 75% near threshold) is obtained with a beam quality M2 of 5.5. A peak power of 0.64 W is achieved at a wavelength of 4.7 μm. The differences of spot characteristic between coupled and uncoupled are also showed in this letter. The QCLs in this EC system do not have heat crosstalk so that the system can be used for high power beam combining of QCLs.

A dual-end-pumped Ho:YAG laser with a high energy output

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Duan, X M; Cui, Zh; Dai, T Y

2015-08-31

We report a high energy output from a Ho:YAG oscillator resonantly double-end pumped by Tm:YLF lasers at room temperature. The maximum pulse energy of 52.5 mJ was achieved at a pulse repetition rate of 100Hz and a pulse duration of 35.2 ns, corresponding to a peak power of approximately 1.5 MW. The output wavelength was 2090.7 nm with beam quality factor M{sup 2} ∼ 1.2. (lasers)

Diffraction limited 1064nm monolithic DBR-master oscillator power amplifier with more than 7W output power

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zink, Christof; Maaβdorf, André; Fricke, Jörg; Ressel, Peter; Maiwald, Martin; Sumpf, Bernd; Erbert, Götz; Tränkle, Günther

2018-02-01

High brightness diode lasers with a spectrally narrowband emission, several watts of output power with an almost diffraction limited beam quality are requested light sources for several applications. In this work, a monolithic master oscillator power amplifier will be presented. The resonator of the master oscillator is formed by a high-reflection DBR grating on the rear side and an internal DBR mirror. Its power is amplified in a ridge waveguide followed by a tapered section. The monolithic MOPA provides over 7 W at 1064 nm with a narrow spectral emission width below 20 pm and an almost diffraction limited beam.

Applications of OALCLV in the high power laser systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Dajie; Fan, Wei; Cheng, He; Wei, Hui; Wang, Jiangfeng; An, Honghai; Wang, Chao; Cheng, Yu; Xia, Gang; Li, Xuechun; Lin, Zunqi

2017-10-01

This paper introduces the recent development of our integrated optical addressed spatial light modulator and its applications in the high power laser systems. It can be used to convert the incident beam into uniform beam for high energy effiency, or it can realize special distribution to meet the requirements of physical experiment. The optical addressing method can avoid the problem of the black matrix effect of the electric addressing device. Its transmittance for 1053nm light is about 85% and the aperture of our device has reached 22mm× 22mm. As a transmissive device, it can be inserted into the system without affecting the original optical path. The applications of the device in the three laser systems are introduced in detail in this paper. In the SGII-Up laser facility, this device demonstrates its ability to shape the output laser beam of the fundamental frequency when the output energy reaches about 2000J. Meanwhile, there's no change in the time waveform and far field distribution. This means that it can effectively improve the capacity of the maximum output energy. In the 1J1Hz Nd-glass laser system, this device has been used to improve the uniformity of the output beam. As a result, the PV value reduces from 1.4 to 1.2, which means the beam quality has been improved effectively. In the 9th beam of SGII laser facility, the device has been used to meet the requirements of sampling the probe light. As the transmittance distribution of the laser beam can be adjusted, the sampling spot can be realized in real time. As a result, it's easy to make the sampled spot meet the requirements of physics experiment.

1030 nm high power polarization maintained fiber laser with narrow linewidth and near-diffraction-limited beam quality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chu, Qiuhui; Zhao, Pengfei; Li, Chengyu; Wang, Bopeng; Lin, Honghuan; Guo, Chao; Liu, Yu; Jing, Feng; Tang, Chuanxiang

2018-03-01

A high power 1030 nm ytterbium-doped polarization maintained fiber laser with optimized parameters is presented in this paper. The master oscillator power amplifier system with counter-pumped amplifier is established. The output power is 900 W, along with a light-to-light efficiency of 64.2%. The amplified spontaneous emission suppression ratio of spectrum reaches to 40 dB with 3 dB linewidth of 0.14 nm. The polarization extinction ratio is 12 dB, and the beam quality factor is M2x=1.07, M2y=1.12. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of 1030 nm high power fiber laser with narrow linewidth, near linear polarization, and neardiffraction-limited beam quality

Quality control in cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) EFOMP-ESTRO-IAEA protocol (summary report).

PubMed

de Las Heras Gala, Hugo; Torresin, Alberto; Dasu, Alexandru; Rampado, Osvaldo; Delis, Harry; Hernández Girón, Irene; Theodorakou, Chrysoula; Andersson, Jonas; Holroyd, John; Nilsson, Mats; Edyvean, Sue; Gershan, Vesna; Hadid-Beurrier, Lama; Hoog, Christopher; Delpon, Gregory; Sancho Kolster, Ismael; Peterlin, Primož; Garayoa Roca, Julia; Caprile, Paola; Zervides, Costas

2017-07-01

The aim of the guideline presented in this article is to unify the test parameters for image quality evaluation and radiation output in all types of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) systems. The applications of CBCT spread over dental and interventional radiology, guided surgery and radiotherapy. The chosen tests provide the means to objectively evaluate the performance and monitor the constancy of the imaging chain. Experience from all involved associations has been collected to achieve a consensus that is rigorous and helpful for the practice. The guideline recommends to assess image quality in terms of uniformity, geometrical precision, voxel density values (or Hounsfield units where available), noise, low contrast resolution and spatial resolution measurements. These tests usually require the use of a phantom and evaluation software. Radiation output can be determined with a kerma-area product meter attached to the tube case. Alternatively, a solid state dosimeter attached to the flat panel and a simple geometric relationship can be used to calculate the dose to the isocentre. Summary tables including action levels and recommended frequencies for each test, as well as relevant references, are provided. If the radiation output or image quality deviates from expected values, or exceeds documented action levels for a given system, a more in depth system analysis (using conventional tests) and corrective maintenance work may be required. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

High-efficient Nd:YAG microchip laser for optical surface scanning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Šulc, Jan; Jelínková, Helena; Nejezchleb, Karel; Škoda, Václav

2017-12-01

A CW operating, compact, high-power, high-efficient diode pumped 1064nm laser, based on Nd:YAG active medium, was developed for optical surface scanning and mapping applications. To enhance the output beam quality, laser stability, and compactness, a microchip configuration was used. In this arrangement the resonator mirrors were deposited directly on to the laser crystal faces. The Nd-doping concentration was 1 at.% Nd/Y. The Nd:YAG crystal was 5mm long. The laser resonator without pumping radiation recuperation was investigated {the output coupler was transparent for pumping radiation. For the generated laser radiation the output coupler reflectivity was 95%@1064 nm. The diameter of the samples was 5 mm. For the laser pumping two arrangements were investigated. Firstly, a fibre coupled laser diode operating at wavelength 808nm was used in CW mode. The 400 ¹m fiber was delivering up to 14W of pump power amplitude to the microchip laser. The maximum CW output power of 7.2W @ 1064nm in close to TEM00 beam was obtained for incident pumping power 13.7W @ 808 nm. The differential efficiency in respect to the incident pump power reached 56 %. Secondly, a single-emitter, 1W laser diode operating at 808nm was used for Nd:YAG microchip pumping. The laser pumping was directly coupled into the microchip laser using free-space lens optics. Slope efficiency up to 70% was obtained in stable, high-quality, 1064nm laser beam with CW power up to 350mW. The system was successfully used for scanning of super-Gaussian laser mirrors reflectivity profile.

Development of high-average-power DPSSL with high beam quality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakai, Sadao; Kanabe, Tadashi; Kawashima, Toshiyuki; Yamanaka, Masanobu; Izawa, Yasukazu; Nakatuka, Masahiro; Kandasamy, Ranganathan; Kan, Hirofumi; Hiruma, Teruo; Niino, Masayuki

2000-08-01

The recent progress of high power diode laser is opening new fields of laser and its application. We are developing high average power diode pumped solid state laser DPSSL for laser fusion power plant, for space propulsion and for various applications in industry. The common features or requirements of our High Average-power Laser for Nuclear-fusion Application (HALNA) are large pulse energy with relatively low repetition of few tens Hz, good beam quality of order of diffraction limit and high efficiency more than 10%. We constructed HALNA 10 (10J X 10 Hz) and tested the performance to clarify the scalability to higher power system. We have obtained in a preliminary experiment a 8.5 J output energy at 0.5 Hz with beam quality of 2 times diffraction limited far-field pattern.

Large-mode-area single-mode-output Neodymium-doped silicate glass all-solid photonic crystal fiber

PubMed Central

Li, Wentao; Chen, Danping; Qinling, Zhou; Hu, Lili

2015-01-01

We have demonstrated a 45 μm core diameter Neodymium-doped all-solid silicate glass photonic crystal fiber laser with a single mode laser output. The structure parameters and modes information of the fiber are both demonstrated by theoretical calculations using Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method and experimental measurements. Maximum 0.8 W output power limited by launched pump power has been generated in 1064 nm with laser beam quality factor M2 1.18. PMID:26205850

Laser beam shaping for biomedical microscopy techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laskin, Alexander; Kaiser, Peter; Laskin, Vadim; Ostrun, Aleksei

2016-04-01

Uniform illumination of a working field is very important in optical systems of confocal microscopy and various implementations of fluorescence microscopy like TIR, SSIM, STORM, PALM to enhance performance of these laser-based research techniques. Widely used TEM00 laser sources are characterized by essentially non-uniform Gaussian intensity profile which leads usually to non-uniform intensity distribution in a microscope working field or in a field of microlenses array of a confocal microscope optical system, this non-uniform illumination results in instability of measuring procedure and reducing precision of quantitative measurements. Therefore transformation of typical Gaussian distribution of a TEM00 laser to flat-top (top hat) profile is an actual technical task, it is solved by applying beam shaping optics. Due to high demands to optical image quality the mentioned techniques have specific requirements to a uniform laser beam: flatness of phase front and extended depth of field, - from this point of view the microscopy techniques are similar to holography and interferometry. There are different refractive and diffractive beam shaping approaches used in laser industrial and scientific applications, but only few of them are capable to fulfil the optimum conditions for beam quality required in discussed microscopy techniques. We suggest applying refractive field mapping beam shapers πShaper, which operational principle presumes almost lossless transformation of Gaussian to flat-top beam with flatness of output wavefront, conserving of beam consistency, providing collimated low divergent output beam, high transmittance, extended depth of field, negligible wave aberration, and achromatic design provides capability to work with several lasers with different wavelengths simultaneously. The main function of a beam shaper is transformation of laser intensity profile, further beam transformation to provide optimum for a particular technique spot size and shape has to be realized by an imaging optical system which can include microscope objectives and tube lenses. This paper will describe design basics of refractive beam shapers and optical layouts of their applying in microscopy systems. Examples of real implementations and experimental results will be presented as well.

An Efficient Single Frequency Ho:YLF Laser for IPDA Lidar Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yu, J.; Bai, Y.; Wong, T.; Reithmeier, K.; Petros, M.

2016-01-01

A highly efficient, versatile, single frequency 2-micron pulsed laser can be used in a pulsed Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) / Integrated Path Differential Absorption (IPDA) instrument to make precise, high-resolution measurements to investigate sources and sinks of CO2. For a direct detection IPDA lidar, the desired 2 ?m Ho:YLF laser should generate 30-40 mJ pulses at the repetition rate of 100 to 200 Hz, with short pulse length (<100 ns) and better than 2% wall plug efficiency. A Tm fiber laser in-band pumped Ho:YLF laser has been developed to meet this technical challenge. This Ho:YLF laser is designed in a four mirror ring resonator with bow tie configuration, which helps to obtain high beam quality. It is end-pumped by a 40 W linearly polarized Tm fiber laser at 1.94µm. The resonator length is 1.10 meters with output coupler reflectivity at 45%. The laser crystal size is 3 x 3 x 60 mm (w, h, l) with a doping concentration of 0.5% Holmium. The laser beam and pump beam are mode-matched in the active medium. Thus, the pump and laser beams have the same confocal parameters. Mode-matching is also helpful for operating the laser in a single transverse mode. The laser beam waist is slightly less than 0.5 mm at the center of the laser crystal. Based on quasi-four level modeling, pump absorption and saturation depend on laser intensity. Laser amplification and saturation also depend on the pump intensity in the crystal. The laser is injection seeded to obtain the single frequency required by an IPDA lidar measurement. The seed beam is entered into the resonator through an output coupler. The laser is mounted on a water cooled optical bench for stable and reliable operation. The size of the optical bench is 22.16 x 9.20 x 1.25 inches. It is stiffened so that the laser can be operated in any orientation of the optical bench. This packaged Ho:YLF laser is designed for either mobile trailer or airborne platform operation. The engineering prototype Ho:YLF laser has been fully characterized to demonstrate laser performance. Figure 1 shows the laser output power as a function of pump power at different pulse repetition rates from 100 Hz to 333 Hz. The threshold of the laser is less than 14 W. The slope efficiencies are 28%, 40%, 41% and 43% for pulse repetition rates of 100, 200, 250 and 333 Hz, respectively. Maximum power increases with the pulse repetition rate. Output power of 4.2 W, 6 W, 6.7 W, and 7.7 W is achieved for pulse repetition rates of 100, 200, 250 and 333Hz, respectively. This represents the optical conversion efficiency of 16.7%, 22.4%, 23.7%, and 26.5% at these various pulse repletion rates. It is the most efficient and compact Ho:YLF laser demonstrated in the high pulse energy (>20mJ) and moderate pulse repetition rate (100's Hz) operation range. As shown in Figure 1, the maximum pulse energy at 100 Hz is 42 mJ. This is limited due to optical damage. The laser stability is characterized and found to be very stable. A relative pulse energy standard deviation of 2% was measured. The beam quality of the Ho:YLF was measured by a Spiricon infrared laser beam camera. Figure 2 shows the beam profile image of the laser. Both the X-profile of the beam (horizontal direction) and the Y-profile of the beam (vertical direction) are well fitted by a Gaussian profile. The qualitative beam quality measurement shows excellent beam quality in both axis. The M-square value for the laser beam is measured at 1.06 and 1.09 for the x and y axis respectively.-

Optical parametric osicllators with improved beam quality

DOEpatents

Smith, Arlee V.; Alford, William J.

2003-11-11

An optical parametric oscillator (OPO) having an optical pump, which generates a pump beam at a pump frequency greater than a desired signal frequency, a nonlinear optical medium oriented so that a signal wave at the desired signal frequency and a corresponding idler wave are produced when the pump beam (wave) propagates through the nonlinear optical medium, resulting in beam walk off of the signal and idler waves, and an optical cavity which directs the signal wave to repeatedly pass through the nonlinear optical medium, said optical cavity comprising an equivalently even number of non-planar mirrors that produce image rotation on each pass through the nonlinear optical medium. Utilizing beam walk off where the signal wave and said idler wave have nonparallel Poynting vectors in the nonlinear medium and image rotation, a correlation zone of distance equal to approximately .rho.L.sub.crystal is created which, through multiple passes through the nonlinear medium, improves the beam quality of the OPO output.

Industrial 30-kW CO2 laser with fast axial gas flow and rf excitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Habich, Uwe; Loosen, Peter; Hertzler, Christoph; Wollermann-Windgasse, Reinhard

1996-03-01

A CO2 laser with fast axial gas flow was set up and operated with a maximum cw output power above 30 kW. The laser makes use of 8 rf-excited discharges which were optimized regarding to the gas-flow, to the discharge homogeneity and to the optical properties of the gain medium. Results of experimental investigation of these topics are described as well as performance characteristics of the laser system equipped with a stable and an unstable resonator, respectively. With an unstable resonator and an aerodynamic window for the extraction of the beam the laser system gives a beam quality which is close to the diffraction limit for this type of resonator. Disregarding the difficulties which are related to the definition and measurement of beam quality for unstable resonators, the beam quality could be described as M2 equals 3. Measured far field intensity profiles in the focal plane of a focusing optics are presented as well as the beam propagation behavior near focus. First results of applications in materials processing are discussed.

Deviation Value for Conventional X-ray in Hospitals in South Sulawesi Province from 2014 to 2016

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bachtiar, Ilham; Abdullah, Bualkar; Tahir, Dahlan

2018-03-01

This paper describes the conventional X-ray machine parameters tested in the region of South Sulawesi from 2014 to 2016. The objective of this research is to know deviation of every parameter of conventional X-ray machine. The testing parameters were analyzed by using quantitative methods with participatory observational approach. Data collection was performed by testing the output of conventional X-ray plane using non-invasive x-ray multimeter. The test parameters include tube voltage (kV) accuracy, radiation output linearity, reproducibility and radiation beam value (HVL) quality. The results of the analysis show four conventional X-ray test parameters have varying deviation spans, where the tube voltage (kV) accuracy has an average value of 4.12%, the average radiation output linearity is 4.47% of the average reproducibility of 0.62% and the averaged of the radiation beam (HVL) is 3.00 mm.

Integrated multispectral high-power laser platform for the defeat of heat-seeking missiles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tadjikov, Boris; Tsekoun, Alexei; Lyakh, Arkadiy; Maulini, Richard; Barron, Rodolfo; Patel, C. Kumar N.

2011-06-01

Quantum cascade lasers are finding rapid acceptance in many defense and security applications. Our new multispectral laser platform providing watt-level outputs near 2.0 μm, 4.0 μm and 4.6 μm in continuous wave regime at room temperature. Individual lasers are spectrally beam combined into a single output beam with excellent quality. Our rugged, compact (11 × 10 × 6.5 inches), and highly reliable, air-cooled multispectral laser platform is already finding acceptance at system level. Our uncooled devices produce > 2W at 4.6 μm and >1.5W at 4.0 μm at room temperature, and maintain watt-level output at 67°C with real wallplug efficiencies >10%. Finally, all of our QCLs undergo 100-hour pre-delivery burn-in and pass shock, vibration, and temperature testing according to MIL-STD-810G.

Development and implementation of EPID-based quality assurance tests for the small animal radiation research platform (SARRP).

PubMed

Anvari, Akbar; Poirier, Yannick; Sawant, Amit

2018-04-28

Although small animal image-guided radiotherapy (SA-IGRT) systems are used increasingly in preclinical research, tools for performing routine quality assurance (QA) have not been optimized and are not readily available. Robust, efficient, and reliable QA tools are needed to ensure the accuracy and reproducibility of SA-IGRT systems. Several investigators have reported custom-made phantoms and protocols for SA-IGRT systems QA. These are typically time and resource intensive and are therefore not well suited to the preclinical radiotherapy environment, in which physics support is limited and routine QA is performed by technical staff. We investigated the use of the inbuilt electronic portal imaging device (EPID) to develop and validate routine QA tests and procedures. In this work, we focus on the Xstrahl Small Animal Radiation Research Platform (SARRP) EPID. However, the methodology and tests developed here are applicable to any SA-IGRT system that incorporates an EPID. We performed a comprehensive characterization of the dosimetric properties of the camera-based EPID at kilovoltage energies over a 11-month period, including detector warm-up time, radiation dose history effect, stability and short- and long-term reproducibility, gantry angle dependency, output factor, and linearity of the EPID response. We developed a test to measure the constancy of beam quality in terms of half-value layer and tube peak potential using the EPID. We verified the SARRP daily output and beam profile constancy using the imager. We investigated the use of the imager to monitor beam-targeting accuracy at various gantry and couch angles. The EPID response was stable and reproducible, exhibiting maximum variations of ≤0.3% and ≤1.9% for short and long terms, respectively. The detector showed no dependence on response at different gantry angles, with a maximum variation ≤0.5%. We found close agreement in output factor measurement between the portal imager and reference dosimeters, with maximum differences ≤3% for ionization chamber and ≤1.7% for Gafchromic EBT3 dosimetry film, respectively. We have shown that the EPID response is linear with tube current (mA) for the entire range of tube kilovoltage peak. Notably, a close relationship was seen between the detector response vs mA slope, and the kilovoltage peak, allowing an independent verification of kilovoltage peak stability based solely on EPID response. In addition to dosimetry tests, according to the beam-targeting measurement using portal images, maximum displacement of the central axis of the x-ray beam (due to sag) was 0.76 ± 0.09 mm at gantry 135°/couch 0° and 0.89 ± 0.06 mm at gantry 0°/couch -135°. We performed the first comprehensive analysis on the dosimetric properties of an EPID operating at kilovoltage x-ray energies. We characterized the detector performance over a 11-month period. Our results indicate that the imager is a stable and convenient tool for SARRP routine QA tests. We then developed EPID-based tests to perform routine SA-IGRT systems QA tasks, such as verifying constancy of beam quality, energy, output, and profile measurements, relative output factors, and beam targeting. © 2018 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

Direct diode lasers with comparable beam quality to fiber, CO2, and solid state lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Robin K.; Chann, Bien; Burgess, James; Kaiman, Michael; Overman, Robert; Glenn, John D.; Tayebati, Parviz

2012-03-01

TeraDiode has produced kW-class ultra-high brightness fiber-coupled direct diode lasers. A fiber-coupled direct diode laser with a power level of 2,040 W from a 50 μm core diameter, 0.15 numerical aperture (NA) output fiber at a single center wavelength was demonstrated. This was achieved with a novel beam combining and shaping technique using COTS diode lasers. The fiber-coupled output corresponds to a Beam Parameter Product (BPP) of 3.75 mm-mrad and is the lowest BPP kW-class direct diode laser yet reported. This laser is suitable for industrial materials processing applications, including sheet metal cutting and welding. This 2-kW fiber-coupled direct diode laser has comparable brightness to that of industrial fiber lasers and CO2 lasers, and is over 10x brighter than state-of-the-art direct diode lasers.

Phased laser array for generating a powerful laser beam

DOEpatents

Holzrichter, John F.; Ruggiero, Anthony J.

2004-02-17

A first injection laser signal and a first part of a reference laser beam are injected into a first laser element. At least one additional injection laser signal and at least one additional part of a reference laser beam are injected into at least one additional laser element. The first part of a reference laser beam and the at least one additional part of a reference laser beam are amplified and phase conjugated producing a first amplified output laser beam emanating from the first laser element and an additional amplified output laser beam emanating from the at least one additional laser element. The first amplified output laser beam and the additional amplified output laser beam are combined into a powerful laser beam.

Systems and methods of varying charged particle beam spot size

DOEpatents

Chen, Yu-Jiuan

2014-09-02

Methods and devices enable shaping of a charged particle beam. A modified dielectric wall accelerator includes a high gradient lens section and a main section. The high gradient lens section can be dynamically adjusted to establish the desired electric fields to minimize undesirable transverse defocusing fields at the entrance to the dielectric wall accelerator. Once a baseline setting with desirable output beam characteristic is established, the output beam can be dynamically modified to vary the output beam characteristics. The output beam can be modified by slightly adjusting the electric fields established across different sections of the modified dielectric wall accelerator. Additional control over the shape of the output beam can be excreted by introducing intentional timing de-synchronization offsets and producing an injected beam that is not fully matched to the entrance of the modified dielectric accelerator.

Beam uniformity of flat top lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Chao; Cramer, Larry; Danielson, Don; Norby, James

2015-03-01

Many beams that output from standard commercial lasers are multi-mode, with each mode having a different shape and width. They show an overall non-homogeneous energy distribution across the spot size. There may be satellite structures, halos and other deviations from beam uniformity. However, many scientific, industrial and medical applications require flat top spatial energy distribution, high uniformity in the plateau region, and complete absence of hot spots. Reliable standard methods for the evaluation of beam quality are of great importance. Standard methods are required for correct characterization of the laser for its intended application and for tight quality control in laser manufacturing. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published standard procedures and definitions for this purpose. These procedures have not been widely adopted by commercial laser manufacturers. This is due to the fact that they are unreliable because an unrepresentative single-pixel value can seriously distort the result. We hereby propose a metric of beam uniformity, a way of beam profile visualization, procedures to automatically detect hot spots and beam structures, and application examples in our high energy laser production.

Beam shaping in high-power broad-area quantum cascade lasers using optical feedback

PubMed Central

Ferré, Simon; Jumpertz, Louise; Carras, Mathieu; Ferreira, Robson; Grillot, Frédéric

2017-01-01

Broad-area quantum cascade lasers with high output powers are highly desirable sources for various applications including infrared countermeasures. However, such structures suffer from strongly deteriorated beam quality due to multimode behavior, diffraction of light and self-focusing. Quantum cascade lasers presenting high performances in terms of power and heat-load dissipation are reported and their response to a nonlinear control based on optical feedback is studied. Applying optical feedback enables to efficiently tailor its near-field beam profile. The different cavity modes are sequentially excited by shifting the feedback mirror angle. Further control of the near-field profile is demonstrated using spatial filtering. The impact of an inhomogeneous gain as well as the influence of the cavity width are investigated. Compared to existing technologies, that are complex and costly, beam shaping with optical feedback is a more flexible solution to obtain high-quality mid-infrared sources. PMID:28287175

Beam shaping in high-power broad-area quantum cascade lasers using optical feedback.

PubMed

Ferré, Simon; Jumpertz, Louise; Carras, Mathieu; Ferreira, Robson; Grillot, Frédéric

2017-03-13

Broad-area quantum cascade lasers with high output powers are highly desirable sources for various applications including infrared countermeasures. However, such structures suffer from strongly deteriorated beam quality due to multimode behavior, diffraction of light and self-focusing. Quantum cascade lasers presenting high performances in terms of power and heat-load dissipation are reported and their response to a nonlinear control based on optical feedback is studied. Applying optical feedback enables to efficiently tailor its near-field beam profile. The different cavity modes are sequentially excited by shifting the feedback mirror angle. Further control of the near-field profile is demonstrated using spatial filtering. The impact of an inhomogeneous gain as well as the influence of the cavity width are investigated. Compared to existing technologies, that are complex and costly, beam shaping with optical feedback is a more flexible solution to obtain high-quality mid-infrared sources.

Experimental study of a VBG-based Tm : YLF slab laser at different output coupler parameters

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Duan, X M; Ding, Y; Dai, T Y

2015-04-30

The performance of a Tm : YLF slab laser is studied at different output coupler parameters. Use is made of a 20-mm-long a-cut slab crystal doped with 2.5 at. % thulium ions. With a volume Bragg grating and a Fabry – Perot etalon, the selected output wavelength of this Tm : YLF slab laser is 1908 nm. For the optimised output coupler with a transmission of 20% and a radius of curvature of 300 mm, the output power exceeds 74.1 W and the slope efficiency with respect to the absorbed pump power reaches 48.4%. In addition, the beam quality ofmore » the Tm : YLF slab laser is improved. (lasers)« less

One joule output from a diode-array-pumped Nd:YAG laser with side-pumped rod geometry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kasinski, Jeffrey J.; Hughes, Will; Dibiase, Don; Bournes, Patrick; Burnham, Ralph

1992-01-01

Output of 1.25 J per pulse (1.064 micron) with an absolute optical efficiency of 28 percent and corresponding electrical efficiency of 10 percent was demonstrated in a diode-array-pumped Nd:YAG laser using a side-pumped rod geometry in a master-oscillator/power-amplifier configuration. In Q-switched operation, an output of 0.75 J in a 17-ns pulse was obtained. The fundamental laser output was frequency doubled in KTP with 60 percent conversion efficiency to obtain 0.45 J in a 16-ns pulse at 532 nm. The output beam had high spatial quality with pointing stability better than 40 microrad and a shot-to-shot pulse energy fluctuation of less than +/-3 percent.

Laser-phased-array beam steering based on crystal fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Deng-cai; Zhao, Si-si; Wang, Da-yong; Wang, Zhi-yong; Zhang, Xiao-fei

2011-06-01

Laser-phased-array system provides an elegant means for achieving the inertial-free, high-resolution, rapid and random beam steering. In laser-phased-array system, phase controlling is the most important factor that impacts the system performance. A novel scheme is provided in this paper, the beam steering is accomplished by using crystal fiber array, the difference length between adjacent fiber is fixed. The phase difference between adjacent fiber decides the direction of the output beam. When the wavelength of the input fiber laser is tuned, the phase difference between the adjacent elements has changed. Therefore, the laser beam direction has changed and the beam steering has been accomplished. In this article, based on the proposed scheme, the steering angle of the laser beam is calculated and analyzed theoretically. Moreover, the far-field steering beam quality is discussed.

Beam shaping to provide round and square-shaped beams in optical systems of high-power lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laskin, Alexander; Laskin, Vadim

2016-05-01

Optical systems of modern high-power lasers require control of irradiance distribution: round or square-shaped flat-top or super-Gaussian irradiance profiles are optimum for amplification in MOPA lasers and for thermal load management while pumping of crystals of solid-state ultra-short pulse lasers to control heat and minimize its impact on the laser power and beam quality while maximizing overall laser efficiency, variable profiles are also important in irradiating of photocathode of Free Electron lasers (FEL). It is suggested to solve the task of irradiance re-distribution using field mapping refractive beam shapers like piShaper. The operational principle of these devices presumes transformation of laser beam intensity from Gaussian to flat-top one with high flatness of output wavefront, saving of beam consistency, providing collimated output beam of low divergence, high transmittance, extended depth of field, negligible residual wave aberration, and achromatic design provides capability to work with ultra-short pulse lasers having broad spectrum. Using the same piShaper device it is possible to realize beams with flat-top, inverse Gauss or super Gauss irradiance distribution by simple variation of input beam diameter, and the beam shape can be round or square with soft edges. This paper will describe some design basics of refractive beam shapers of the field mapping type and optical layouts of their applying in optical systems of high-power lasers. Examples of real implementations and experimental results will be presented as well.

Spiking suppression of high power QCW pulse 1319 nm Nd:YAG laser with different intracavity doublers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bian, Qi; Zuo, Jun-Wei; Guo, Chuan; Xu, Chang; Shen, Yu; Zong, Nan; Bo, Yong; Peng, Qin-Jun; Chen, Hong-Bin; Cui, Da-Fu; Xu, Zu-Yan

2016-09-01

We describe the results of our efforts in suppressing spiking of a high power, high beam quality 1319 nm Nd:YAG microsecond-pulse laser with three different intracavity frequency doublers. The 1319 nm laser is generated by a quasi-continuous-wave diode-pumped Nd:YAG ring laser system. One potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP), two KTPs and one lithium triborate (LBO) as frequency doublers are installed in the ring resonator and tested, respectively. At 800 Hz repetition rate, with a pulse width of 100 µs, performances of spiking suppression for each case are observed. The average output power are 23.6 W, 22.7 W and 23.4 W with beam quality factors of M 2  =  2.21, 1.28 and 1.25 for one KTP, two KTPs and one LBO, respectively. The corresponding brightness are 270 MW/(cm2·sr), 780 MW/(cm2·sr) and 860 MW/(cm2·sr). With better beam quality, higher brightness, and easier maintainability, the LBO is the best option of the three. A laser rate equation model including the insertion loss of the doubler is applied for theoretical analysis of the output temporal pulse shape and power, and the simulated results agree well with the experimental data.

Apparatus for synthesis of a solar spectrum

DOEpatents

Sopori, Bhushan L.

1993-01-01

A xenon arc lamp and a tungsten filament lamp provide light beams that together contain all the wavelengths required to accurately simulate a solar spectrum. Suitable filter apparatus selectively direct visible and ultraviolet light from the xenon arc lamp into two legs of a trifurcated randomized fiber optic cable. Infrared light selectively filtered from the tungsten filament lamp is directed into the third leg of the fiber optic cable. The individual optic fibers from the three legs are brought together in a random fashion into a single output leg. The output beam emanating from the output leg of the trifurcated randomized fiber optic cable is extremely uniform and contains wavelengths from each of the individual filtered light beams. This uniform output beam passes through suitable collimation apparatus before striking the surface of the solar cell being tested. Adjustable aperture apparatus located between the lamps and the input legs of the trifurcated fiber optic cable can be selectively adjusted to limit the amount of light entering each leg, thereby providing a means of "fine tuning" or precisely adjusting the spectral content of the output beam. Finally, an adjustable aperture apparatus may also be placed in the output beam to adjust the intensity of the output beam without changing the spectral content and distribution of the output beam.

980 nm tapered lasers with photonic crystal structure for low vertical divergence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Xiaolong; Qu, Hongwei; Zhao, Pengchao; Liu, Yun; Zheng, Wanhua

2016-10-01

High power tapered lasers with nearly diffraction-limited beam quality have attracted much attention in numerous applications such as nonlinear frequency conversion, optical pumping of solid-state and fiber lasers, medical treatment and others. However, the large vertical divergence of conventional tapered lasers is a disadvantage, which makes beam shaping difficult and expensive in applications. Diode lasers with photonic crystal structure can achieve a large mode size and a narrow vertical divergence. In this paper, we present tapered lasers with photonic crystal structure emitting at 980 nm. The epitaxial layer is grown using metal organic chemical vapor deposition. The device has a total cavity length of 2 mm, which consists of a 400-um long ridge-waveguide section and a 1600-um long tapered section. The taper angle is 4°. An output power of 3.3 W is achieved with a peak conversion efficiency of 35% in pulsed mode. The threshold current is 240 mA and the slope efficiency is 0.78 W/A. In continuous wave mode, the output power is 2.87 W, which is limited by a suddenly failure resulting from catastrophic optical mirror damage. The far field divergences with full width at half maximum are 12.3° in the vertical direction and 2.9° in the lateral direction at 0.5 A. At high injection level the vertical divergence doesn't exceed 16°. Beam quality factor M2 is measured based on second moment definition in CW mode. High beam quality is demonstrated by M2 value of less than 2 in both vertical and lateral directions.

Reduction of radiation exposure while maintaining high-quality fluoroscopic images during interventional cardiology using novel x-ray tube technology with extra beam filtering.

PubMed

den Boer, A; de Feyter, P J; Hummel, W A; Keane, D; Roelandt, J R

1994-06-01

Radiographic technology plays an integral role in interventional cardiology. The number of interventions continues to increase, and the associated radiation exposure to patients and personnel is of major concern. This study was undertaken to determine whether a newly developed x-ray tube deploying grid-switched pulsed fluoroscopy and extra beam filtering can achieve a reduction in radiation exposure while maintaining fluoroscopic images of high quality. Three fluoroscopic techniques were compared: continuous fluoroscopy, pulsed fluoroscopy, and a newly developed high-output pulsed fluoroscopy with extra filtering. To ascertain differences in the quality of images and to determine differences in patient entrance and investigator radiation exposure, the radiated volume curve was measured to determine the required high voltage levels (kVpeak) for different object sizes for each fluoroscopic mode. The fluoroscopic data of 124 patient procedures were combined. The data were analyzed for radiographic projections, image intensifier field size, and x-ray tube kilovoltage levels (kVpeak). On the basis of this analysis, a reference procedure was constructed. The reference procedure was tested on a phantom or dummy patient by all three fluoroscopic modes. The phantom was so designed that the kilovoltage requirements for each projection were comparable to those needed for the average patient. Radiation exposure of the operator and patient was measured during each mode. The patient entrance dose was measured in air, and the operator dose was measured by 18 dosimeters on a dummy operator. Pulsed compared with continuous fluoroscopy could be performed with improved image quality at lower kilovoltages. The patient entrance dose was reduced by 21% and the operator dose by 54%. High-output pulsed fluoroscopy with extra beam filtering compared with continuous fluoroscopy improved the image quality, lowered the kilovoltage requirements, and reduced the patient entrance dose by 55% and the operator dose by 69%. High-output pulsed fluoroscopy with a grid-switched tube and extra filtering improves the image quality and significantly reduces both the operator dose and patient dose.

High power Yb:CALGO ultrafast regenerative amplifier for industrial application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caracciolo, E.; Guandalini, A.; Pirzio, F.; Kemnitzer, M.; Kienle, F.; Agnesi, A.; Aus der Au, J.

2017-02-01

We present a high-power, single-crystal based, Yb:CALGO regenerative amplifier. The system delivers more than 50 W output power in continuous-wave regime, with diffraction limited beam quality. In Q-switching regime the spectrum is centered at 1043 nm and is 11 nm wide. In regenerative amplification experiments we achieved 34 W at 500 kHz with 12.7 nm FWHM wide spectra centered at 1044 nm seeding with a broadly tunable, single-prism SESAM mode-locked Yb:CALGO laser providing 9 nm wide spectra at 1049 nm. Pulse duration after compression was 140 fs, with excellent beam quality (M2 < 1.25).

Method and apparatus for varying accelerator beam output energy

DOEpatents

Young, Lloyd M.

1998-01-01

A coupled cavity accelerator (CCA) accelerates a charged particle beam with rf energy from a rf source. An input accelerating cavity receives the charged particle beam and an output accelerating cavity outputs the charged particle beam at an increased energy. Intermediate accelerating cavities connect the input and the output accelerating cavities to accelerate the charged particle beam. A plurality of tunable coupling cavities are arranged so that each one of the tunable coupling cavities respectively connect an adjacent pair of the input, output, and intermediate accelerating cavities to transfer the rf energy along the accelerating cavities. An output tunable coupling cavity can be detuned to variably change the phase of the rf energy reflected from the output coupling cavity so that regions of the accelerator can be selectively turned off when one of the intermediate tunable coupling cavities is also detuned.

Characterization of nanoDot optically stimulated luminescence detectors and high-sensitivity MCP-N thermoluminescent detectors in the 40-300 kVp energy range.

PubMed

Poirier, Yannick; Kuznetsova, Svetlana; Villarreal-Barajas, Jose Eduardo

2018-01-01

To investigate empirically the energy dependence of the detector response of two in vivo luminescence detectors, LiF:Mg,Cu,P (MCP-N) high-sensitivity TLDs and Al 2 O 3 :C OSLDs, in the 40-300-kVp energy range in the context of in vivo surface dose measurement. As these detectors become more prevalent in clinical and preclinical in vivo measurements, knowledge of the variation in the empirical dependence of the measured response of these detectors across a wide spectrum of beam qualities is important. We characterized a large range of beam qualities of three different kilovoltage x-ray units: an Xstrahl 300 Orthovoltage unit, a Precision x-Ray X-RAD 320ix biological irradiator, and a Varian On-Board Imaging x-ray unit. The dose to water was measured in air according to the AAPM's Task Group 61 protocol. The OSLDs and TLDs were irradiated under reference conditions on the surface of a water phantom to provide full backscatter conditions. To assess the change in sensitivity in the long term, we separated the in vivo dosimeters of each type into an experimental and a reference group. The experimental dosimeters were irradiated using the kilovoltage x-ray units at each beam quality used in this investigation, while the reference group received a constant 10 cGy irradiation at 6 MV from a Varian clinical linear accelerator. The individual calibration of each detector was verified in cycles where both groups received a 10 cGy irradiation at 6 MV. The nanoDot OSLDs were highly reproducible, with ±1.5% variation in response following >40 measurement cycles. The TLDs lost ~20% of their signal sensitivity over the course of the study. The relative light output per unit dose to water of the MCP-N TLDs did not vary with beam quality for beam qualities with effective energies <50 keV (~150 kVp/6 mm Al). At higher energies, they showed a reduced (~75-85%) light output per unit dose relative to 6 MV x rays. The nanoDot OSLDs exhibited a very strong (120-408%) dependency of the light output relative to 6 MV x rays. Variations up to 15% between different x-ray units with equivalent effective energies were also observed. While convenient for clinical use, nanoDot OSLDs exhibit a strong variation in their measured light output per unit dose relative to 6 MV in the 40-300 kV x-ray range. This variability differs unit-to-unit, limiting their effective use for in vivo dosimetry applications in the kilovoltage x-ray energy range. MCP-N TLDs offer a much more stable response, but suffer from variations in sensitivity over time dependent on radiation history, which requires careful experimental handling. © 2017 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

Fiber Optic Picosecond Laser Pulse Transmission Line for Hydrogen Ion Beam Profile Measurement

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, Yun; Huang, Chunning; Aleksandrov, Alexander V

2013-01-01

We present a fiber optic laser pulse transmission line for non-intrusive longitudinal profile measurement of the hydrogen ion (H-) beam at the front-end of the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) accelerator. The 80.5 MHz, 2.5 ps, multi-killowatt optical pulses are delivered to the accelerator beam line through a large mode area polarization maintaining optical fiber to ensure a high measurement stability. The transmission efficiency, output laser beam quality, pulse jitter and pulse width broadening over a 100-ft fiber line are experimentally investigated. A successful measurement of the H- beam microbunch (~130 ps) profile is obtained. Our experiment is the first demonstrationmore » of particle beam profile diagnostics using fiber optic laser pulse transmission line.« less

Gain measurements and spatial coherence in neon-like x-ray lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krishnan, J.; Cairns, C.; Dwivedi, L.; Holden, M.; Key, M. H.; Lewis, C. L. S.; MacPhee, A.; Neely, D.; Norreys, P. A.; Pert, G. J.; Ramsden, S. A.; Smith, C. G.; Tallents, G. J.; Zhang, J.

1995-05-01

Many of the applications with x-ray lasers require high quality output radiation with properties such as short wavelength and a high degree of coherence (longitudinal and spatial). Ne-like Yttrium (Z=39) is potentially a bright and monochromatic XUV lasing medium. The output at 15.5 nm is monochromatic due to the overlap of the J=2-1 and J=0-1 lines. A gain coefficient of 3±1 was obtained at 15.5 nm by irradiating 100 μm wide yttrium stripes at 6×1013 W/cm2 with 1.06 μm, 650 ps pulses from the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory VULCAN laser. We have investigated improving x-ray laser spatial coherence utilizing a series of amplifiers instead of the standard double target configuration. An ``injector-amplifier'' scheme was successfully demonstrated with the Ne-like Ge x-ray laser. A spatially small and coherent part of the 23 nm beam from the standard double target geometry has been relayed using a W/Si multilayer mirror onto a single or double target configuration situated at a distance of ˜1.5 m from the mirror and pumped by two 150 mm diameter beams of VULCAN laser. A beam ``foot-print monitor'' was employed with a flat mirror to relay 23 nm output onto a film pack to record the spatial variation of the x-ray laser beam. Analyzing the fringes obtained through a cross-wire placed in front of the beam shows that an increase in spatial coherence was achieved by adding amplifiers to the x-ray laser beam line.

IEC 61267: Feasibility of type 1100 aluminium and a copper/aluminium combination for RQA beam qualities.

PubMed

Leong, David L; Rainford, Louise; Zhao, Wei; Brennan, Patrick C

2016-01-01

In the course of performance acceptance testing, benchmarking or quality control of X-ray imaging systems, it is sometimes necessary to harden the X-ray beam spectrum. IEC 61267 specifies materials and methods to accomplish beam hardening and, unfortunately, requires the use of 99.9% pure aluminium (Alloy 1190) for the RQA beam quality, which is expensive and difficult to obtain. Less expensive and more readily available filters, such as Alloy 1100 (99.0% pure) aluminium and copper/aluminium combinations, have been used clinically to produce RQA series without rigorous scientific investigation to support their use. In this paper, simulation and experimental methods are developed to determine the differences in beam quality using Alloy 1190 and Alloy 1100. Additional simulation investigated copper/aluminium combinations to produce RQA5 and outputs from this simulation are verified with laboratory tests using different filter samples. The results of the study demonstrate that although Alloy 1100 produces a harder beam spectrum compared to Alloy 1190, it is a reasonable substitute. A combination filter of 0.5 mm copper and 2 mm aluminium produced a spectrum closer to that of Alloy 1190 than Alloy 1100 with the added benefits of lower exposures and lower batch variability. Copyright © 2015 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gaussian beam profile shaping apparatus, method therefor and evaluation thereof

DOEpatents

Dickey, Fred M.; Holswade, Scott C.; Romero, Louis A.

1999-01-01

A method and apparatus maps a Gaussian beam into a beam with a uniform irradiance profile by exploiting the Fourier transform properties of lenses. A phase element imparts a design phase onto an input beam and the output optical field from a lens is then the Fourier transform of the input beam and the phase function from the phase element. The phase element is selected in accordance with a dimensionless parameter which is dependent upon the radius of the incoming beam, the desired spot shape, the focal length of the lens and the wavelength of the input beam. This dimensionless parameter can also be used to evaluate the quality of a system. In order to control the radius of the incoming beam, optics such as a telescope can be employed. The size of the target spot and the focal length can be altered by exchanging the transform lens, but the dimensionless parameter will remain the same. The quality of the system, and hence the value of the dimensionless parameter, can be altered by exchanging the phase element. The dimensionless parameter provides design guidance, system evaluation, and indication as to how to improve a given system.

Gaussian beam profile shaping apparatus, method therefore and evaluation thereof

DOEpatents

Dickey, F.M.; Holswade, S.C.; Romero, L.A.

1999-01-26

A method and apparatus maps a Gaussian beam into a beam with a uniform irradiance profile by exploiting the Fourier transform properties of lenses. A phase element imparts a design phase onto an input beam and the output optical field from a lens is then the Fourier transform of the input beam and the phase function from the phase element. The phase element is selected in accordance with a dimensionless parameter which is dependent upon the radius of the incoming beam, the desired spot shape, the focal length of the lens and the wavelength of the input beam. This dimensionless parameter can also be used to evaluate the quality of a system. In order to control the radius of the incoming beam, optics such as a telescope can be employed. The size of the target spot and the focal length can be altered by exchanging the transform lens, but the dimensionless parameter will remain the same. The quality of the system, and hence the value of the dimensionless parameter, can be altered by exchanging the phase element. The dimensionless parameter provides design guidance, system evaluation, and indication as to how to improve a given system. 27 figs.

Design of collimating and rearrangement systems of laser diode array beam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Runmei; Fang, Tao; Fu, Rulian; Yao, Jianquan

2015-10-01

To improve the laser diode output beam quality, micro-cylindrical lens and the step-type lens combination are designed. The former is used to collimate beam in fast-axis direction, while the latter plays a role in the slow-axis of splitting and the rearrangement. The micro-column semi-elliptical lens is made with the drops of spherical zoom lensin electric field and with the help of the material properties of light-cured production, which can reduce the reflection of the front surface and total reflection loss of the after. The divergence angle in the fast axis is compressed to roughly the same as that in the slow-axis direction; Stepped lens splits compressed long strip beam in the slow axis, with parallelogram style of level equidistant and rearrange in the fast axis direction. The spot in the slow axis gets smaller and the spot becomes larger in the fast axis. At last divergence angle and the beam spot achieve balanced in the fast axis and slow axis, optical parameters BPP integrates approximate the same, and beam quality can be improved.

Multi-kW coherent combining of fiber lasers seeded with pseudo random phase modulated light

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flores, Angel; Ehrehreich, Thomas; Holten, Roger; Anderson, Brian; Dajani, Iyad

2016-03-01

We report efficient coherent beam combining of five kilowatt-class fiber amplifiers with a diffractive optical element (DOE). Based on a master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) configuration, the amplifiers were seeded with pseudo random phase modulated light. Each non-polarization maintaining fiber amplifier was optically path length matched and provides approximately 1.2 kW of near diffraction-limited output power (measured M2<1.1). Consequently, a low power sample of each laser was utilized for active linear polarization control. A low power sample of the combined beam after the DOE provided an error signal for active phase locking which was performed via Locking of Optical Coherence by Single-Detector Electronic-Frequency Tagging (LOCSET). After phase stabilization, the beams were coherently combined via the 1x5 DOE. A total combined output power of 4.9 kW was achieved with 82% combining efficiency and excellent beam quality (M2<1.1). The intrinsic DOE splitter loss was 5%. Similarly, losses due in part to non-ideal polarization, ASE content, uncorrelated wavefront errors, and misalignment errors contributed to the efficiency reduction.

Tunable pulsed narrow bandwidth light source

DOEpatents

Powers, Peter E.; Kulp, Thomas J.

2002-01-01

A tunable pulsed narrow bandwidth light source and a method of operating a light source are provided. The light source includes a pump laser, first and second non-linear optical crystals, a tunable filter, and light pulse directing optics. The method includes the steps of operating the pump laser to generate a pulsed pump beam characterized by a nanosecond pulse duration and arranging the light pulse directing optics so as to (i) split the pulsed pump beam into primary and secondary pump beams; (ii) direct the primary pump beam through an input face of the first non-linear optical crystal such that a primary output beam exits from an output face of the first non-linear optical crystal; (iii) direct the primary output beam through the tunable filter to generate a sculpted seed beam; and direct the sculpted seed beam and the secondary pump beam through an input face of the second non-linear optical crystal such that a secondary output beam characterized by at least one spectral bandwidth on the order of about 0.1 cm.sup.-1 and below exits from an output face of the second non-linear optical crystal.

SU-F-T-160: Commissioning of a Single-Room Double-Scattering Proton Therapy System

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jin, H; Ahmad, S; Chen, Y

2016-06-15

Purpose: To report the detailed commissioning experience for a compact double-scattering Mevion S250 proton therapy system at a University Cancer Center site. Methods: The commissioning of the proton therapy system mainly consisted of ensuring integrity of mechanical and imaging system, beam data collection, and commissioning of a treatment planning system (TPS). First, mechanical alignment and imaging were tested including safety, interlocks, positional accuracy of couch and gantry, image quality, mechanical and imaging isocenter and so on. Second, extensive beam data (outputs, PDDs, and profiles) were collected and analyzed through effective sampling of range (R) and modulation width (M) from 24more » beam options. Three different output (cGy/MU) prediction models were also commissioned as primary and secondary MU calculation tool. Third, the Varian Eclipse TPS was commissioned through five sets of data collections (in-water Bragg peak scans, in-air longitudinal fluence scans, in-air lateral profiles, in-air half-beam profiles, and an HU-to-stopping-power conversion curve) and accuracy of TPS calculation was tested using in-water scans and dose measurements with a 2D array detector with block and range compensator. Finally, an anthropomorphic phantom was scanned and heterogeneity effects were tested by inserting radiochromic films in the phantom and PET activation scans for range verification in conjunction with end-to-end test. Results: Beam characteristics agreed well with the vendor specifications; however, minor mismatches in R and M were found in some measurements during the beam data collection. These were reflected into the TPS commissioning such that the TPS could accurately predict the R and M within tolerance levels. The output models had a good agreement with measured outputs (<3% error). The end-to-end test using the film and PET showed reasonably the TPS predicted dose, R and M in heterogeneous medium. Conclusion: The proton therapy system was successfully commissioned and was released for clinical use.« less

Alignment reference device

DOEpatents

Patton, Gail Y.; Torgerson, Darrel D.

1987-01-01

An alignment reference device provides a collimated laser beam that minimizes angular deviations therein. A laser beam source outputs the beam into a single mode optical fiber. The output end of the optical fiber acts as a source of radiant energy and is positioned at the focal point of a lens system where the focal point is positioned within the lens. The output beam reflects off a mirror back to the lens that produces a collimated beam.

Mitigation of beam fluctuation due to atmospheric turbulence and prediction of control quality using intelligent decision-making tools.

PubMed

Raj, A Arockia Bazil; Selvi, J Arputha Vijaya; Kumar, D; Sivakumaran, N

2014-06-10

In free-space optical link (FSOL), atmospheric turbulence causes fluctuations in both intensity and phase of the received beam and impairing link performance. The beam motion is one of the main causes for major power loss. This paper presents an investigation on the performance of two types of controller designed for aiming a laser beam to be at a particular spot under dynamic disturbances. The multiple experiment observability nonlinear input-output data mapping is used as the principal components for controllers design. The first design is based on the Taguchi method while the second is artificial neural network method. These controllers process the beam location information from a static linear map of 2D plane: optoelectronic position detector, as observer, and then generate the necessary outputs to steer the beam with a microelectromechanical mirror: fast steering mirror. The beam centroid is computed using monopulse algorithm. Evidence of suitability and effectiveness of the proposed controllers are comprehensively assessed and quantitatively measured in terms of coefficient of correlation, correction speed, control exactness, centroid displacement, and stability of the receiver signal through the experimental results from the FSO link setup established for the horizontal range of 0.5 km at an altitude of 15.25 m. The test field type is open flat terrain, grass, and few isolated obstacles.

Rhomboid prism pair for rotating the plane of parallel light beams

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Orloff, K. L. (Inventor); Yanagita, H.

1982-01-01

An optical system is described for rotating the plane defined by a pair of parallel light beams. In one embodiment a single pair of rhomboid prisms have their respective input faces disposed to receive the respective input beams. Each prism is rotated about an axis of revolution coaxial with each of the respective input beams by means of a suitable motor and gear arrangement to cause the plane of the parallel output beams to be rotated relative to the plane of the input beams. In a second embodiment, two pairs of rhomboid prisms are provided. In a first angular orientation of the output beams, the prisms merely decrease the lateral displacement of the output beams in order to keep in the same plane as the input beams. In a second angular orientation of the prisms, the input faces of the second pair of prisms are brought into coincidence with the input beams for rotating the plane of the output beams by a substantial angle such as 90 deg.

Characteristics of a KA-band third-harmonic peniotron driven by a high-quality linear axis-encircling electron beam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Xiaoyun; Tuo, Xianguo; Ge, Qing; Peng, Ying

2017-12-01

We employ a high-quality linear axis-encircling electron beam generated by a Cuccia coupler to drive a Ka-band third-harmonic peniotron and develop a self-consistent nonlinear calculation code to numerically analyze the characteristics of the designed peniotron. It is demonstrated that through a Cuccia coupler, a 6 kV, 0.5 A pencil beam and an input microwave power of 16 kW at 10 GHz can generate a 37 kV, 0.5 A linear axis-encircling beam, and it is characterized by a very low velocity spread. Moreover, the electron beam guiding center deviation can be adjusted easily. Driven by such a beam, a 30 GHz, Ka-band third-harmonic peniotron is predicted to achieve a conversion efficiency of 51.0% and a microwave output power of 9.44 kW; the results are in good agreement with the Magic3D simulation. Using this code, we studied the factors influencing the peniotron performance, and it can provide some guidelines for the design of a Ka-band third-harmonic peniotron driven by a linear electron beam and can promote the application of high-harmonic peniotrons in practice.

Compact compressive arc and beam switchyard for energy recovery linac-driven ultraviolet free electron lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akkermans, J. A. G.; Di Mitri, S.; Douglas, D.; Setija, I. D.

2017-08-01

High gain free electron lasers (FELs) driven by high repetition rate recirculating accelerators have received considerable attention in the scientific and industrial communities in recent years. Cost-performance optimization of such facilities encourages limiting machine size and complexity, and a compact machine can be realized by combining bending and bunch length compression during the last stage of recirculation, just before lasing. The impact of coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) on electron beam quality during compression can, however, limit FEL output power. When methods to counteract CSR are implemented, appropriate beam diagnostics become critical to ensure that the target beam parameters are met before lasing, as well as to guarantee reliable, predictable performance and rapid machine setup and recovery. This article describes a beam line for bunch compression and recirculation, and beam switchyard accessing a diagnostic line for EUV lasing at 1 GeV beam energy. The footprint is modest, with 12 m compressive arc diameter and ˜20 m diagnostic line length. The design limits beam quality degradation due to CSR both in the compressor and in the switchyard. Advantages and drawbacks of two switchyard lines providing, respectively, off-line and on-line measurements are discussed. The entire design is scalable to different beam energies and charges.

Backward pumping kilowatt Yb3+-doped double-clad fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Z. H.; Lin, X. C.; Hou, W.; Yu, H. J.; Zhou, S. Z.; Li, J. M.

2011-09-01

A ytterbium-doped double-clad fiber laser generating up to 1026 W of continuous-wave output power at 1085 nm with a slope efficiency of 74% by single-ended backward pumping configuration is reported. The core diameter was 20 μm with a low numerical aperture of 0.06, and a good beam quality (BPP < 1.8 mm mrad) is achieved without special mode selection methods. No undesirable roll-over was observed in output power with increasing pump power, and the maximum output power was limited by the available pump power. The instability of maximum output power was better than ±0.6%. Different pumping configurations were also compared in experiment, which shows good agreements with theoretical analyses.

Diode lasers optimized in brightness for fiber laser pumping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kelemen, M.; Gilly, J.; Friedmann, P.; Hilzensauer, S.; Ogrodowski, L.; Kissel, H.; Biesenbach, J.

2018-02-01

In diode laser applications for fiber laser pumping and fiber-coupled direct diode laser systems high brightness becomes essential in the last years. Fiber coupled modules benefit from continuous improvements of high-power diode lasers on chip level regarding output power, efficiency and beam characteristics resulting in record highbrightness values and increased pump power. To gain high brightness not only output power must be increased, but also near field widths and far field angles have to be below a certain value for higher power levels because brightness is proportional to output power divided by beam quality. While fast axis far fields typically show a current independent behaviour, for broadarea lasers far-fields in the slow axis suffer from a strong current and temperature dependence, limiting the brightness and therefore their use in fibre coupled modules. These limitations can be overcome by carefully optimizing chip temperature, thermal lensing and lateral mode structure by epitaxial and lateral resonator designs and processing. We present our latest results for InGaAs/AlGaAs broad-area single emitters with resonator lengths of 4mm emitting at 976nm and illustrate the improvements in beam quality over the last years. By optimizing the diode laser design a record value of the brightness for broad-area lasers with 4mm resonator length of 126 MW/cm2sr has been demonstrated with a maximum wall-plug efficiency of more than 70%. From these design also pump modules based on 9 mini-bars consisting of 5 emitters each have been realized with 360W pump power.

Electro-optic high voltage sensor

DOEpatents

Davidson, James R.; Seifert, Gary D.

2002-01-01

A small sized electro-optic voltage sensor capable of accurate measurement of high levels of voltages without contact with a conductor or voltage source is provided. When placed in the presence of an electric field, the sensor receives an input beam of electromagnetic radiation into the sensor. A polarization beam displacer serves as a filter to separate the input beam into two beams with orthogonal linear polarizations. The beam displacer is oriented in such a way as to rotate the linearly polarized beams such that they enter a Pockels crystal having at a preferred angle of 45 degrees. The beam displacer is therefore capable of causing a linearly polarized beam to impinge a crystal at a desired angle independent of temperature. The Pockels electro-optic effect induces a differential phase shift on the major and minor axes of the input beam as it travels through the Pockels crystal, which causes the input beam to be elliptically polarized. A reflecting prism redirects the beam back through the crystal and the beam displacer. On the return path, the polarization beam displacer separates the elliptically polarized beam into two output beams of orthogonal linear polarization representing the major and minor axes. The system may include a detector for converting the output beams into electrical signals, and a signal processor for determining the voltage based on an analysis of the output beams. The output beams are amplitude modulated by the frequency of the electric field and the amplitude of the output beams is proportional to the magnitude of the electric field, which is related to the voltage being measured.

Influence of turbulent atmosphere on laser beams from confocal unstable resonators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Yu-feng; Wang, Juan; Bi, Xiao-qun; Zhang, Ming-gao; Cheng, Zu-hai

2009-07-01

Based on the laser fields from a positive confocal unstable resonator (ab initio), the propagation characteristics of the beam through turbulent atmosphere are investigated by means of fast Fourier transform algorithm (FFT). To conveniently investigate the propagation characteristics of laser beam through the atmosphere, as far as known, in the previous many works, a mathematical expression was generally artificially predefined to represent the given laser beam, such as Gaussian beam, Hermite-cosh-Gaussian beam, flat topped beam, dark-hollow (annular) beam, etc. In this paper, by basing on the initial built in oscillation of a laser resonator, such as a positive confocal unstable resonator (CUR), we studied the intensity distributions of the output laser field to obtain the propagation characteristics of laser beam through the turbulent atmosphere as functions of different propagation distances. The results show that the turbulence will result in the degradation of the peak value of the laser intensity in the far field, the spread of the far field diagram patterns, and the beam quality characteristics greatly degraded.

Validating dose rate calibration of radiotherapy photon beams through IAEA/WHO postal audit dosimetry service.

PubMed

Jangda, Abdul Qadir; Hussein, Sherali

2012-05-01

In external beam radiation therapy (EBRT), the quality assurance (QA) of the radiation beam is crucial to the accurate delivery of the prescribed dose to the patient. One of the dosimetric parameters that require monitoring is the beam output, specified as the dose rate on the central axis under reference conditions. The aim of this project was to validate dose rate calibration of megavoltage photon beams using the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)/World Health Organisation (WHO) postal audit dosimetry service. Three photon beams were audited: a 6 MV beam from the low-energy linac and 6 and 18 MV beams from a dual high-energy linac. The agreement between our stated doses and the IAEA results was within 1% for the two 6 MV beams and within 2% for the 18 MV beam. The IAEA/WHO postal audit dosimetry service provides an independent verification of dose rate calibration protocol by an international facility.

Voltage sensing systems and methods for passive compensation of temperature related intrinsic phase shift

DOEpatents

Davidson, James R.; Lassahn, Gordon D.

2001-01-01

A small sized electro-optic voltage sensor capable of accurate measurement of high levels of voltages without contact with a conductor or voltage source is provided. When placed in the presence of an electric field, the sensor receives an input beam of electromagnetic radiation into the sensor. A polarization beam displacer serves as a filter to separate the input beam into two beams with orthogonal linear polarizations. The beam displacer is oriented in such a way as to rotate the linearly polarized beams such that they enter a Pockels crystal at a preferred angle of 45 degrees. The beam displacer is therefore capable of causing a linearly polarized beam to impinge a crystal at a desired angle independent of temperature. The Pockels electro-optic effect induces a differential phase shift on the major and minor axes of the input beam as it travels through the Pockels crystal, which causes the input beam to be elliptically polarized. A reflecting prism redirects the beam back through the crystal and the beam displacer. On the return path, the polarization beam displacer separates the elliptically polarized beam into two output beams of orthogonal linear polarization representing the major and minor axes. In crystals that introduce a phase differential attributable to temperature, a compensating crystal is provided to cancel the effect of temperature on the phase differential of the input beam. The system may include a detector for converting the output beams into electrical signals, and a signal processor for determining the voltage based on an analysis of the output beams. The output beams are amplitude modulated by the frequency of the electric field and the amplitude of the output beams is proportional to the magnitude of the electric field, which is related to the voltage being measured.

SU-G-BRB-05: Automation of the Photon Dosimetric Quality Assurance Program of a Linear Accelerator

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lebron, S; Lu, B; Yan, G

Purpose: To develop an automated method to calculate a linear accelerator (LINAC) photon radiation field size, flatness, symmetry, output and beam quality in a single delivery for flattened (FF) and flattening-filter-free (FFF) beams using an ionization chamber array. Methods: The proposed method consists of three control points that deliver 30×30, 10×10 and 5×5cm{sup 2} fields (FF or FFF) in a step-and-shoot sequence where the number of monitor units is weighted for each field size. The IC Profiler (Sun Nuclear Inc.) with 5mm detector spacing was used for this study. The corrected counts (CCs) were calculated and the locations of themore » maxima and minima values of the first-order gradient determined data of each sub field. Then, all CCs for each field size are summed in order to obtain the final profiles. For each profile, the radiation field size, symmetry, flatness, output factor and beam quality were calculated. For field size calculation, a parameterized gradient method was used. For method validation, profiles were collected in the detector array both, individually and as part of the step-and-shoot plan, with 9.9cm buildup for FF and FFF beams at 90cm source-to-surface distance. The same data were collected with the device (plus buildup) placed on a movable platform to achieve a 1mm resolution. Results: The differences between the dosimetric quantities calculated from both deliveries, individually and step-and-shoot, were within 0.31±0.20% and 0.04±0.02mm. The differences between the calculated field sizes with 5mm and 1mm resolution were ±0.1mm. Conclusion: The proposed single delivery method proved to be simple and efficient in automating the photon dosimetric monthly and annual quality assurance.« less

Modeling laser brightness from cross Porro prism resonators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Forbes, Andrew; Burger, Liesl; Litvin, Igor Anatolievich

2006-08-01

Laser brightness is a parameter often used to compare high power laser beam delivery from various sources, and incorporates both the power contained in the particular mode, as well as the propagation of that mode through the beam quality factor, M2. In this study a cross Porro prism resonator is considered; crossed Porro prism resonators have been known for some time, but until recently have not been modeled as a complete physical optics system that allows the modal output to be determined as a function of the rotation angle of the prisms. In this paper we consider the diffraction losses as a function of the prism rotation angle relative to one another, and combine this with the propagation of the specific modes to determine the laser output brightness as a function of the prism orientation.

High-efficiency cyrogenic-cooled diode-pumped amplifier with relay imaging for nanosecond pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Körner, J.; Hein, J.; Kahle, M.; Liebetrau, H.; Kaluza, M.; Siebold, M.; Loeser, M.

2011-06-01

We present temperature dependent gain measurements with different Ytterbium doped laser media, such as Yb:YAG, Yb:FP15-glass and Yb:CaF2 in a multi-pass amplifier setup. The temperature of these materials was adjusted arbitrarily between 100K and 300K, while heat removal was realized by transverse cooling. In order to obtain a good beam profile throughout the amplification process, we used an all-mirror based relay imaging setup consisting of a telescope accomplishing a 4f-imaging with a plane mirror in each image plane. The amplification beam is then coupled into the cavity and doing several round trips wandering over the surface of the spherical mirrors. Hence the laser material is placed in one of the image planes, the beam quality of the amplifier was ruled by the intensity profile of the pumping laser diodes consisting of two stacks with 2.5kW peak output power each. Due to the given damage threshold fluence, the output energy of the amplifier was limited to about 1J at a beam diameter of 4.5 mm (FWHM). The seed pulses with a duration of 6 ns were generated in a Yb:FP15-glass cavity dumped oscillator with further amplification up to the 100mJ level by a room temperature Yb:YAG multi pass amplifier. The 1 Hz repetition rate of the system was limited by the repetition rate of the front-end. With Yb:YAG for instance an output energy of 1.1 J with an record high optical to optical efficiency of more than 35% was achieved, which was further increased to 45% for 500 mJ output energy.

Electro-optic high voltage sensor

DOEpatents

Davidson, James R.; Seifert, Gary D.

2003-09-16

A small sized electro-optic voltage sensor capable of accurate measurement of high voltages without contact with a conductor or voltage source is provided. When placed in the presence of an electric field, the sensor receives an input beam of electromagnetic radiation. A polarization beam displacer separates the input beam into two beams with orthogonal linear polarizations and causes one linearly polarized beam to impinge a crystal at a desired angle independent of temperature. The Pockels effect elliptically polarizes the beam as it travels through the crystal. A reflector redirects the beam back through the crystal and the beam displacer. On the return path, the polarization beam displacer separates the elliptically polarized beam into two output beams of orthogonal linear polarization. The system may include a detector for converting the output beams into electrical signals and a signal processor for determining the voltage based on an analysis of the output beams.

2000W high beam quality diode laser for direct materials processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Wen-bin; Liu, You-qiang; Cao, Yin-hua; Gao, Jing; Pan, Fei; Wang, Zhi-yong

2011-11-01

This article describes high beam quality and kilowatt-class diode laser system for direct materials processing, using optical design software ZEMAX® to simulate the diode laser optical path, including the beam shaping, collimation, coupling, focus, etc.. In the experiment, the diode laser stack of 808nm and the diode laser stack of 915nm were used for the wavelength coupling, which were built vertical stacks up to 16 bars. The threshold current of the stack is 6.4A, the operating current is 85A and the output power is 1280W. Through experiments, after collimating the diode laser beam with micro-lenses, the fast axis BPP of the stack is less than 60mm.mrad, and the slow-axis BPP of the stack is less than 75mm.mrad. After shaping the laser beam and improving the beam quality, the fast axis BPP of the stack is still 60mm.mrad, and the slow-axis BPP of the stack is less than 19mm.mrad. After wavelength coupling and focusing, ultimately the power of 2150W was obtained, focal spot size of 1.5mm * 1.2mm with focal length 300mm. The laser power density is 1.2×105W/cm2, and that can be used for metal remelting, alloying, cladding and welding. The total optical coupling conversion efficiency is 84%, and the total electrical - optical conversion efficiency is 50%.

SU-E-T-161: SOBP Beam Analysis Using Light Output of Scintillation Plate Acquired by CCD Camera.

PubMed

Cho, S; Lee, S; Shin, J; Min, B; Chung, K; Shin, D; Lim, Y; Park, S

2012-06-01

To analyze Bragg-peak beams in SOBP (spread-out Bragg-peak) beam using CCD (charge-coupled device) camera - scintillation screen system. We separated each Bragg-peak beam using light output of high sensitivity scintillation material acquired by CCD camera and compared with Bragg-peak beams calculated by Monte Carlo simulation. In this study, CCD camera - scintillation screen system was constructed with a high sensitivity scintillation plate (Gd2O2S:Tb) and a right-angled prismatic PMMA phantom, and a Marlin F-201B, EEE-1394 CCD camera. SOBP beam irradiated by the double scattering mode of a PROTEUS 235 proton therapy machine in NCC is 8 cm width, 13 g/cm 2 range. The gain, dose rate and current of this beam is 50, 2 Gy/min and 70 nA, respectively. Also, we simulated the light output of scintillation plate for SOBP beam using Geant4 toolkit. We evaluated the light output of high sensitivity scintillation plate according to intergration time (0.1 - 1.0 sec). The images of CCD camera during the shortest intergration time (0.1 sec) were acquired automatically and randomly, respectively. Bragg-peak beams in SOBP beam were analyzed by the acquired images. Then, the SOBP beam used in this study was calculated by Geant4 toolkit and Bragg-peak beams in SOBP beam were obtained by ROOT program. The SOBP beam consists of 13 Bragg-peak beams. The results of experiment were compared with that of simulation. We analyzed Bragg-peak beams in SOBP beam using light output of scintillation plate acquired by CCD camera and compared with that of Geant4 simulation. We are going to study SOBP beam analysis using more effective the image acquisition technique. © 2012 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

Non-intrusive beam power monitor for high power pulsed or continuous wave lasers

DOEpatents

Hawsey, Robert A.; Scudiere, Matthew B.

1993-01-01

A system and method for monitoring the output of a laser is provided in which the output of a photodiode disposed in the cavity of the laser is used to provide a correlated indication of the laser power. The photodiode is disposed out of the laser beam to view the extraneous light generated in the laser cavity whose intensity has been found to be a direct correlation of the laser beam output power level. Further, the system provides means for monitoring the phase of the laser output beam relative to a modulated control signal through the photodiode monitor.

16 W output power by high-efficient spectral beam combining of DBR-tapered diode lasers.

PubMed

Müller, André; Vijayakumar, Deepak; Jensen, Ole Bjarlin; Hasler, Karl-Heinz; Sumpf, Bernd; Erbert, Götz; Andersen, Peter E; Petersen, Paul Michael

2011-01-17

Up to 16 W output power has been obtained using spectral beam combining of two 1063 nm DBR-tapered diode lasers. Using a reflecting volume Bragg grating, a combining efficiency as high as 93.7% is achieved, resulting in a single beam with high spatial coherence. The result represents the highest output power achieved by spectral beam combining of two single element tapered diode lasers. Since spectral beam combining does not affect beam propagation parameters, M2-values of 1.8 (fast axis) and 3.3 (slow axis) match the M2-values of the laser with lowest spatial coherence. The principle of spectral beam combining used in our experiments can be expanded to combine more than two tapered diode lasers and hence it is expected that the output power may be increased even further in the future.

Single lens laser beam shaper

DOEpatents

Liu, Chuyu [Newport News, VA; Zhang, Shukui [Yorktown, VA

2011-10-04

A single lens bullet-shaped laser beam shaper capable of redistributing an arbitrary beam profile into any desired output profile comprising a unitary lens comprising: a convex front input surface defining a focal point and a flat output portion at the focal point; and b) a cylindrical core portion having a flat input surface coincident with the flat output portion of the first input portion at the focal point and a convex rear output surface remote from the convex front input surface.

10 kHz ps 1342 nm laser generation by an electro-optically cavity-dumped mode-locked Nd:YVO4 laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Ying; Liu, Ke; He, Li-jiao; Yang, Jing; Zong, Nan; Yang, Feng; Gao, Hong-wei; Liu, Zhao; Yuan, Lei; Lan, Ying-jie; Bo, Yong; Peng, Qin-jun; Cui, Da-fu; Xu, Zu-yan

2017-01-01

We have demonstrated an electro-optically cavity-dumped mode-locked (CDML) picosecond Nd:YVO4 laser at 1342 nm with 880 nm diode-laser direct pumping. At a repetition rate of 10 kHz, an average output power of 0.119 W was achieved, corresponding to a pulse energy of 11.9 μJ. Compared with the continuous wave mode-locking pulse energy of 17.5 nJ, the CDML pulse energy was 680 times higher. The pulse width was measured to be 33.4 ps, resulting in the peak power of 356 kW. Meanwhile, the beam quality was nearly diffraction limited with an average beam quality factor M2 of 1.29.

High pumping-power fiber combiner for double-cladding fiber lasers and amplifiers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Jinkun; Zhao, Wei; Zhao, Baoyin; Li, Zhe; Chang, Chang; Li, Gang; Gao, Qi; Ju, Pei; Gao, Wei; She, Shengfei; Wu, Peng; Hou, Chaoqi; Li, Weinan

2018-03-01

A high pumping-power fiber combiner for backward pumping configurations is fabricated and demonstrated by manufacturing process refinement. The pump power handling capability of every pump fiber can extend to 600 W, corresponding to the average pump coupling efficiency of 94.83%. Totally, 2.67-kW output power with the beam quality factor M2 of 1.41 was obtained, using this combiner in the fiber amplifier experimental setup. In addition, the temperature of the splicing region was less than 50.0°C in the designed combiner under the action of circulating cooling water. The experimental results prove that the designed combiner is a promising integrated all-fiber device for multikilowatt continuous-wave fiber laser with excellent beam quality.

High average-power 2 μm radiation generated by intracavity KTP OPO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Guangyuan; Guo, Jing; Jiao, Zhongxing; Wang, Biao

2015-09-01

A high average-power 2 μm laser with good beam quality based on an intracavity potassium titanium oxide phosphate (KTP) optical parametric oscillator (OPO) is demonstrated. A concave lens is used in the 1064 nm Nd:YAG pumped laser cavity to compensate for the thermal lensing of the laser rod. The cavity length of the KTP OPO is enlarged to improve the 2 μm beam quality. The maximum average output of the 2 μm laser is up to 18 W at 7 kHz with M 2 less than 6 and pulse width of 70 ns. The FWHM of the signal and idle lights are both less than 3 nm.

Phasing surface emitting diode laser outputs into a coherent laser beam

DOEpatents

Holzrichter, John F [Berkeley, CA

2006-10-10

A system for generating a powerful laser beam includes a first laser element and at least one additional laser element having a rear laser mirror, an output mirror that is 100% reflective at normal incidence and <5% reflective at an input beam angle, and laser material between the rear laser mirror and the output mirror. The system includes an injector, a reference laser beam source, an amplifier and phase conjugater, and a combiner.

Output characteristics of a 0.14 THz dual sheet beam backward wave oscillator based on a hole-grating slow wave structure

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tang, Xiaopin; Yang, Ziqiang; Shi, Zongjun

A novel backward wave oscillator (BWO) based on a hole-grating slow wave structure is proposed as a dual sheet beam millimeter wave radiation source. In this paper, we focus on the output characteristics of a 0.14 THz hole-grating BWO. The output characteristics of the hole-grating BWO, the conventional single-beam grating BWO, and the dual-beam grating BWO are contrasted in detail. 3-D particle-in-cell results indicate that the hole-grating slow wave structure can help to increase the maximum output power as well as lower the operating current density. Meanwhile, the hole-grating BWO shows good insensitivity to the differences between two sheet electronmore » beams. These characteristics make the hole-grating BWO feasible to be a stable millimeter wave radiation source with higher output power.« less

Monitor unit settings for intensity modulated beams delivered using a step-and-shoot approach.

PubMed

Sharpe, M B; Miller, B M; Yan, D; Wong, J W

2000-12-01

Two linear accelerators have been commissioned for delivering IMRT treatments using a step-and-shoot approach. To assess beam startup stability for 6 and 18 MV x-ray beams, dose delivered per monitor unit (MU), beam flatness, and beam symmetry were measured as a function of the total number of MU delivered at a clinical dose rate of 400 MU per minute. Relative to a 100 MU exposure, the dose delivered per MU by both linear accelerators was found to be within +/-2% for exposures larger than 4 MU. Beam flatness and symmetry also met accepted quality assurance standards for a minimum exposure of 4 MU. We have found that the performance of the two machines under study is well suited to the delivery of step-and-shoot IMRT. A system of dose calculation has also been commissioned for applying head scatter corrections to fields as small as 1x1 cm2. The accuracy and precision of the relative output calculations in water was validated for small fields and fields offset from the axis of collimator rotation. For both 6 and 18 MV x-ray beams, the dose per MU calculated in a water phantom agrees with measured data to within 1% on average, with a maximum deviation of 2.5%. The largest output factor discrepancies were seen when the actual radiation field size deviated from the set field size. The measured output in water can vary by as much 16% for 1x1 cm2 fields, when the measured field size deviates from the set field size by 2 mm. For a 1 mm deviation, this discrepancy was reduced to 8%. Steps should be taken to ensure collimator precision is tightly controlled when using such small fields. If this is not possible, very small fields should not contribute to a significant portion of the treatment, or uncertainties in the collimator position may effect the accuracy of the dose delivered.

1-kilowatt CW all-fiber laser oscillator pumped with wavelength-beam-combined diode stacks.

PubMed

Xiao, Y; Brunet, F; Kanskar, M; Faucher, M; Wetter, A; Holehouse, N

2012-01-30

We have demonstrated a monolithic cladding-pumped ytterbium-doped single all-fiber laser oscillator generating 1 kW of CW signal power at 1080 nm with 71% slope efficiency and near diffraction-limited beam quality. Fiber components were highly integrated on "spliceless" passive fibers to promote laser efficiency and alleviate non-linear effects. The laser was pumped through a 7:1 pump combiner with seven 200-W 91x nm fiber-pigtailed wavelength-beam-combined diode-stack modules. The signal power of such a single all-fiber laser oscillator showed no evidence of roll-over, and the highest output was limited only by available pump power.

Beam dynamics studies of a 30 MeV RF linac for neutron production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nayak, B.; Krishnagopal, S.; Acharya, S.

2018-02-01

Design of a 30 MeV, 10 Amp RF linac as neutron source has been carried out by means of ASTRA simulation code. Here we discuss details of design simulations for three different cases i.e Thermionic , DC and RF photocathode guns and compare them as injectors to a 30 MeV RF linac for n-ToF production. A detailed study on choice of input parameters of the beam from point of view of transmission efficiency and beam quality at the output have been described. We found that thermionic gun isn't suitable for this application. Both DC and RF photocathode gun can be used. RF photocathode gun would be of better performance.

Design and performance of daily quality assurance system for carbon ion therapy at NIRS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saotome, N.; Furukawa, T.; Hara, Y.; Mizushima, K.; Tansho, R.; Saraya, Y.; Shirai, T.; Noda, K.

2017-09-01

At National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS), we have been commissioning a rotating-gantry system for carbon-ion radiotherapy. This rotating gantry can transport heavy ions at 430 MeV/u to an isocenter with irradiation angles of ±180° that can rotate around the patient so that the tumor can be irradiated from any direction. A three-dimensional pencil-beam scanning irradiation system equipped with the rotating gantry enables the optimal use of physical characteristics of carbon ions to provide accurate treatment. To ensure the treatment quality using such a complex system, the calibration of the primary dose monitor, output check, range check, dose rate check, machine safety check, and some mechanical tests should be performed efficiently. For this purpose, we have developed a measurement system dedicated for quality assurance (QA) of this gantry system: the Daily QA system. The system consists of an ionization chamber system and a scintillator system. The ionization chamber system is used for the calibration of the primary dose monitor, output check, and dose rate check, and the scintillator system is used for the range check, isocenter, and gantry angle. The performance of the Daily QA system was verified by a beam test. The stability of the output was within 0.5%, and the range was within 0.5 mm. The coincidence of the coordinates between the patient-positioning system and the irradiation system was verified using the Daily QA system. Our present findings verified that the new Daily QA system for a rotating gantry is capable of verifying the irradiation system with sufficient accuracy.

The NASA high power carbon dioxide laser: A versatile tool for laser applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lancashire, R. B.; Alger, D. L.; Manista, E. J.; Slaby, J. G.; Dunning, J. W.; Stubbs, R. M.

1976-01-01

A closed-cycle, continuous wave, carbon dioxide high power laser has been designed and fabricated to support research for the identification and evaluation of possible high power laser applications. The device is designed to generate up to 70 kW of laser power in annular shape beams from 1 to 9 cm in diameter. Electric discharge, either self sustained or electron beam sustained, is used for excitation. This laser facility provides a versatile tool on which research can be performed to advance the state-of-the-art technology of high power CO2 lasers in such areas as electric excitation, laser chemistry, and quality of output beams. The facility provides a well defined, continuous wave beam for various application experiments, such as propulsion, power conversion, and materials processing.

An optical system to transform the output beam of a quantum cascade laser to be uniform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacobson, Jordan M.

Quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) are a candidate for calibration sources in space-based remote sensing applications. However, the output beam from a QCL has some characteris- tics that are undesirable in a calibration source. The output beam from a QCL is polarized, both temporally and spatially coherent, and has a non-uniform bivariate Gaussian prole. These characteristics need to be mitigated before QCLs can be used as calibration sources. This study presents the design and implementation of an optical system that manipulates the output beam from a QCL so that it is spatially and angularly uniform with reduced coherence and polarization. (85 pages).

Technical advantages of disk laser technology in short and ultrashort pulse processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graham, P.; Stollhof, J.; Weiler, S.; Massa, S.; Faisst, B.; Denney, P.; Gounaris, E.

2011-03-01

This paper demonstrates that disk-laser technology introduces advantages that increase efficiency and allows for high productivity in micro-processing in both the nanosecond (ns) and picosecond (ps) regimes. Some technical advantages of disk technology include not requiring good pump beam quality or special wavelengths for pumping of the disk, high optical efficiencies, no thermal lensing effects and a possible scaling of output power without an increase of pump beam quality. With cavity-dumping, the pulse duration of the disk laser can be specified between 30 and hundreds of nanoseconds, but is independent of frequency, thus maintaining process stability. TRUMPF uses this technology in the 750 watts average power laser TruMicro 7050. High intensity, along with fluency, is important for high ablation rates in thinfilm removal. Thus, these ns lasers show high removal rates, above 60 cm2/s, in thin-film solar cell production. In addition, recent results in paint-stripping of aerospace material prove the green credentials and high processing rates inherent with this technology as it can potentially replace toxic chemical processes. The ps disk technology meanwhile is used in, for example, scribing of solar cells, wafer dicing and drilling injector nozzles, as the pulse duration is short enough to minimize heat input in the laser-matter interaction. In the TruMicro Series 5000, the multi-pass regenerative amplifier stage combines high optical-optical efficiencies together with excellent output beam quality for pulse durations of only 6 ps and high pulse energies of up to 0.25 mJ.

Recent progress of quantum cascade laser research from 3 to 12  μm at the Center for Quantum Devices [Invited].

PubMed

Razeghi, Manijeh; Zhou, Wenjia; Slivken, Steven; Lu, Quan-Yong; Wu, Donghai; McClintock, Ryan

2017-11-01

The quantum cascade laser (QCL) is becoming the leading laser source in the mid-infrared (mid-IR) range, which contains two atmospheric transmission windows and many molecular fingerprint absorption features. Since its first demonstration in 1994, the QCL has undergone tremendous development in terms of the output power, wall plug efficiency, wavelength coverage, tunability and beam quality. At the Center for Quantum Devices, we have demonstrated high-power continuous wave operation of QCLs covering a wide wavelength range from 3 to 12 μm, with power output up to 5.1 W at room temperature. Recent research has resulted in power scaling in pulsed mode with up to 203 W output, electrically tunable QCLs based on monolithic sampled grating design, heterogeneous QCLs with a broad spectral gain, broadly tunable on-chip beam-combined QCLs, QCL-based mid-IR frequency combs, and fundamental mode surface emitting quantum cascade ring lasers. The developed QCLs will be the basis for a number of next-generation spectroscopy and sensing systems.

Quantum channel for the transmission of information

DOEpatents

Dress, William B.; Kisner, Roger A.; Richards, Roger K.

2004-01-13

Systems and methods are described for a quantum channel for the transmission of information. A method includes: down converting a beam of coherent energy to provide a beam of multi-color entangled photons; converging two spatially resolved portions of the beam of multi-color entangled photons into a converged multi-color entangled photon beam; changing a phase of at least a portion of the converged multi-color entangled photon beam to generate a first interferometric multi-color entangled photon beam; combining the first interferometric multi-color entangled photon beam with a second interferometric multi-color entangled photon beam within a single beam splitter; wherein combining includes erasing energy and momentum characteristics from both the first interferometric multi-color entangled photon beam and the second interferometric multi-color entangled photon beam; splitting the first interferometric multi-color entangled photon beam and the second interferometric multi-color entangled photon beam within the single beam splitter, wherein splitting yields a first output beam of multi-color entangled photons and a second output beam of multi-color entangled photons; and modulating the first output beam of multi-color entangled photons.

Design and test of SX-FEL cavity BPM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Ren-Xian; Zhou, Wei-Min; Chen, Zhi-Chu; Yu, Lu-Yang; Wang, Bao-Pen; Leng, Yong-Bin

2013-11-01

This paper reports the design and cold test of the cavity beam position monitor (CBPM) for SX-FEL to fulfill the requirement of beam position measurement resolution of less than 1 μm, even 0.1 μm. The CBPM was optimized by using a coupling slot to damp the TM010 mode in the output signal. The isolation of TM010 mode is about 117 dB, and the shunt impedance is about 200 Ω@4.65 GHz with the quality factor 80 from MAFIA simulation and test result. A special antenna was designed to load power for reducing excitation of other modes in the cavity. The resulting output power of TM110 mode was about 90 mV/mm when the source was 6 dBm, and the accomplishable minimum voltage was about 200 μV. The resolution of the CBPM was about 0.1 μm from the linear fitting result based on the cold test.

Picosecond laser with 11 W output power at 1342 nm based on composite multiple doping level Nd:YVO4 crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodin, Aleksej M.; Grishin, Mikhail; Michailovas, Andrejus

2016-01-01

We report results of design and optimization of high average output power picosecond and nanosecond laser operating at 1342 nm wavelength. Developed for selective micromachining, this DPSS laser is comprised of master oscillator, regenerative amplifier and output pulse control module. Passively mode-locked by means of semiconductor saturable absorber mirror and pumped with 808 nm wavelength Nd:YVO4 master oscillator emits 12.5 ps pulses at repetition rate of 55 MHz with average output power of ∼100 mW. The four-pass confocal delay line forms a longest part of the oscillator cavity in order to suppress thermo-mechanical misalignment. Picked from the train seed pulses were injected to the cavity of regenerative amplifier based on composite Nd:YVO4 crystal with diffusion-bonded segments of multiple Nd doping concentration end-pumped at 880 nm wavelength. Laser produces pulses of ∼13 ps duration at 300 kHz repetition rate with average output power of 11 W and nearly diffraction limited beam quality of M2∼1.03. Attained high peak power ∼2.8 MW facilitates conversion to the 2nd, 3rd and 6th harmonics at 671 nm, 447 nm and 224 nm wavelengths with 80%, 50% and 15% efficiency respectively. Without seeding the regenerative amplifier transforms to electro-optically cavity-dumped Q-switched laser providing 10 ns output pulses at high repetition rates with beam propagation factor of M2∼1.06.

Apparatus and method for laser beam diagnosis

DOEpatents

Salmon, Jr., Joseph T.

1991-01-01

An apparatus and method is disclosed for accurate, real time monitoring of the wavefront curvature of a coherent laser beam. Knowing the curvature, it can be quickly determined whether the laser beam is collimated, or focusing (converging), or de-focusing (diverging). The apparatus includes a lateral interferometer for forming an interference pattern of the laser beam to be diagnosed. The interference pattern is imaged to a spatial light modulator (SLM), whose output is a coherent laser beam having an image of the interference pattern impressed on it. The SLM output is focused to obtain the far-field diffraction pattern. A video camera, such as CCD, monitors the far-field diffraction pattern, and provides an electrical output indicative of the shape of the far-field pattern. Specifically, the far-field pattern comprises a central lobe and side lobes, whose relative positions are indicative of the radius of curvature of the beam. The video camera's electrical output may be provided to a computer which analyzes the data to determine the wavefront curvature of the laser beam.

Apparatus and method for laser beam diagnosis

DOEpatents

Salmon, J.T. Jr.

1991-08-27

An apparatus and method are disclosed for accurate, real time monitoring of the wavefront curvature of a coherent laser beam. Knowing the curvature, it can be quickly determined whether the laser beam is collimated, or focusing (converging), or de-focusing (diverging). The apparatus includes a lateral interferometer for forming an interference pattern of the laser beam to be diagnosed. The interference pattern is imaged to a spatial light modulator (SLM), whose output is a coherent laser beam having an image of the interference pattern impressed on it. The SLM output is focused to obtain the far-field diffraction pattern. A video camera, such as CCD, monitors the far-field diffraction pattern, and provides an electrical output indicative of the shape of the far-field pattern. Specifically, the far-field pattern comprises a central lobe and side lobes, whose relative positions are indicative of the radius of curvature of the beam. The video camera's electrical output may be provided to a computer which analyzes the data to determine the wavefront curvature of the laser beam. 11 figures.

Loss of power output and laser fibre degradation during 120 watt lithium-triborate HPS laser vaporisation of the prostate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hermanns, Thomas; Sulser, Tullio; Hefermehl, Lukas J.; Strebel, Daniel; Michel, Maurice-Stephan; Müntener, Michael; Meier, Alexander H.; Seifert, Hans-Helge

2009-02-01

It has recently been shown that laser fibre deterioration leads to a significant decrease of power output during 80 W potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) laser vaporisation (LV) of the prostate. This decrease results in inefficient vaporisation especially towards the end of the procedure. For the new 120 W lithium-triborate (LBO) High Performance System (HPS) laser not only higher power but also changes in beam characteristics and improved fibre quality have been advertised. However, high laser power has been identified as a risk factor for laser fibre degradation. Between July and September 2008 25 laser fibres were investigated during routine 120 W LBO-LV in 20 consecutive patients. Laser beam power was measured at baseline and after the application of every 25 kJ during the LV procedure. Postoperatively, the surgeon subjectively rated the performance of the respective fibre on a scale from 1 to 4 (1 indicating perfect and 4 insufficient performance). Additionally, microscopic examination of the fibre tip was performed. Median energy applied was 212 kJ. Changes of power output were similar for all fibres. Typically, a steep decrease of power output within the first 50 kJ was followed by a continuous mild decrease until the end of the procedure. After the application of 50 kJ the median power output was 63% (58-73% interquartile range) of the baseline value. The median power output at the end of the 275 kJ-lifespan of the fibres was 42% (40-47%). The median surgeons' rating of the overall performance of the laser fibres was 2 and the median estimated final decrease of power output 60%. Some degree of degradation at the emission window was microscopically detectable in all cases after the procedure. However, even after the application of 275 kJ, these structural changes were only moderate. Minor degradation of the laser fibre was associated with a significant decrease of power output during 120 W LBO-LV. However, following an early, steep decrease, power output remained relatively constant on a medium level for the rest of the fibre's lifespan. The subjective rating by the surgeons is in accordance with these findings. Improved properties of the LBO laser and enhanced fibre quality resulted in an only moderate decrease of power output which allowed for a consistently effective performance.

Influence of the Integral Quality Monitor transmission detector on high energy photon beams: A multi-centre study.

PubMed

Casar, Bozidar; Pasler, Marlies; Wegener, Sonja; Hoffman, David; Talamonti, Cinzia; Qian, Jianguo; Mendez, Ignasi; Brojan, Denis; Perrin, Bruce; Kusters, Martijn; Canters, Richard; Pallotta, Stefania; Peterlin, Primoz

2017-09-01

The influence of the Integral Quality Monitor (IQM) transmission detector on photon beam properties was evaluated in a preclinical phase, using data from nine participating centres: (i) the change of beam quality (beam hardening), (ii) the influence on surface dose, and (iii) the attenuation of the IQM detector. For 6 different nominal photon energies (4 standard, 2 FFF) and square field sizes from 1×1cm 2 to 20×20cm 2 , the effect of IQM on beam quality was assessed from the PDD 20,10 values obtained from the percentage dose depth (PDD) curves, measured with and without IQM in the beam path. The change in surface dose with/without IQM was assessed for all available energies and field sizes from 4×4cm 2 to 20×20cm 2 . The transmission factor was calculated by means of measured absorbed dose at 10cm depth for all available energies and field sizes. (i) A small (0.11-0.53%) yet statistically significant beam hardening effect was observed, depending on photon beam energy. (ii) The increase in surface dose correlated with field size (p<0.01) for all photon energies except for 18MV. The change in surface dose was smaller than 3.3% in all cases except for the 20×20cm 2 field and 10MV FFF beam, where it reached 8.1%. (iii) For standard beams, transmission of the IQM showed a weak dependence on the field size, and a pronounced dependence on the beam energy (0.9412 for 6MV to 0.9578 for 18MV and 0.9440 for 6MV FFF; 0.9533 for 10MV FFF). The effects of the IQM detector on photon beam properties were found to be small yet statistically significant. The magnitudes of changes which were found justify treating IQM either as tray factors within the treatment planning system (TPS) for a particular energy or alternatively as modified outputs for specific beam energy of linear accelerators, which eases the introduction of the IQM into clinical practice. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

RFQ design for the RAON accelerator's ISOL system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Bong Hyuk; Hong, In-Seok

2015-10-01

The heavy-ion accelerator RAON has the advantage of having both an in-flight (IF) and an isotope separator on-line (ISOL) system. Two radio frequency quadrupoles (RFQs) will be installed in the RAON: the main linear accelerator (LINAC) RFQ will be used to accelerate the two-charge state 238U for the IF system, while the post-accelerator RFQ will be used to accelerate low-current isotope beams from the ISOL system. In this paper, the post-accelerator RFQ design for the ISOL system is reported. A beam current of 1 pμA was used, and the input beam and the output beam energies were 5 keV/u and 400 keV/u, respectively. Moreover, the design was optimized by reducing the total length and power, adjusting the beam quality. To quantify the influence of thermal expansion on the frequency, we calculated the frequency difference according to deference between the vane's tip and the body's diameter.

Effects of Different Polarization Strategies on Laser Cutting with Direct Diode Lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodrigues, G. Costa; Duflou, J. R.

As Direct Diode Lasers are introduced as an emerging technology for laser cutting of metal sheets, new challenges arise. The relatively low beam quality remains a limitation to the maximum cutting speed. One way to balance this may be a strategic use of laser polarization in order to influence laser material interaction in the cutting kerf. In this paper the effects of cross-, linear-, radial- and azimuthal- laser beam polarization arrangements are studied with both Fusion and Flame cutting at an output power of approximately 750W. Different combinations of materials and thicknesses were cut and the maximum cutting speed and edge quality analyzed. It is found that at similar cutting edge quality, improvements in cutting speed can go up to 40% with an inert gas, such as Nitrogen, and up to 20% with a reactive gas, such as Oxygen, in agreement with analytical models for absorption previously developed by the authors.

Achromatic self-referencing interferometer

DOEpatents

Feldman, Mark

1994-01-01

A self-referencing Mach-Zehnder interferometer for accurately measuring laser wavefronts over a broad wavelength range (for example, 600 nm to 900 nm). The apparatus directs a reference portion of an input beam to a reference arm and a measurement portion of the input beam to a measurement arm, recombines the output beams from the reference and measurement arms, and registers the resulting interference pattern ("first" interferogram) at a first detector. Optionally, subportions of the measurement portion are diverted to second and third detectors, which respectively register intensity and interferogram signals which can be processed to reduce the first interferogram's sensitivity to input noise. The reference arm includes a spatial filter producing a high quality spherical beam from the reference portion, a tilted wedge plate compensating for off-axis aberrations in the spatial filter output, and mirror collimating the radiation transmitted through the tilted wedge plate. The apparatus includes a thermally and mechanically stable baseplate which supports all reference arm optics, or at least the spatial filter, tilted wedge plate, and the collimator. The tilted wedge plate is mounted adjustably with respect to the spatial filter and collimator, so that it can be maintained in an orientation in which it does not introduce significant wave front errors into the beam propagating through the reference arm. The apparatus is polarization insensitive and has an equal path length configuration enabling measurement of radiation from broadband as well as closely spaced laser line sources.

Cladding-pumped ytterbium-doped fiber laser with radially polarized output.

PubMed

Lin, Di; Daniel, J M O; Gecevičius, M; Beresna, M; Kazansky, P G; Clarkson, W A

2014-09-15

A simple technique for directly generating a radially polarized output beam from a cladding-pumped ytterbium-doped fiber laser is reported. Our approach is based on the use of a nanograting spatially variant waveplate as an intracavity polarization-controlling element. The laser yielded ~32 W of output power (limited by available pump power) with a radially polarized TM (01)-mode output beam at 1040 nm with a corresponding slope efficiency of 66% and a polarization purity of 95%. The beam-propagation factor (M(2)) was measured to be ~1.9-2.1.

Performance of the HIMAC beam control system using multiple-energy synchrotron operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mizushima, K.; Furukawa, T.; Iwata, Y.; Hara, Y.; Saotome, N.; Saraya, Y.; Tansho, R.; Sato, S.; Fujimoto, T.; Shirai, T.; Noda, K.

2017-09-01

Multiple-energy synchrotron operation was developed to realize fast 3D scanning irradiation for carbon-ion radiotherapy. This type of operation can output various carbon-ion beams with different energies in a single synchrotron cycle. The beam control system used in this kind of operation was developed to quickly provide the beam energy and intensity required from the irradiation control system. The performance of the system was verified by experimental tests. The system could output beams of 197 different energies in 63 s. The beam intensity could be controlled for all the output beams without large ripples or overshooting. The experimental test of irradiation for prostate cancer treatment was also successfully performed, and the test results proved that our system can greatly reduce the irradiation time.

Optical apparatus for conversion of whispering-gallery modes into a free space gaussian like beam

DOEpatents

Stallard, Barry W.; Makowski, Michael A.; Byers, Jack A.

1992-01-01

An optical converter for efficient conversion of millimeter wavelength whispering-gallery gyrotron output into a linearly polarized, free-space Gaussian-like beam. The converter uses a mode-converting taper and three mirror optics. The first mirror has an azimuthal tilt to eliminate the k.sub..phi. component of the propagation vector of the gyrotron output beam. The second mirror has a twist reflector to linearly polarize the beam. The third mirror has a constant phase surface so the converter output is in phase.

High efficiency and good beam quality of electro-optic, cavity-dumped and double-end pumped Nd:YLF laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, X. X.; Fan, Z. W.; Qiu, J. S.; Lian, F. Q.; Zhang, X. L.

2012-06-01

In this paper, we describe a Nd:YLF laser based on high-speed RTP electro-optical cavity dumping technique. Two home-made 150 W fiber pump modules are used from both sides to pump Nd:YLF crystal. Coupling systems are the key elements in end-pumped solid-state lasers, the aberrations of which greatly affect the efficiency of the lasers. In order to get high efficient and good quality laser output, the optical software ZEMAX is used to design a four-piece coupling system. When the pumped energy is 32 mJ at the repetition rate of 1 Hz, the output energy is 6.5 mJ with 2.5 ns pulse width. When the pumped energy is 13.1 W at the repetition rate of 200 Hz, the output energy is 2.2 W with small M 2 factor where M {/x 2} is 1.04, and M {/y 2} is 1.05, and the light-light conversion efficiency is up to 16.8%.

SU-E-T-354: Efficient and Enhanced QA Testing of Linear Accelerators Using a Real-Time Beam Monitor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jung, J; Farrokhkish, M; Norrlinger, B

2015-06-15

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of performing routine QA tests of linear accelerators (Linac) using the Integral Quality Monitoring (IQM) system. The system, consisting of a 1-D sensitivity gradient large area ion-chamber mounted at the collimator, allows automatic collection and analysis of beam data. Methods: The IQM was investigated to perform several QA constancy tests, similar to those recommended by AAPM TG142, of a Linac including: beam output, MLC calibration, beam symmetry, relative dose factor (RDF), dose linearity, output as a function of gantry angle and dose rate. All measurements by the IQM system accompanied a reference measurement using amore » conventional dosimetry system and were performed on an Elekta Infinity Linac with Agility MLC. The MLC calibration check is done using a Picket-Fence type 2×10cm{sup 2} field positioned at different off-axis locations along the chamber gradient. Beam symmetry constancy values are established by signals from an 4×4cm{sup 2} aperture located at various off-axis positions; the sensitivity of the test was determined by the changes in the signals in response to a tilt in the beam. The data for various square field sizes were used to develop a functional relationship with RDF. Results: The IQM tracked the beam output well within 1% of the reference ion-chamber readings. The Picket-Fence type field test detected a 1mm shift error of one MLC bank. The system was able to detect 2.5% or greater beam asymmetry. The IQM results for all other QA tests were found to agree with the reference values to within 0.5%. Conclusion: It was demonstrated that the IQM system can effectively monitor the Linac performance parameters for the purpose of routine QA constancy tests. With minimum user interactions a comprehensive set of tests can be performed efficiently, allowing frequent monitoring of the Linac. The presenting author’s salary is funded by the manufacturer of the QA device. All the other authors have financial interests with the commercialization of this QA device.« less

On-site audits to investigate the quality of radiation physics of radiation therapy institutions in the Republic of Korea.

PubMed

Park, Jong Min; Park, So-Yeon; Chun, Minsoo; Kim, Sang-Tae

2017-08-01

To investigate and improve the domestic standard of radiation therapy in the Republic of Korea. On-site audits were performed for 13 institutions in the Republic of Korea. Six items were investigated by on-site visits of each radiation therapy institution, including collimator, gantry, and couch rotation isocenter check; coincidence between light and radiation fields; photon beam flatness and symmetry; electron beam flatness and symmetry; physical wedge transmission factors; and photon beam and electron beam outputs. The average deviations of mechanical collimator, gantry, and couch rotation isocenter were less than 1mm. Those of radiation isocenter were also less than 1mm. The average difference between light and radiation fields was 0.9±0.6mm for the field size of 20cm×20cm. The average values of flatness and symmetry of the photon beams were 2.9%±0.6% and 1.1%±0.7%, respectively. Those of electron beams were 2.5%±0.7% and 0.6%±1.0%, respectively. Every institutions showed wedge transmission factor deviations less than 2% except one institution. The output deviations of both photon and electron beams were less than ±3% for every institution. Through the on-site audit program, we could effectively detect an inappropriately operating linacs and provide some recommendations. The standard of radiation therapy in Korea is expected to improve through such on-site audits. Copyright © 2017 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optical fiber designs for beam shaping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farley, Kevin; Conroy, Michael; Wang, Chih-Hao; Abramczyk, Jaroslaw; Campbell, Stuart; Oulundsen, George; Tankala, Kanishka

2014-03-01

A large number of power delivery applications for optical fibers require beams with very specific output intensity profiles; in particular applications that require a focused high intensity beam typically image the near field (NF) intensity distribution at the exit surface of an optical fiber. In this work we discuss optical fiber designs that shape the output beam profile to more closely correspond to what is required in many real world industrial applications. Specifically we present results demonstrating the ability to transform Gaussian beams to shapes required for industrial applications and how that relates to system parameters such as beam product parameter (BPP) values. We report on the how different waveguide structures perform in the NF and show results on how to achieve flat-top with circular outputs.

Note: High-efficiency broadband acoustic energy harvesting using Helmholtz resonator and dual piezoelectric cantilever beams

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yang, Aichao; Li, Ping, E-mail: liping@cqu.edu.cn; Wen, Yumei

2014-06-15

A high-efficiency broadband acoustic energy harvester consisting of a compliant-top-plate Helmholtz resonator (HR) and dual piezoelectric cantilever beams is proposed. Due to the high mechanical quality factor of beams and the strong multimode coupling of HR cavity, top plate and beams, the high efficiency in a broad bandwidth is obtained. Experiment exhibits that the proposed harvester at 170–206 Hz has 28–188 times higher efficiency than the conventional harvester using a HR with a piezoelectric composite diaphragm. For input acoustic pressure of 2.0 Pa, the proposed harvester exhibits 0.137–1.43 mW output power corresponding to 0.035–0.36 μW cm{sup −3} volume power density atmore » 170–206 Hz.« less

Apparatus and method for increasing the bandwidth of a laser beam

DOEpatents

Chaffee, Paul H.

1991-01-01

A method and apparatus is disclosed that provides a laser output beam having a broad bandwidth and an intensity smooth over time. The bandwidth of the laser output can be varied easily by varying the intensity of a broadband source. The present invention includes an optical modulation apparatus comprising a narrowband laser that outputs a horizontally polarized beam (a "signal beam") and a broadband laser that outputs a vertically polarized beam (a "pump beam") whose intensity varies rapidly. The two beam are coupled into a birefringent laser material so that the respective polarizations coincide with the principal axes of the material. As the two beams travel through the material, the polarization preserving properties of the birefringent material maintain the respective polarizations of the two beam; however there is coupling between the two beams as a result of cross phase modulations, which induces a bandwidth change of the signal beam. The amount of bandwidth change is dependent upon the average intensity of the pump beam. The beams are coupled out from the birefringent material and the modulated signal beam is separated by a polarization selector. The modulated signal beam now has a wider bandwidth, and its shape remains smooth in time. This signal beam can be applied to incoherence inducing systems. The different bandwidths required by these different incoherence inducing systems can be obtained by varying the intensity of the pump beam. The United States Government has rights in this invention pursuant to Contract No. W7405-ENG-48 between the United States Department of Energy and the University of California for the operation of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

SU-E-T-586: Field Size Dependence of Output Factor for Uniform Scanning Proton Beams: A Comparison of TPS Calculation, Measurement and Monte Carlo Simulation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zheng, Y; Singh, H; Islam, M

2014-06-01

Purpose: Output dependence on field size for uniform scanning beams, and the accuracy of treatment planning system (TPS) calculation are not well studied. The purpose of this work is to investigate the dependence of output on field size for uniform scanning beams and compare it among TPS calculation, measurements and Monte Carlo simulations. Methods: Field size dependence was studied using various field sizes between 2.5 cm diameter to 10 cm diameter. The field size factor was studied for a number of proton range and modulation combinations based on output at the center of spread out Bragg peak normalized to amore » 10 cm diameter field. Three methods were used and compared in this study: 1) TPS calculation, 2) ionization chamber measurement, and 3) Monte Carlos simulation. The XiO TPS (Electa, St. Louis) was used to calculate the output factor using a pencil beam algorithm; a pinpoint ionization chamber was used for measurements; and the Fluka code was used for Monte Carlo simulations. Results: The field size factor varied with proton beam parameters, such as range, modulation, and calibration depth, and could decrease over 10% from a 10 cm to 3 cm diameter field for a large range proton beam. The XiO TPS predicted the field size factor relatively well at large field size, but could differ from measurements by 5% or more for small field and large range beams. Monte Carlo simulations predicted the field size factor within 1.5% of measurements. Conclusion: Output factor can vary largely with field size, and needs to be accounted for accurate proton beam delivery. This is especially important for small field beams such as in stereotactic proton therapy, where the field size dependence is large and TPS calculation is inaccurate. Measurements or Monte Carlo simulations are recommended for output determination for such cases.« less

Low-loss VIS/IR-XUV beam splitter for high-power applications.

PubMed

Pupeza, Ioachim; Fill, Ernst E; Krausz, Ferenc

2011-06-20

We present a low-loss VIS/IR-XUV beam splitter, suitable for high-power operation. The spatial separation of the VIS/IR and XUV components of a beam is achieved by the wedged top layer of a dielectric multilayer structure, onto which the beam is impinging under Brewster's angle (for VIS/IR). With a fused silica wedge with an angle of 0.5° we achieve a separation angle of 2.2° and an IR reflectivity of 0.9995. Typical XUV reflectivities amount to 0.1-0.2. The novel element is mechanically robust, exhibiting two major advantages over free-standing Brewster plates: (i) a significant improvement of heat conduction and (ii) easier handling, in particular for high-optical-quality fabrication. The beam splitter could be used as an output coupler for intracavity-generated XUV radiation, promising a boost of the power regime of current MHz-HHG experiments. It is also suited for single-pass experiments and as a beam combiner for pump-probe experiments.

1.6  MW peak power, 90  ps all-solid-state laser from an aberration self-compensated double-passing end-pumped Nd:YVO₄ rod amplifier.

PubMed

Wang, Chunhua; Liu, Chong; Shen, Lifeng; Zhao, Zhiliang; Liu, Bin; Jiang, Hongbo

2016-03-20

In this paper a delicately designed double-passing end-pumped Nd:YVO₄ rod amplifier is reported that produces 10.2 W average laser output when seeded by a 6 mW Nd:YVO₄ microchip laser at a repetition rate of 70 kHz with pulse duration of 90 ps. A pulse peak power of ∼1.6  MW and pulse energy of ∼143  μJ is achieved. The beam quality is well preserved by a double-passing configuration for spherical-aberration compensation. The laser-beam size in the amplifier is optimized to prevent the unwanted damage from the high pulse peak-power density. This study provides a simple and robust picosecond all-solid-state master oscillator power amplifier system with both high peak power and high beam quality, which shows great potential in the micromachining.

High dose-per-pulse electron beam dosimetry: Commissioning of the Oriatron eRT6 prototype linear accelerator for preclinical use.

PubMed

Jaccard, Maud; Durán, Maria Teresa; Petersson, Kristoffer; Germond, Jean-François; Liger, Philippe; Vozenin, Marie-Catherine; Bourhis, Jean; Bochud, François; Bailat, Claude

2018-02-01

The Oriatron eRT6 is an experimental high dose-per-pulse linear accelerator (linac) which was designed to deliver an electron beam with variable dose-rates, ranging from a few Gy/min up to hundreds of Gy/s. It was built to study the radiobiological effects of high dose-per-pulse/dose-rate electron beam irradiation, in the context of preclinical and cognitive studies. In this work, we report on the commissioning and beam monitoring of the Oriatron eRT6 prototype linac. The beam was characterized in different steps. The output stability was studied by performing repeated measurements over a period of 20 months. The relative output variations caused by changing beam parameters, such as the temporal electron pulse width, the pulse repetition frequency and the pulse amplitude were also analyzed. Finally, depth dose curves and field sizes were measured for two different beam settings, resulting in one beam with a conventional radiotherapy dose-rate and one with a much higher dose-rate. Measurements were performed with Gafchromic EBT3 films and with a PTW Advanced Markus ionization chamber. In addition, we developed a beam current monitoring system based on the signals from an induction torus positioned at the beam exit of the waveguide and from a graphite beam collimator. The stability of the output over repeated measurements was found to be good, with a standard deviation smaller than 1%. However, non-negligible day-to-day variations of the beam output were observed. Those output variations showed different trends depending on the dose-rate. The analysis of the relative output variation as a function of various beam parameters showed that in a given configuration, the dose-rate could be reliably varied over three orders of magnitude. Interdependence effects on the output variation between the parameters were also observed. The beam energy and field size were found to be slightly dose-rate-dependent and suitable mainly for small animal irradiation. The beam monitoring system was able to measure in a reproducible way the total charge of electrons that exit the machine, as long as the electron pulse amplitude remains above a given threshold. Furthermore, we were able to relate the charge measured with the monitoring system to the absorbed dose in a solid water phantom. The Oriatron eRT6 was successfully commissioned for preclinical use and is currently in full operation, with studies being performed on the radiobiological effects of high dose-per-pulse irradiation. © 2017 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

Automation of a Linear Accelerator Dosimetric Quality Assurance Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lebron Gonzalez, Sharon H.

According to the American Society of Radiation Oncology, two-thirds of all cancer patients will receive radiation therapy during their illness with the majority of the treatments been delivered by a linear accelerator (linac). Therefore, quality assurance (QA) procedures must be enforced in order to deliver treatments with a machine in proper conditions. The overall goal of this project is to automate the linac's dosimetric QA procedures by analyzing and accomplishing various tasks. First, the photon beam dosimetry (i.e. total scatter correction factor, infinite percentage depth dose (PDD) and profiles) were parameterized. Parameterization consists of defining the parameters necessary for the specification of a dosimetric quantity model creating a data set that is portable and easy to implement for different applications including: beam modeling data input into a treatment planning system (TPS), comparing measured and TPS modelled data, the QA of a linac's beam characteristics, and the establishment of a standard data set for comparison with other data, etcetera. Second, this parameterization model was used to develop a universal method to determine the radiation field size of flattened (FF), flattening-filter-free (FFF) and wedge beams which we termed the parameterized gradient method (PGM). Third, the parameterized model was also used to develop a profile-based method for assessing the beam quality of photon FF and FFF beams using an ionization chamber array. The PDD and PDD change was also predicted from the measured profile. Lastly, methods were created to automate the multileaf collimator (MLC) calibration and QA procedures as well as the acquisition of the parameters included in monthly and annual photon dosimetric QA. A two field technique was used for the calculation of the MLC leaf relative offsets using an electronic portal imaging device (EPID). A step-and-shoot technique was used to accurately acquire the radiation field size, flatness, symmetry, output and beam quality specifiers in a single delivery to an ionization chamber array for FF and FFF beams.

Helical Fiber Amplifier

DOEpatents

Koplow, Jeffrey P.; Kliner, Dahy; Goldberg, Lew

2002-12-17

A multi-mode gain fiber is provided which affords substantial improvements in the maximum pulse energy, peak power handling capabilities, average output power, and/or pumping efficiency of fiber amplifier and laser sources while maintaining good beam quality (comparable to that of a conventional single-mode fiber source). These benefits are realized by coiling the multimode gain fiber to induce significant bend loss for all but the lowest-order mode(s).

Precision alignment device

DOEpatents

Jones, N.E.

1988-03-10

Apparatus for providing automatic alignment of beam devices having an associated structure for directing, collimating, focusing, reflecting, or otherwise modifying the main beam. A reference laser is attached to the structure enclosing the main beam producing apparatus and produces a reference beam substantially parallel to the main beam. Detector modules containing optical switching devices and optical detectors are positioned in the path of the reference beam and are effective to produce an electrical output indicative of the alignment of the main beam. This electrical output drives servomotor operated adjustment screws to adjust the position of elements of the structure associated with the main beam to maintain alignment of the main beam. 5 figs.

Precision alignment device

DOEpatents

Jones, Nelson E.

1990-01-01

Apparatus for providing automatic alignment of beam devices having an associated structure for directing, collimating, focusing, reflecting, or otherwise modifying the main beam. A reference laser is attached to the structure enclosing the main beam producing apparatus and produces a reference beam substantially parallel to the main beam. Detector modules containing optical switching devices and optical detectors are positioned in the path of the reference beam and are effective to produce an electrical output indicative of the alignment of the main beam. This electrical output drives servomotor operated adjustment screws to adjust the position of elements of the structure associated with the main beam to maintain alignment of the main beam.

Characteristic analysis of a polarization output coupling Porro prism resonator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Hailong; Meng, Junqing; Chen, Weibiao

2015-02-01

An Electro-optical Q-switched Nd:YAG slab laser with a crossed misalignment Porro prism resonator for space applications has been theoretically and experimentally investigated. The phase shift induced by the combination of different wave plates and Porro prism azimuth angles have been studied for creating high loss condition prior to Q-switching. The relationship of the effective output coupling reflectivity and the employed Q-switch driving voltage is explored by using Jones matrix optics. In the experiment, the maximum output pulse energy of 93 mJ with 14-ns pulse duration is obtained at the repetition rate of 20 Hz and the optical-to-optical conversion efficiency is 16.8%. The beam quality factors are M 2 x = 2.5 and M 2y = 2.2, respectively.

Acceleration of electron bunches by intense laser pulse in vacuum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hua, J. F.; Ho, Y. K.; Lin, Y. Z.; Cao, N.

2003-08-01

This paper addresses the output characteristics of real electron bunches accelerated with ultra-intense laser pulse in vacuum by the capture & acceleration scenario (CAS) scheme (see, e.g., Phys. Rev. E66 (2002) 066501). Normally, the size of an electron bunch is much larger than that of a tightly focused and compressed laser pulse. We examine in detail the features of the intersection region, the distribution of electrons which can experience an intense laser field and be accelerated to high energy. Furthermore, the output properties of the accelerated CAS electrons, such as the energy spectra, the angular distributions, the energy-angle correlations, the acceleration gradient, the energy which can be reached with this scheme, the emittances of the outgoing electron bunches, and the dependence of the output properties on the incident electron beam qualities such as the emittance, focusing status, etc. were studied and explained. We found that with intense laser systems and electron beam technology currently available nowadays, the number of CAS electrons can reach 10 4-10 5, when the total number of incident electrons in the practical bunch reaches ˜10 8. These results demonstrate that CAS is promising to become a novel mechanism of vacuum laser accelerators.

Determination of output factor for 6 MV small photon beam: comparison between Monte Carlo simulation technique and microDiamond detector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krongkietlearts, K.; Tangboonduangjit, P.; Paisangittisakul, N.

2016-03-01

In order to improve the life's quality for a cancer patient, the radiation techniques are constantly evolving. Especially, the two modern techniques which are intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) are quite promising. They comprise of many small beam sizes (beamlets) with various intensities to achieve the intended radiation dose to the tumor and minimal dose to the nearby normal tissue. The study investigates whether the microDiamond detector (PTW manufacturer), a synthetic single crystal diamond detector, is suitable for small field output factor measurement. The results were compared with those measured by the stereotactic field detector (SFD) and the Monte Carlo simulation (EGSnrc/BEAMnrc/DOSXYZ). The calibration of Monte Carlo simulation was done using the percentage depth dose and dose profile measured by the photon field detector (PFD) of the 10×10 cm2 field size with 100 cm SSD. Comparison of the values obtained from the calculations and measurements are consistent, no more than 1% difference. The output factors obtained from the microDiamond detector have been compared with those of SFD and Monte Carlo simulation, the results demonstrate the percentage difference of less than 2%.

Arrangement for multiplexing and intensity splitting light beams for interface into fiber optic cables

DOEpatents

Johnson, Steve A.

1990-01-01

An arrangement especially suitable for use in a laser apparatus for converting a plurality of different input light beams, for example copper vapor laser beams, into a plurality of substantially identical light beams is disclosed herein. This arrangement utilizes an optical mixing bar which is preferably integrally formed as a single unit and which includes a main body for mixing light therein, a flat input surface on one end of the main body, and a multi-faceted output face on the opposite end of the main body. This arrangement also includes means for directing the plurality of different input light beams onto the input face of the mixing base, whereby to cause the different beams to mix within the main body of the mixing bar and exit the latter from its multi-faceted output face as the desired plurality of substantially identical output beams.

MO-F-CAMPUS-T-03: Verification of Range, SOBP Width, and Output for Passive-Scattering Proton Beams Using a Liquid Scintillator Detector

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Henry, T; Robertson, D; Therriault-Proulx, F

2015-06-15

Purpose: Liquid scintillators have been shown to provide fast and high-resolution measurements of radiation beams. However, their linear energy transfer-dependent response (quenching) limits their use in proton beams. The purpose of this study was to develop a simple and fast method to verify the range, spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP) width, and output of a passive-scattering proton beam with a liquid scintillator detector, without the need for quenching correction. Methods: The light signal from a 20×20×20 cm3 liquid scintillator tank was collected with a CCD camera. Reproducible landmarks on the SOBP depth-light curve were identified which possessed a linear relationship withmore » the beam range and SOBP width. The depth-light profiles for three beam energies (140, 160 and 180 MeV) with six SOBP widths at each energy were measured with the detector. Beam range and SOBP width calibration factors were obtained by comparing the depth-light curve landmarks with the nominal range and SOBP width for each beam setting. The daily output stability of the liquid scintillator detector was also studied by making eight repeated output measurements in a cobalt-60 beam over the course of two weeks. Results: The mean difference between the measured and nominal beam ranges was 0.6 mm (σ=0.2 mm), with a maximum difference of 0.9 mm. The mean difference between the measured and nominal SOBP widths was 0.1 mm (σ=1.8 mm), with a maximum difference of 4.0 mm. Finally an output variation of 0.14% was observed for 8 measurements performed over 2 weeks. Conclusion: A method has been developed to determine the range and SOBP width of a passive-scattering proton beam in a liquid scintillator without the need for quenching correction. In addition to providing rapid and accurate beam range and SOBP measurements, the detector is capable of measuring the output consistency with a high degree of precision. This project was supported in part by award number CA182450 from the National Cancer Institute.« less

High-power single-pass pumped diamond Raman oscillator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heinzig, Matthias; Walbaum, Till; Williams, Robert J.; Kitzler, Ondrej; Mildren, Richard P.; Schreiber, Thomas; Eberhardt, Ramona; Tünnermann, Andreas

2018-02-01

We present our recent advances on power scaling of a high-power single-pass pumped CVD-diamond Raman oscillator at 1.2 μm. The single pass scheme reduced feedback to the high gain fiber amplifier, which pumps the oscillator. The Yb-doped multi-stage fiber amplifier itself enables up to 1 kW output power at a narrow linewidth of 0.16 nm. We operate this laser in quasi-cw mode at 10% duty cycle and on-time (pulse) duration of 10 ms. With a maximum conversion efficiency of 39%, a maximum steady-state output power of 380 W and diffraction limited beam quality was achieved.

High-Power Nd:GdVO4 Innoslab Continuous-Wave Laser under Direct 880 nm Pumping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Bo; Zhang, Heng-Li; Xu, Liu; Mao, Ye-Fei; He, Jing-Liang; Xin, Jian-Guo

2014-11-01

A high-power cw end-pumped laser device is demonstrated with a slab crystal of Nd:GdVO4 operating at 1063 nm. Diode laser stacks at 880 nm are used to pump Nd:GdVO4 into emitting level 4F3/2. The 149 W output power is presented when the absorbed pump power is 390 W and the optical-to-optical conversion efficiency is 38.2%. When the output power is 120 W, the M2 factors are 2.3 in both directions. Additionally, mode overlap inside the resonator is analyzed to explain the beam quality deterioration.

36 W Q-switched Ho:YAG laser at 2097 nm pumped by a Tm fiber laser: evaluation of different Ho3+ doping concentrations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Antipov, O. L.; Eranov, I. D.; Kositsyn, R. I.

2017-01-01

A laser oscillator based on Ho:YAG crystal pumped by a Tm fiber laser with an acousto-optical Q-switch was optimized for maximum output power and pulse-to-pulse stability. Stable operation at 2097 nm in Q-switched mode is demonstrated, with pulse repetition rates from 10 to 30 kHz, and output power of 36 W (at 55 W of pump power at 1908 nm) in the good quality beam. The influence of Ho ion up-conversion and thermal lensing on the oscillation efficiency is discussed.

Double passing the Kitt Peak 1-m Fourier transform spectrometer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jennings, D. E.; Hubbard, R.; Brault, J. W.

1985-01-01

Attention is given to a simple technique for performing the conversion of the Kitt Peak 1-m Fourier transform spectrometer's dual input/output optical configuration to a double pass configuration that improves spectral resolution by a factor of 2. The modification is made by placing a flat mirror in the output beam from each cat's eye, retroreflecting the beams back through the cat's eyes to the first beam splitter. A single detector is placed at the second input port, which then becomes the instrument's output.

Pulsed 1.55μm all-fiber laser combining high energy, ultranarrow linewidth and optimal spatial beam quality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liégeois, Flavien; Hernandez, Yves; Kinet, Damien; Giannone, Domenico; Robin, Thierry; Cadier, Benoît

2008-11-01

In this letter, we report on the study of a new all-fiber laser source suitable for coherent Doppler LIDAR use in the eyesafe domain. The laser consists on a MOPA configuration where the Master Oscillator is a modulated ultranarrow (< 8 kHz) fiber laser. The optical amplifiers are also all-fibered and make use of a new Large Mode Area (LMA) index pedestal fiber that is very effective in limiting the non-linear effects without quality degradation of the laser beam. The amplified pulses have a maximum energy of 0.15 mJ for a duration of 340 ns at a repetition rate of 15 kHz. The average output power of the laser is 2.5 W, free of Stimulated Brillouin Scattering and with a measured M2 = 1.3.

High beam quality of a Q-switched 2-µm Tm,Ho:LuVO4 laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Wei; Yang, Xining; Shen, Yingjie; Li, Linjun; Zhou, Long; Yang, Yuqiang; Bai, Yunfeng; Xie, Wenqiang; Ye, Guangchao; Yu, Xiaoyang

2018-05-01

A diode-end-pumped 2.05-µm Q-switched Tm,Ho:LuVO4 laser is reported in this paper. The cryogenic Tm3+ (5.0 at.%),Ho3+ (0.5 at.%):LuVO4 crystal was pumped by an 800-nm laser diode. At a pulse repetition frequency of 10 kHz, the maximum average output power of 3.77 W was achieved at 77 K when an incident pump power of 14.7 W was used. The slope efficiency and optical-optical conversion efficiency were 28.3 and 25.6%, respectively. The maximum per pulse energy was 2.54 mJ for a pulse duration of 69.9 ns. The beam quality factor Mx 2 was approximately 1.17 and My 2 was approximately 1.01 for the Tm,Ho:LuVO4 laser.

A Particle-in-cell scheme of the RFQ in the SSC-Linac

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Chen; He, Yuan; Lu, Yuan-Rong; Yuri, Batygin; Yin, Ling; Wang, Zhi-Jun; Yuan, You-Jin; Liu, Yong; Chang, Wei; Du, Xiao-Nan; Wang, Zhi; Xia, Jia-Wen

2010-11-01

A 52 MHz Radio Frequency Quadrupole (RFQ) linear accelerator (linac) is designed to serve as an initial structure for the SSC-Linac system (injector into Separated Sector Cyclotron). The designed injection and output energy are 3.5 keV/u and 143 keV/u, respectively. The beam dynamics in this RFQ have been studied using a three-dimensional Particle-In-Cell (PIC) code BEAMPATH. Simulation results show that this RFQ structure is characterized by stable values of beam transmission efficiency (at least 95%) for both zero-current mode and the space charge dominated regime. The beam accelerated in the RFQ has good quality in both transverse and longitudinal directions, and could easily be accepted by Drift Tube Linac (DTL). The effect of the vane error and that of the space charge on the beam parameters have been studied as well to define the engineering tolerance for RFQ vane machining and alignment.

Achromatic self-referencing interferometer

DOEpatents

Feldman, M.

1994-04-19

A self-referencing Mach-Zehnder interferometer is described for accurately measuring laser wavefronts over a broad wavelength range (for example, 600 nm to 900 nm). The apparatus directs a reference portion of an input beam to a reference arm and a measurement portion of the input beam to a measurement arm, recombines the output beams from the reference and measurement arms, and registers the resulting interference pattern ([open quotes]first[close quotes] interferogram) at a first detector. Optionally, subportions of the measurement portion are diverted to second and third detectors, which respectively register intensity and interferogram signals which can be processed to reduce the first interferogram's sensitivity to input noise. The reference arm includes a spatial filter producing a high quality spherical beam from the reference portion, a tilted wedge plate compensating for off-axis aberrations in the spatial filter output, and mirror collimating the radiation transmitted through the tilted wedge plate. The apparatus includes a thermally and mechanically stable baseplate which supports all reference arm optics, or at least the spatial filter, tilted wedge plate, and the collimator. The tilted wedge plate is mounted adjustably with respect to the spatial filter and collimator, so that it can be maintained in an orientation in which it does not introduce significant wave front errors into the beam propagating through the reference arm. The apparatus is polarization insensitive and has an equal path length configuration enabling measurement of radiation from broadband as well as closely spaced laser line sources. 3 figures.

E-beam-pumped semiconductor lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rice, Robert R.; Shanley, James F.; Ruggieri, Neil F.

1995-04-01

The collapse of the Soviet Union opened many areas of laser technology to the West. E-beam- pumped semiconductor lasers (EBSL) were pursued for 25 years in several Soviet Institutes. Thin single crystal screens of II-VI alloys (ZnxCd1-xSe, CdSxSe1-x) were incorporated in laser CRTs to produce scanned visible laser beams at average powers greater than 10 W. Resolutions of 2500 lines were demonstrated. MDA-W is conducting a program for ARPA/ESTO to assess EBSL technology for high brightness, high resolution RGB laser projection application. Transfer of II-VI crystal growth and screen processing technology is underway, and initial results will be reported. Various techniques (cathodoluminescence, one- and two-photon laser pumping, etc.) have been used to assess material quality and screen processing damage. High voltage (75 kV) video electronics were procured in the U.S. to operate test EBSL tubes. Laser performance was documented as a function of screen temperature, beam voltage and current. The beam divergence, spectrum, efficiency and other characteristics of the laser output are being measured. An evaluation of the effect of laser operating conditions upon the degradation rate is being carried out by a design-of-experiments method. An initial assessment of the projected image quality will be performed.

Reshaping a multimode laser beam into a constructed Gaussian beam for generating a thin light sheet.

PubMed

Saghafi, Saiedeh; Haghi-Danaloo, Nikoo; Becker, Klaus; Sabdyusheva, Inna; Foroughipour, Massih; Hahn, Christian; Pende, Marko; Wanis, Martina; Bergmann, Michael; Stift, Judith; Hegedus, Balazs; Dome, Balazs; Dodt, Hans-Ulrich

2018-06-01

Based on the modal analysis method, we developed a model that describes the output beam of a diode-pumped solid state (DPSS) laser emitting a multimode beam. Measuring the output beam profile in the near field and at the constructed far field the individual modes, their respective contributions, and their optical parameters are determined. Using this information, the beam is optically reshaped into a quasi-Gaussian beam by the interference and superposition of the various modes. This process is controlled by a mode modulator unit that includes different meso-aspheric elements and a soft-aperture. The converted beam is guided into a second optical unit comprising achromatic-aspheric elements to produce a thin light sheet for ultramicroscopy. We found that this light sheet is markedly thinner and exhibits less side shoulders compared with a light sheet directly generated from the output of a DPSS multimode laser. © 2018 The Authors. Journal of Biophotonics published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Novel approaches to increasing the brightness of broad area lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crump, P.; Winterfeldt, M.; Decker, J.; Ekterai, M.; Fricke, J.; Knigge, S.; Maaßdorf, A.; Erbert, G.

2016-03-01

Progress in studies to increase the lateral brightness Blat of broad area lasers is reviewed. Blat=Pout/BPPlat is maximized by developing designs and technology for lowest lateral beam parameter product, BPPlat, at highest optical output power Pout. This can be achieved by limiting the number of guided lateral modes and by improving the beam quality of low-order lateral modes. Important effects to address include process and packaging induced wave-guiding, lateral carrier accumulation and the thermal lens profile. A careful selection of vertical design is also shown to be important, as are advanced techniques to filter out higher order modes.

The Laser Atmospheric Wind Sounder (LAWS) Phase 2 Preliminary Laser Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lawrence, T. Rhidian; Pindroh, Albert L.; Bowers, Mark S.; Dehart, Terence E.; Mcdonald, Kenneth F.; Cousins, Ananda; Moody, Stephen E.

1992-01-01

The requirements for the Laser Atmospheric Wind Sounder (LAWS) were determined from system considerations and are summarized in tabular form. The laser subsystem provides for the generation and frequency control of two beams, the transmit high power and local oscillator beams, which are delivered to the optical and receiver subsystems, respectively. In our baseline approach, the excitation of the gain section is achieved by a self-sustaining uv-(corona) preionized discharge. Gas is recirculated within the laser loop using a transverse flow fan. An intra-flow-loop heat exchanger, catalyst monolith, and acoustic attenuators condition the gas to ensure uniform energy output and high beam quality during high pulse repetition rate operation. The baseline LAWS laser pulse temporal profile as calculated by in-house laser codes is given in graphical form.

Design of an epithermal column for BNCT based on D D fusion neutron facility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Durisi, E.; Zanini, A.; Manfredotti, C.; Palamara, F.; Sarotto, M.; Visca, L.; Nastasi, U.

2007-05-01

Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) is currently performed on patients at nuclear reactors. At the same time the international BNCT community is engaged in the development of alternative facilities for in-hospital treatments. This paper investigates the potential of a novel high-output D-D neutron generator, developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (CA, USA), for BNCT. The simulation code MCNP-4C is used to realize an accurate study of the epithermal column in view of the treatment of deep tumours. Different materials and Beam Shaping Assemblies (BSA) are investigated and an optimized configuration is proposed. The neutron beam quality is defined by the standard free beam parameters, calculated averaging over the collimator aperture. The results are discussed and compared with the performances of other facilities.

Devices useful for vacuum ultraviolet beam characterization including a movable stage with a transmission grating and image detector

DOEpatents

Gessner, Oliver; Kornilov, Oleg A; Wilcox, Russell B

2013-10-29

The invention provides for a device comprising an apparatus comprising (a) a transmission grating capable of diffracting a photon beam into a diffracted photon output, and (b) an image detector capable of detecting the diffracted photon output. The device is useful for measuring the spatial profile and diffraction pattern of a photon beam, such as a vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) beam.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Singh, Ashutosh, E-mail: asingh.rs.ece@iitbhu.ac.in; Center of Research in Microwave Tubes, Department of Electronics Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology; Jain, P. K.

In this paper, the effects of electron beam parameters and velocity spread on the RF behavior of a metallic photonic band gap (PBG) cavity gyrotron operating at 35 GHz with TE{sub 041}–like mode have been theoretically demonstrated. PBG cavity is used here to achieve a single mode operation of the overmoded cavity. The nonlinear time-dependent multimode analysis has been used to observe the beam-wave interaction behavior of the PBG cavity gyrotron, and a commercially available PIC code “CST Particle Studio” has been reconfigured to obtain 3D simulation results in order to validate the analytical values. The output power for this typicalmore » PBG gyrotron has been obtained ∼108 kW with ∼15.5% efficiency in a well confined TE{sub 041}–like mode, while all other competing modes have significantly low values of power output. The output power and efficiency of a gyrotron depend highly on the electron beam parameters and velocity spread. The influence of several electron beam parameters, e.g., beam voltage, beam current, beam velocity pitch factor, and DC magnetic field, on the PBG gyrotron operations has been investigated. This study would be helpful in optimising the electron beam parameters and estimating accurate RF output power of the high frequency PBG cavity based gyrotron oscillators.« less

Diode-pumped laser altimeter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Welford, D.; Isyanova, Y.

1993-01-01

TEM(sub 00)-mode output energies up to 22.5 mJ with 23 percent slope efficiencies were generated at 1.064 microns in a diode-laser pumped Nd:YAG laser using a transverse-pumping geometry. 1.32-micron performance was equally impressive at 10.2 mJ output energy with 15 percent slope efficiency. The same pumping geometry was successfully carried forward to several complex Q-switched laser resonator designs with no noticeable degradation of beam quality. Output beam profiles were consistently shown to have greater than 90 percent correlation with the ideal TEM(sub 00)-order Gaussian profile. A comparison study on pulse-reflection-mode (PRM), pulse-transmission-mode (PTM), and passive Q-switching techniques was undertaken. The PRM Q-switched laser generated 8.3 mJ pulses with durations as short as 10 ns. The PTM Q-switch laser generated 5 mJ pulses with durations as short as 5 ns. The passively Q-switched laser generated 5 mJ pulses with durations as short as 2.4 ns. Frequency doubling of both 1.064 microns and 1.32 microns with conversion efficiencies of 56 percent in lithium triborate and 10 percent in rubidium titanyl arsenate, respectively, was shown. Sum-frequency generation of the 1.064 microns and 1.32 microns radiations was demonstrated in KTP to generate 1.1 mJ of 0.589 micron output with 11.5 percent conversion efficiency.

Frequency doubling of an InGaAs multiple quantum wells semiconductor disk laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lidan, Jiang; Renjiang, Zhu; Maohua, Jiang; Dingke, Zhang; Yuting, Cui; Peng, Zhang; Yanrong, Song

2018-01-01

We demonstrate a good beam quality 483 nm blue coherent radiation from a frequency doubled InGaAs multiple quantum wells semiconductor disk laser. The gain chip is consisted of 6 repeats of strain uncompensated InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells and 25 pairs of GaAs/AlAs distributed Bragg reflector. A 4 × 4 × 7 mm3 type I phase-matched BBO nonlinear crystal is used in a V-shaped laser cavity for the second harmonic generation, and 210 mW blue output power is obtained when the absorbed pump power is 3.5 W. The M2 factors of the laser beam in x and y directions are about 1.04 and 1.01, respectively. The output power of the blue laser is limited by the relatively small number of the multiple quantum wells, and higher power can be expected by increasing the number of the multiple quantum wells and improving the heat management of the laser.

A fundamental mode Nd:GdVO4 laser pumped by a large aperture 808 nm VCSEL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hao, Y. Q.; Ma, J. L.; Yan, C. L.; Liu, G. J.; Ma, X. H.; Gong, J. F.; Feng, Y.; Wei, Z. P.; Wang, Y. X.; Zhao, Y. J.

2013-05-01

A fundamental mode Nd:GdVO4 laser pumped by a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) is experimentally demonstrated. The VCSEL has a circular output-beam which makes it easier for it to be directly coupled to a Nd:GdVO4 microcrystal. In our research, a large aperture 808 nm VCSEL, with a multi-ring-shaped aperture (MRSA) and an almost Gaussian-shaped far-field profile, is used as the pumping source. Experimental results for the Nd:GdVO4 laser pumped by the VCSEL are presented. The maximum output peak power of 0.754 W is obtained under a pump peak power of 1.3 W, and the corresponding opto-optic conversion efficiency is 58.1%. The average slope efficiency is 65.8% from the threshold pump power of 0.2 W to the pump power of 1.3 W. The laser beam quality factors are measured to be {M}x2=1.2 0 and {M}y2=1.1 5.

SU-D-209-02: Percent Depth Dose Curves for Fluoroscopic X-Ray Beam Qualities Incorporating Copper Filtration

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wunderle, K; Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI; Godley, A

Purpose: The purpose of this investigation was to quantify percent depth dose (PDD) curves for fluoroscopic x-ray beam qualities incorporating added copper filtration. Methods: A PTW (Freiburg, Germany) MP3 water tank was used with a Standard Imaging (Middleton, WI) Exradin Model 11 Spokas Chamber to measure PDD curves for 60, 80, 100 and 120 kVp x-ray beams with copper filtration ranging from 0.0–0.9 mm at 22cm and 42cm fields of view from 0 to 150 mm of water. A free-in-air monitor chamber was used to normalize the water tank data to fluctuations in output from the fluoroscope. The measurements weremore » acquired on a Siemens (Erlangen, Germany) Artis ZeeGo fluoroscope. The fluoroscope was inverted from the typical orientation providing an x-ray beam originating from above the water tank. The water tank was positioned so that the water level was located at 60cm from the focal spot; which also represents the focal spot to interventional reference plane distance for that fluoroscope. Results: PDDs for 60, 80, 100, and 120 kVp with 0 mm of copper filtration compared well to previously published data by Fetterly et al. [Med Phys, 28, 205 (2001)] for those beam qualities given differences in fluoroscopes, geometric orientation, type of ionization chamber, and the water tank used for data collection. PDDs for 60, 80, 100, and 120 kVp with copper filtration were obtained and are presented, which have not been previously investigated and published. Conclusion: The equipment and processes used to acquire the reported data were sound and compared well with previously published data for PDDs without copper filtration. PDD data for the fluoroscopic x-ray beams incorporating copper filtration can be used as reference data for estimating organ or soft tissue dose at depth involving similar beam qualities or for comparison with mathematical models.« less

Solid-state Yb : YAG amplifier pumped by a single-mode laser at 920 nm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Obronov, I. V.; Demkin, A. S.; Myasnikov, D. V.

2018-03-01

An optical amplifier scheme for ultrashort 1030-nm pulses is proposed based on an Yb : YAG crystal with axial pumping by a transverse single-mode laser at a wavelength of 920 nm. A small-signal gain up to 40 dB per pass with a high output beam quality is demonstrated. The maximum average power is 14 W with a slope efficiency exceeding 50%.

Optical system and method for gas detection and monitoring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Polzin, Kurt A. (Inventor); Sinko, John Elihu (Inventor); Korman, Valentin (Inventor); Witherow, William K. (Inventor); Hendrickson, Adam Gail (Inventor)

2011-01-01

A free-space optical path of an optical interferometer is disposed in an environment of interest. A light beam is guided to the optical interferometer using a single-mode optical fiber. The light beam traverses the interferometer's optical path. The light beam guided to the optical path is combined with the light beam at the end of the optical path to define an output light. A temporal history of the output light is recorded.

Improvement of Galilean refractive beam shaping system for accurately generating near-diffraction-limited flattop beam with arbitrary beam size.

PubMed

Ma, Haotong; Liu, Zejin; Jiang, Pengzhi; Xu, Xiaojun; Du, Shaojun

2011-07-04

We propose and demonstrate the improvement of conventional Galilean refractive beam shaping system for accurately generating near-diffraction-limited flattop beam with arbitrary beam size. Based on the detailed study of the refractive beam shaping system, we found that the conventional Galilean beam shaper can only work well for the magnifying beam shaping. Taking the transformation of input beam with Gaussian irradiance distribution into target beam with high order Fermi-Dirac flattop profile as an example, the shaper can only work well at the condition that the size of input and target beam meets R(0) ≥ 1.3 w(0). For the improvement, the shaper is regarded as the combination of magnifying and demagnifying beam shaping system. The surface and phase distributions of the improved Galilean beam shaping system are derived based on Geometric and Fourier Optics. By using the improved Galilean beam shaper, the accurate transformation of input beam with Gaussian irradiance distribution into target beam with flattop irradiance distribution is realized. The irradiance distribution of the output beam is coincident with that of the target beam and the corresponding phase distribution is maintained. The propagation performance of the output beam is greatly improved. Studies of the influences of beam size and beam order on the improved Galilean beam shaping system show that restriction of beam size has been greatly reduced. This improvement can also be used to redistribute the input beam with complicated irradiance distribution into output beam with complicated irradiance distribution.

Multi-frequency klystron designed for high efficiency

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jensen, Aaron

A multi-frequency klystron has an electron gun which generates a beam, a circuit of bunch-align-collect (BAC) tuned cavities that bunch the beam and amplify an RF signal, a collector where the beam is collected and dumped, and a standard output cavity and waveguide coupled to a window to output RF power at a fundamental mode to an external load. In addition, the klystron has additional bunch-align-collect (BAC) cavities tuned to a higher harmonic frequency, and a harmonic output cavity and waveguide coupled via a window to an additional external load.

Long range heliostat target using array of normal incidence pyranometers to evaluate a beam of solar radiation

DOEpatents

Ghanbari, Cheryl M; Ho, Clifford K; Kolb, Gregory J

2014-03-04

Various technologies described herein pertain to evaluating a beam reflected by a heliostat. A portable target that has an array of sensors mounted thereupon is configured to capture the beam reflected by the heliostat. The sensors in the array output measured values indicative of a characteristic of the beam reflected by the heliostat. Moreover, a computing device can generate and output data corresponding to the beam reflected by the heliostat based on the measured values indicative of the characteristic of the beam received from the sensors in the array.

Diode-end-pumped Ho, Pr:LiLuF₄ bulk laser at 2.95  μm.

PubMed

Nie, Hongkun; Zhang, Peixiong; Zhang, Baitao; Yang, Kejian; Zhang, Lianhan; Li, Tao; Zhang, Shuaiyi; Xu, Jianqiu; Hang, Yin; He, Jingliang

2017-02-15

A diode-end-pumped continuous-wave (CW) and passively Q-switched Ho, Pr:LiLuF₄ (Ho, Pr:LLF) laser operation at 2.95 μm was demonstrated for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The maximum CW output power was 172 mW. By using a monolayer graphene as the saturable absorber, the passively Q-switched operation was realized, in which regimes with the highest output power, the shortest pulse duration, and the maximum repetition rate were determined to be 88 mW, 937.5 ns, and 55.7 kHz, respectively. The laser beam quality factor M² at the maximum CW output power were measured to be Mx2=1.48 and My2=1.47.

Watts-level, short all-fiber laser at 1.5 µm with a large core and diffraction-limited output via intracavity spatial-mode filtering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Polynkin, Alexander; Polynkin, Pavel; Schülzgen, Axel; Mansuripur, Masud; Peyghambarian, N.

2005-02-01

We report over 2 W of single spatial-mode output power at 1.5 µm from an 8-cm-long, large-core phosphate fiber laser. The fiber has a numerical aperture of simeq 0.17 and a 25-µm-wide core, heavily doped with 1% Er+3 and 8% Yb+3. The laser utilizes a scalable evanescent-field-based pumping scheme and can be pumped by as many as eight individual multimode pigtailed diode laser sources at a wavelength of 975 nm. Nearly diffraction-limited laser output with a beam quality factor M^2 simeq 1.1 is achieved by use of a simple intracavity all-fiber spatial-mode filter. Both spectrally broadband and narrowband operation of the laser are demonstrated.

Efficient frequency doubler of 1560 nm laser based on a semi-monolithic resonant cavity with a PPKTP crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Junmin; Zhang, Kong; Ge, Yulong; Guo, Shanlong

2016-06-01

We have demonstrated 1.61 W of 780 nm single-frequency continuous-wave laser output with a semi-monolithic periodically poled potassium titanyl phosphate (PPKTP) crystal doubler pumped by a 2-W erbium-doped fiber amplifier boosted 1560 nm diode laser. The measured maximum doubling efficiency is 77%, and the practical value should be 80% when taking into account the fundamental-wave mode matching efficiency. The measured beam quality factor of 780 nm output, M2, is better than 1.04. Typical root-mean-square fluctuation of 780 nm output is less than 0.5% in 30 minutes. This compact frequency doubler has good mechanical stability, and can be employed for many applications, such as laser cooling and trapping, atomic coherent control, atomic interferometer, and quantum frequency standard with rubidium atoms.

Error detection capability of a novel transmission detector: a validation study for online VMAT monitoring.

PubMed

Pasler, Marlies; Michel, Kilian; Marrazzo, Livia; Obenland, Michael; Pallotta, Stefania; Björnsgard, Mari; Lutterbach, Johannes

2017-09-01

The purpose of this study was to characterize a new single large-area ionization chamber, the integral quality monitor system (iRT, Germany), for online and real-time beam monitoring. Signal stability, monitor unit (MU) linearity and dose rate dependence were investigated for static and arc deliveries and compared to independent ionization chamber measurements. The dose verification capability of the transmission detector system was evaluated by comparing calculated and measured detector signals for 15 volumetric modulated arc therapy plans. The error detection sensitivity was tested by introducing MLC position and linac output errors. Deviations in dose distributions between the original and error-induced plans were compared in terms of detector signal deviation, dose-volume histogram (DVH) metrics and 2D γ-evaluation (2%/2 mm and 3%/3 mm). The detector signal is linearly dependent on linac output and shows negligible (<0.4%) dose rate dependence up to 460 MU min -1 . Signal stability is within 1% for cumulative detector output; substantial variations were observed for the segment-by-segment signal. Calculated versus measured cumulative signal deviations ranged from  -0.16%-2.25%. DVH, mean 2D γ-value and detector signal evaluations showed increasing deviations with regard to the respective reference with growing MLC and dose output errors; good correlation between DVH metrics and detector signal deviation was found (e.g. PTV D mean : R 2   =  0.97). Positional MLC errors of 1 mm and errors in linac output of 2% were identified with the transmission detector system. The extensive tests performed in this investigation show that the new transmission detector provides a stable and sensitive cumulative signal output and is suitable for beam monitoring during patient treatment.

Error detection capability of a novel transmission detector: a validation study for online VMAT monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pasler, Marlies; Michel, Kilian; Marrazzo, Livia; Obenland, Michael; Pallotta, Stefania; Björnsgard, Mari; Lutterbach, Johannes

2017-09-01

The purpose of this study was to characterize a new single large-area ionization chamber, the integral quality monitor system (iRT, Germany), for online and real-time beam monitoring. Signal stability, monitor unit (MU) linearity and dose rate dependence were investigated for static and arc deliveries and compared to independent ionization chamber measurements. The dose verification capability of the transmission detector system was evaluated by comparing calculated and measured detector signals for 15 volumetric modulated arc therapy plans. The error detection sensitivity was tested by introducing MLC position and linac output errors. Deviations in dose distributions between the original and error-induced plans were compared in terms of detector signal deviation, dose-volume histogram (DVH) metrics and 2D γ-evaluation (2%/2 mm and 3%/3 mm). The detector signal is linearly dependent on linac output and shows negligible (<0.4%) dose rate dependence up to 460 MU min-1. Signal stability is within 1% for cumulative detector output; substantial variations were observed for the segment-by-segment signal. Calculated versus measured cumulative signal deviations ranged from  -0.16%-2.25%. DVH, mean 2D γ-value and detector signal evaluations showed increasing deviations with regard to the respective reference with growing MLC and dose output errors; good correlation between DVH metrics and detector signal deviation was found (e.g. PTV D mean: R 2  =  0.97). Positional MLC errors of 1 mm and errors in linac output of 2% were identified with the transmission detector system. The extensive tests performed in this investigation show that the new transmission detector provides a stable and sensitive cumulative signal output and is suitable for beam monitoring during patient treatment.

Phase-locking of combination-cylinder discharge CO2 laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Yonggen

2014-05-01

A new type of laser resonator is presented to obtained good coherent beam and the parameters of the laser beam are calculated. The principle of phase-locking is described based on the injection-locking, the properties of the injected beam in the resonator are studied in detail. The output beam from output mirror is an annular laser beam with zero central intensity. An analytical expression for the annular laser beam through the ABCD optical system is derived. Typical numerical examples are calculated to confirm our analytical results. It is shown that the good coherent beam can be obtained through phase-locking, and the central intensity of annular beam through ABCD optical system will become maximum when the parameters of laser beam are selected reasonably.

Measurements of output factors with different detector types and Monte Carlo calculations of stopping-power ratios for degraded electron beams.

PubMed

Björk, Peter; Knöös, Tommy; Nilsson, Per

2004-10-07

The aim of the present study was to investigate three different detector types (a parallel-plate ionization chamber, a p-type silicon diode and a diamond detector) with regard to output factor measurements in degraded electron beams, such as those encountered in small-electron-field radiotherapy and intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT). The Monte Carlo method was used to calculate mass collision stopping-power ratios between water and the different detector materials for these complex electron beams (nominal energies of 6, 12 and 20 MeV). The diamond detector was shown to exhibit excellent properties for output factor measurements in degraded beams and was therefore used as a reference. The diode detector was found to be well suited for practical measurements of output factors, although the water-to-silicon stopping-power ratio was shown to vary slightly with treatment set-up and irradiation depth (especially for lower electron energies). Application of ionization-chamber-based dosimetry, according to international dosimetry protocols, will introduce uncertainties smaller than 0.3% into the output factor determination for conventional IORT beams if the variation of the water-to-air stopping-power ratio is not taken into account. The IORT system at our department includes a 0.3 cm thin plastic scatterer inside the therapeutic beam, which furthermore increases the energy degradation of the electrons. By ignoring the change in the water-to-air stopping-power ratio due to this scatterer, the output factor could be underestimated by up to 1.3%. This was verified by the measurements. In small-electron-beam dosimetry, the water-to-air stopping-power ratio variation with field size could mostly be ignored. For fields with flat lateral dose profiles (>3 x 3 cm2), output factors determined with the ionization chamber were found to be in close agreement with the results of the diamond detector. For smaller field sizes the lateral extension of the ionization chamber hampers its use. We therefore recommend that the readily available silicon diode detector should be used for output factor measurements in complex electron fields.

Composite Yb:YAG/SiC-prism thin disk laser.

PubMed

Newburgh, G A; Michael, A; Dubinskii, M

2010-08-02

We report the first demonstration of a Yb:YAG thin disk laser wherein the gain medium is intracavity face-cooled through bonding to an optical quality SiC prism. Due to the particular design of the composite bonded Yb:YAG/SiC-prism gain element, the laser beam impinges on all refractive index interfaces inside the laser cavity at Brewster's angles. The laser beam undergoes total internal reflection (TIR) at the bottom of the Yb(10%):YAG thin disk layer in a V-bounce cavity configuration. Through the use of TIR and Brewster's angles, no optical coatings, either anti-reflective (AR) or highly reflective (HR), are required inside the laser cavity. In this first demonstration, the 936.5-nm diode pumped laser performed with approximately 38% slope efficiency at 12 W of quasi-CW (Q-CW) output power at 1030 nm with a beam quality measured at M(2) = 1.5. This demonstration opens up a viable path toward novel thin disk laser designs with efficient double-sided room-temperature heatsinking via materials with the thermal conductivity of copper on both sides of the disk.

High power disk lasers: advances and applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Havrilla, David; Holzer, Marco

2011-02-01

Though the genesis of the disk laser concept dates to the early 90's, the disk laser continues to demonstrate the flexibility and the certain future of a breakthrough technology. On-going increases in power per disk, and improvements in beam quality and efficiency continue to validate the genius of the disk laser concept. As of today, the disk principle has not reached any fundamental limits regarding output power per disk or beam quality, and offers numerous advantages over other high power resonator concepts, especially over monolithic architectures. With well over 1000 high power disk lasers installations, the disk laser has proven to be a robust and reliable industrial tool. With advancements in running cost, investment cost and footprint, manufacturers continue to implement disk laser technology with more vigor than ever. This paper will explain important details of the TruDisk laser series and process relevant features of the system, like pump diode arrangement, resonator design and integrated beam guidance. In addition, advances in applications in the thick sheet area and very cost efficient high productivity applications like remote welding, remote cutting and cutting of thin sheets will be discussed.

High-energy and high-peak-power nanosecond pulse generation with beam quality control in 200-µm core highly multimode Yb-doped fiberamplifiers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Ming-Yuan; Chang, Yu-Chung; Galvanauskas, Almantas; Mamidipudi, Pri; Changkakoti, Rupak; Gatchell, Peter

2005-02-01

We explored high-energy and high-peak-power pulse generation in large-core multimode fiber amplifiers, achieving what is to our knowledge the highest reported energies, up to 82 mJ for 500-ns pulses, 27 mJ for 50-ns pulses, and 2.4-MW peak power for 4-ns pulses at 1064 nm, using 200-µm-diameter and 0.062-N.A. core Yb-doped double-clad fiber amplifiers. The highly multimode nature of the fiber core was mitigated by use of a coiling-induced mode-filtering effect to yield a significant improvement in output-beam quality from M^2 = 25 from an uncoiled fiber to M^2 = 6.5 from a properly coiled fiber, with the corresponding reduction in number of propagating transverse modes from >or=200 to <or=20.

Development of a Piezoelectric Vacuum Sensing Component for a Wide Pressure Range

PubMed Central

Wang, Bing-Yu; Hsieh, Fan-Chun; Lin, Che-Yu; Chen, Shao-En; Chen, Fong-Zhi; Wu, Chia-Che

2014-01-01

In this study, we develop a clamped–clamped beam-type piezoelectric vacuum pressure sensing element. The clamped–clamped piezoelectric beam is composed of a PZT layer and a copper substrate. A pair of electrodes is set near each end. An input voltage is applied to a pair of electrodes to vibrate the piezoelectric beam, and the output voltage is measured at the other pair. Because the viscous forces on the piezoelectric beam vary at different air pressures, the vibration of the beam depends on the vacuum pressure. The developed pressure sensor can sense a wide range of pressure, from 6.5 × 10−6 to 760 Torr. The experimental results showed that the output voltage is inversely proportional to the gas damping ratio, and thus, the vacuum pressure was estimated from the output voltage. PMID:25421736

Directly q-switched high power resonator based on XLMA-fibers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giesberts, M.; Fitzau, O.; Hoffmann, H.-D.; Lange, R.; Bachert, C.; Krause, V.

2018-02-01

In this paper we present a simple approach to achieving nanosecond pulses from a directly q-switched high-power resonator based on extra-large mode area (XLMA) fibers with a beam quality factor M2 < 15. An average output power of > 500 W has been demonstrated for repetition frequencies between 50-100 kHz. The resonator consists of a single fiber q-switched with soldered Pockels-cells which exhibit a very high contrast ratio leading to output pulses down to about 10 ns and peak powers up to > 250 kW at 1064 nm wavelength. By using this design instead of a fiber MOPA setup, a cost-effective and less complex system could be implemented.

High power, diffraction limited picosecond oscillator based on Nd:GdVO₄ bulk crystal with σ polarized in-band pumping.

PubMed

Lin, Hua; Guo, Jie; Gao, Peng; Yu, Hai; Liang, Xiaoyan

2016-06-27

We report on a high power passively mode-locked picosecond oscillator based on Nd:GdVO₄ crystal with σ polarized in-band pumping. Thermal gradient and thermal aberration was greatly decreased with proposed configuration. Maximum output power of 37 W at 81 MHz repetition rate with 19.3 ps pulse duration was achieved directly from Nd:GdVO₄ oscillator, corresponding to 51% optical efficiency. The oscillator maintained diffraction limited beam quality of M² < 1.05 at different output coupling with pulse duration between 11.2 ps to 19.3 ps.

kW-level commercial Yb-doped aluminophosphosilicate ternary laser fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Shihao; Zhan, Huan; Li, Yuwei; Liu, Shuang; Jiang, Jiali; Peng, Kun; Wang, Yuying; Ni, Li; Wang, Xiaolong; Jiang, Lei; Yu, Juan; Liu, Gang; Lu, Pengfei; Wang, Jianjun; Jing, Feng; Lin, Aoxiang

2018-03-01

Based on a master oscillator power amplifier configuration, laser performance of commercial Nufern-20/400-8M Ybdoped aluminophosphosilicate ternary laser fiber was investigated. Pumped by 976 nm laser diodes, 982 W laser output power was obtained with a slope efficiency of 84.9%. Spectrum of output was centered at 1066.56nm with 3dB bandwidth less than 0.32 nm, and the nonlinearity suppression ratio was more than 39dB. Beam quality of Mx2 and M2y were 1.55 and 1.75 at 982 W, respectively. The laser performance indicated that Nufern-20/400-8M Yb-doped aluminophosphosilicate ternary laser fiber is highly competitive for industry fiber laser use.

SU-E-T-36: A GPU-Accelerated Monte-Carlo Dose Calculation Platform and Its Application Toward Validating a ViewRay Beam Model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Y; Mazur, T; Green, O

Purpose: To build a fast, accurate and easily-deployable research platform for Monte-Carlo dose calculations. We port the dose calculation engine PENELOPE to C++, and accelerate calculations using GPU acceleration. Simulations of a Co-60 beam model provided by ViewRay demonstrate the capabilities of the platform. Methods: We built software that incorporates a beam model interface, CT-phantom model, GPU-accelerated PENELOPE engine, and GUI front-end. We rewrote the PENELOPE kernel in C++ (from Fortran) and accelerated the code on a GPU. We seamlessly integrated a Co-60 beam model (obtained from ViewRay) into our platform. Simulations of various field sizes and SSDs using amore » homogeneous water phantom generated PDDs, dose profiles, and output factors that were compared to experiment data. Results: With GPU acceleration using a dated graphics card (Nvidia Tesla C2050), a highly accurate simulation – including 100*100*100 grid, 3×3×3 mm3 voxels, <1% uncertainty, and 4.2×4.2 cm2 field size – runs 24 times faster (20 minutes versus 8 hours) than when parallelizing on 8 threads across a new CPU (Intel i7-4770). Simulated PDDs, profiles and output ratios for the commercial system agree well with experiment data measured using radiographic film or ionization chamber. Based on our analysis, this beam model is precise enough for general applications. Conclusions: Using a beam model for a Co-60 system provided by ViewRay, we evaluate a dose calculation platform that we developed. Comparison to measurements demonstrates the promise of our software for use as a research platform for dose calculations, with applications including quality assurance and treatment plan verification.« less

High-speed volume measurement system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lane, Michael H.; Doyle, Jr., James L.; Brinkman, Michael J.

2018-01-30

Disclosed is a volume sensor having a first axis, a second axis, and a third axis, each axis including a laser source configured to emit a beam; a parallel beam generating assembly configured to receive the beam and split the beam into a first parallel beam and a second parallel beam, a beam-collimating assembly configured to receive the first parallel beam and the second parallel beam and output a first beam sheet and a second beam sheet, the first beam sheet and the second beam sheet being configured to traverse the object aperture; a first collecting lens and a secondmore » collecting lens; and a first photodetector and a second photodetector, the first photodetector and the second photodetector configured to output an electrical signal proportional to the object; wherein the first axis, the second axis, and the third axis are arranged at an angular offset with respect to each other.« less

Poster — Thur Eve — 43: Monte Carlo Modeling of Flattening Filter Free Beams and Studies of Relative Output Factors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhan, Lixin; Jiang, Runqing; Osei, Ernest K.

2014-08-15

Flattening filter free (FFF) beams have been adopted by many clinics and used for patient treatment. However, compared to the traditional flattened beams, we have limited knowledge of FFF beams. In this study, we successfully modeled the 6 MV FFF beam for Varian TrueBeam accelerator with the Monte Carlo (MC) method. Both the percentage depth dose and profiles match well to the Golden Beam Data (GBD) from Varian. MC simulations were then performed to predict the relative output factors. The in-water output ratio, Scp, was simulated in water phantom and data obtained agrees well with GBD. The in-air output ratio,more » Sc, was obtained by analyzing the phase space placed at isocenter, in air, and computing the ratio of water Kerma rates for different field sizes. The phantom scattering factor, Sp, can then be obtained from the traditional way of taking the ratio of Scp and Sc. We also simulated Sp using a recently proposed method based on only the primary beam dose delivery in water phantom. Because there is no concern of lateral electronic disequilibrium, this method is more suitable for small fields. The results from both methods agree well with each other. The flattened 6 MV beam was simulated and compared to 6 MV FFF. The comparison confirms that 6 MV FFF has less scattering from the Linac head and less phantom scattering contribution to the central axis dose, which will be helpful for improving accuracy in beam modeling and dose calculation in treatment planning systems.« less

Output Beam Polarisation of X-ray Lasers with Transient Inversion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Janulewicz, K. A.; Kim, C. M.; Matouš, B.; Stiel, H.; Nishikino, M.; Hasegawa, N.; Kawachi, T.

It is commonly accepted that X-ray lasers, as the devices based on amplified spontaneous emission (ASE), did not show any specific polarization in the output beam. The theoretical analysis within the uniform (single-mode) approximation suggested that the output radiation should show some defined polarization feature, but randomly changing from shot-to-shot. This hypothesis has been verified by experiment using traditional double-pulse scheme of transient inversion. Membrane beam-splitter was used as a polarization selector. It was found that the output radiation has a significant component of p-polarisation in each shot. To explain the effect and place it in the line with available, but scarce data, propagation and kinetic effects in the non-uniform plasma have been analysed.

Display system employing acousto-optic tunable filter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lambert, James L. (Inventor)

1995-01-01

An acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF) is employed to generate a display by driving the AOTF with a RF electrical signal comprising modulated red, green, and blue video scan line signals and scanning the AOTF with a linearly polarized, pulsed light beam, resulting in encoding of color video columns (scan lines) of an input video image into vertical columns of the AOTF output beam. The AOTF is illuminated periodically as each acoustically-encoded scan line fills the cell aperture of the AOTF. A polarizing beam splitter removes the unused first order beam component of the AOTF output and, if desired, overlays a real world scene on the output plane. Resolutions as high as 30,000 lines are possible, providing holographic display capability.

Display system employing acousto-optic tunable filter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lambert, James L. (Inventor)

1993-01-01

An acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF) is employed to generate a display by driving the AOTF with a RF electrical signal comprising modulated red, green, and blue video scan line signals and scanning the AOTF with a linearly polarized, pulsed light beam, resulting in encoding of color video columns (scan lines) of an input video image into vertical columns of the AOTF output beam. The AOTF is illuminated periodically as each acoustically-encoded scan line fills the cell aperture of the AOTF. A polarizing beam splitter removes the unused first order beam component of the AOTF output and, if desired, overlays a real world scene on the output plane. Resolutions as high as 30,000 lines are possible, providing holographic display capability.

Simulation of a Radio-Frequency Photogun for the Generation of Ultrashort Beams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nikiforov, D. A.; Levichev, A. E.; Barnyakov, A. M.; Andrianov, A. V.; Samoilov, S. L.

2018-04-01

A radio-frequency photogun for the generation of ultrashort electron beams to be used in fast electron diffractoscopy, wakefield acceleration experiments, and the design of accelerating structures of the millimeter range is modeled. The beam parameters at the photogun output needed for each type of experiment are determined. The general outline of the photogun is given, its electrodynamic parameters are calculated, and the accelerating field distribution is obtained. The particle dynamics is analyzed in the context of the required output beam parameters. The optimal initial beam characteristics and field amplitudes are chosen. A conclusion is made regarding the obtained beam parameters.

Time-dependent spatial intensity profiles of near-infrared idler pulses from nanosecond optical parametric oscillators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olafsen, L. J.; Olafsen, J. S.; Eaves, I. K.

2018-06-01

We report on an experimental investigation of the time-dependent spatial intensity distribution of near-infrared idler pulses from an optical parametric oscillator measured using an infrared (IR) camera, in contrast to beam profiles obtained using traditional knife-edge techniques. Comparisons show the information gained by utilizing the thermal camera provides more detail than the spatially- or time-averaged measurements from a knife-edge profile. Synchronization, averaging, and thresholding techniques are applied to enhance the images acquired. The additional information obtained can improve the process by which semiconductor devices and other IR lasers are characterized for their beam quality and output response and thereby result in IR devices with higher performance.

50-mJ, 1-kHz Yb:YAG thin-disk regenerative amplifier with 969-nm pulsed pumping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chyla, Michal; Miura, Taisuke; Smrž, Martin; Severova, Patricie; Novak, Ondrej; Endo, Akira; Mocek, Tomas

2014-02-01

We are developing a 100-mJ Yb:YAG thin-disk regenerative amplifier operating at 1-kHz repetition rate pumped at zero-phonon-line (968.825-nm1) and delivering 1-2 ps pulses for EUV plasma sources applicable in science and industry. Recently we achieved the output energy of nearly 50-mJ from a single laser-head cavity with good beam quality (M2<1.2) as well as stable beam-pointing (<4μrad). Applying pulsed pumping with the pulse duration shorter than the upper state lifetime of Yb:YAG helps to reduce the ASE and thermal loading of the thin-disk.

Laser diode side-pumped Nd:YVO4 microchip laser with film-etched microcavity mirrors.

PubMed

Li, Jiyang; Niu, Yanxiong; Chen, Sanbin; Tan, Yidong

2017-10-01

Microchip lasers are applied as the light sources on various occasions with the end-pumping scheme. However, the vibration, the temperature drift, or the mechanical deformation of the pumping light in laser diodes in the end-pumping scheme will lead to instability in the microchip laser output, which causes errors and malfunctioning in the optic systems. In this paper, the side-pumping scheme is applied for improving the disturbance-resisting ability of the microchip laser. The transverse mode and the frequency purity of the laser output are tested. To ensure unicity in the frequency of the laser output, numerical simulations based on Fresnel-Kirchhoff diffraction theory are conducted on the parameters of the microchip laser cavity. Film-etching technique is applied to restrain the area of the film and form the microcavity mirrors. The laser output with microcavity mirrors is ensured to be in single frequency and with good beam quality, which is significant in the applications of microchip lasers as the light sources in optical systems.

Synthesis of full Poincaré beams by means of uniaxial crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piquero, G.; Monroy, L.; Santarsiero, M.; Alonzo, M.; de Sande, J. C. G.

2018-06-01

A simple optical system is proposed to generate full-Poincaré beams (FPBs), i.e. beams presenting all possible states of (total) polarization across their transverse section. The method consists in focusing a uniformly polarized laser beam onto a uniaxial crystal having its optic axis parallel to the propagation axis of the impinging beam. A simple approximated model is used to obtain the analytical expression of the beam polarization at the output of the crystal. The output beam is then proved to be a FPB. By changing the polarization state of the input field, full-Poincaré beams are still obtained, but presenting different distributions of the polarization state across the beam section. Experimental results are reported, showing an excellent agreement with the theoretical predictions.

Polarization/Spatial Combining of Laser-Diode Pump Beams

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gelsinger, Paul; Liu, Duncan

2008-01-01

A breadboard version of an optical beam combiner is depicted which make it possible to use the outputs of any or all of four multimode laser diodes to pump a non-planar ring oscillator (NPRO) laser. The output of each laser diode has a single-mode profile in the meridional plane containing an axis denoted the 'fast' axis and a narrower multimode profile in the orthogonal meridional plane, which contains an axis denoted the 'slow' axis and a narrower multimode profile in the orthogonal meridional plane, which contains an axis denoted the 'slow' axis. One of the purposes served by the beam-combining optics is to reduce the fast-axis numerical aperture (NA) of the laser-diode output to match the NA of the optical fiber. Along the slow axis, the unmodified laser-diode NA is already well matched to the fiber optic NA, so no further slow-axis beam shaping is needed. In this beam combiner, the laser-diode outputs are collimated by aspherical lenses, then half-wave plates and polarizing beam splitters are used to combine the four collimated beams into two beams. Spatial combination of the two beams and coupling into the optical fiber is effected by use of anamorphic prisms, mirrors, and a focusing lens. The anamorphic prisms are critical elements in the NA-matching scheme, in that they reduce the fast-axis beam width to 1/6 of its original values. Inasmuch as no slow-axis beam shaping is needed, the collimating and focusing lenses are matched for 1:1 iumaging. Because these lenses are well corrected for infinite conjugates the combiner offers diffraction-limited performance along both the fast and slow axes.

Impact of rare earth element added filters on the X-ray beam spectra: a Monte Carlo approach.

PubMed

Eskandarlou, Amir; Jafari, Amir Abbas; Mohammadi, Mohammad; Zehtabian, Mehdi; Faghihi, Reza; Shokri, Abbas; Pourolajal, Jalal

2014-01-01

The effectiveness of added filters including conventional and rare earth materials for dental radiography tasks was investigated using a simulation approach. Current study focuses on the combination of a range of various filters to investigate the reduction of radiation absorbed dose and improving the quality of a radiography image. To simulate the X-ray beam spectrum, a MCNP5 code was applied. Relative intensity, beam quality, and mean energy were investigated for a typical dental radiography machine. The impact of different rare-earth materials with different thicknesses and tube voltages on the X-ray spectrum was investigated. For Aluminum as a conventional filter, the modeled X-ray spectra and HVL values were in a good agreement with those reported by IPEM. The results showed that for a 70 kVp voltage, with an increase of the thickness and atomic number of a given added filters, an increase of HVL values were observed. However, with the increase of the attenuator thickness, X-ray beam intensity decreases. For mean energy, different results were observed. It was also found that rare earth made filters reduce high energy X-ray radiation due to k-edge absorption. This leads to an ideal beam for intra-oral radiography tasks. However, as a disadvantage of rare earth added filters, the reduction of the tube output levels should also be considered.

Dosimetric characterization and output verification for conical brachytherapy surface applicators. Part I. Electronic brachytherapy source

PubMed Central

Fulkerson, Regina K.; Micka, John A.; DeWerd, Larry A.

2014-01-01

Purpose: Historically, treatment of malignant surface lesions has been achieved with linear accelerator based electron beams or superficial x-ray beams. Recent developments in the field of brachytherapy now allow for the treatment of surface lesions with specialized conical applicators placed directly on the lesion. Applicators are available for use with high dose rate (HDR) 192Ir sources, as well as electronic brachytherapy sources. Part I of this paper will discuss the applicators used with electronic brachytherapy sources; Part II will discuss those used with HDR 192Ir sources. Although the use of these applicators has gained in popularity, the dosimetric characteristics including depth dose and surface dose distributions have not been independently verified. Additionally, there is no recognized method of output verification for quality assurance procedures with applicators like these. Existing dosimetry protocols available from the AAPM bookend the cross-over characteristics of a traditional brachytherapy source (as described by Task Group 43) being implemented as a low-energy superficial x-ray beam (as described by Task Group 61) as observed with the surface applicators of interest. Methods: This work aims to create a cohesive method of output verification that can be used to determine the dose at the treatment surface as part of a quality assurance/commissioning process for surface applicators used with HDR electronic brachytherapy sources (Part I) and 192Ir sources (Part II). Air-kerma rate measurements for the electronic brachytherapy sources were completed with an Attix Free-Air Chamber, as well as several models of small-volume ionization chambers to obtain an air-kerma rate at the treatment surface for each applicator. Correction factors were calculated using MCNP5 and EGSnrc Monte Carlo codes in order to determine an applicator-specific absorbed dose to water at the treatment surface from the measured air-kerma rate. Additionally, relative dose measurements of the surface dose distributions and characteristic depth dose curves were completed in-phantom. Results: Theoretical dose distributions and depth dose curves were generated for each applicator and agreed well with the measured values. A method of output verification was created that allows users to determine the applicator-specific dose to water at the treatment surface based on a measured air-kerma rate. Conclusions: The novel output verification methods described in this work will reduce uncertainties in dose delivery for treatments with these kinds of surface applicators, ultimately improving patient care. PMID:24506635

Cross-polarized wave generation (XPW) for ultrafast laser pulse characterization and intensity contrast enhancement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iliev, Marin

Good pulse quality, high peak power and tunable central wavelength are amongst the most desired qualities in modern lasers. The nonlinear effect cross-polarized wave generation (XPW), can be used in ultrafast laser systems to achieve various pulse quality enhancements. The XPW yield depends on the cube of the input intensity and acts as a spatio-temporal filter. It is orthogonally polarized to the input pulse and highly Gaussian. If the input pulse is well compressed, the output spectrum is smoother and broader. These features make XPW an ideal reference signal in pulse characterization techniques. This thesis presents a detailed analysis of the XPW conversion process, and describes novel applications to pulse characterization and high-quality pulse cleaning. An extensive computer model was developed to describe XPW generation via solution of the full coupled non-linear differential equations. The model accounts for dispersion inside the nonlinear crystal and uses split-step Fourier optics beam propagation to simulate the evolution of the electro-magnetic fields of the pump and XPW through free-space and imaging systems. A novel extension to the self-referenced spectral interferometry (SRSI) pulse characterization technique allows the retrieval of the energy and spectral content of the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) present in ultrashort pulse amplifier systems. A novel double-pass XPW conversion scheme is presented. In it the beam passes through a single XPW crystal (BaF2) and is re-imaged with a curved mirror. The technique resulted in good (˜30%) efficiency without the spatial aberrations commonly seen in another arrangement that uses two crystals in succession. The modeling sheds light on the complicated nonlinear beam dynamics of the double-crystal conversion, including self- and cross-phase modulation, self-focusing, and the effects of, relative on-axis phase-difference, relative beam sizes, and wave-front curvature matching on seeded XPW conversion. Finally, a design is presented for exploiting the clean-up properties of XPW at the output of an optical parametric generation (OPA) setup in conjunction with an extremely compact prism compressor. The prisms material, separation and geometry are designed carefully to work at the correct wavelength of the OPA setup and are extrapolated to accommodate wavelengths, such as 2mum of parametric wave generation.

Daily QA of linear accelerators using only EPID and OBI

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sun, Baozhou, E-mail: bsun@radonc.wustl.edu; Goddu, S. Murty; Yaddanapudi, Sridhar

2015-10-15

Purpose: As treatment delivery becomes more complex, there is a pressing need for robust quality assurance (QA) tools to improve efficiency and comprehensiveness while simultaneously maintaining high accuracy and sensitivity. This work aims to present the hardware and software tools developed for comprehensive QA of linear accelerator (LINAC) using only electronic portal imaging devices (EPIDs) and kV flat panel detectors. Methods: A daily QA phantom, which includes two orthogonally positioned phantoms for QA of MV-beams and kV onboard imaging (OBI) is suspended from the gantry accessory holder to test both geometric and dosimetric components of a LINAC and an OBI.more » The MV component consists of a 0.5 cm water-equivalent plastic sheet incorporating 11 circular steel plugs for transmission measurements through multiple thicknesses and one resolution plug for MV-image quality testing. The kV-phantom consists of a Leeds phantom (TOR-18 FG phantom supplied by Varian) for testing low and high contrast resolutions. In the developed process, the existing LINAC tools were used to automate daily acquisition of MV and kV images and software tools were developed for simultaneous analysis of these images. A method was developed to derive and evaluate traditional QA parameters from these images [output, flatness, symmetry, uniformity, TPR{sub 20/10}, and positional accuracy of the jaws and multileaf collimators (MLCs)]. The EPID-based daily QA tools were validated by performing measurements on a detuned 6 MV beam to test its effectiveness in detecting errors in output, symmetry, energy, and MLC positions. The developed QA process was clinically commissioned, implemented, and evaluated on a Varian TrueBeam LINAC (Varian Medical System, Palo Alto, CA) over a period of three months. Results: Machine output constancy measured with an EPID (as compared against a calibrated ion-chamber) is shown to be within ±0.5%. Beam symmetry and flatness deviations measured using an EPID and a 2D ion-chamber array agree within ±0.5% and ±1.2% for crossline and inline profiles, respectively. MLC position errors of 0.5 mm can be detected using a picket fence test. The field size and phantom positioning accuracy can be determined within 0.5 mm. The entire daily QA process takes ∼15 min to perform tests for 5 photon beams, MLC tests, and imaging checks. Conclusions: The exclusive use of EPID-based QA tools, including a QA phantom and simultaneous analysis software tools, has been demonstrated as a viable, efficient, and comprehensive process for daily evaluation of LINAC performance.« less

Diffracted field distributions from the HE11 mode in a hollow optical fibre for an atomic funnel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ni, Yun; Liu, Nanchun; Yin, Jianping

2003-06-01

The diffracted near field distribution from an LP01 mode in a hollow optical fibre was recently calculated using a scalar model based on the weakly waveguiding approximation (Yoo et al 1999 J. Opt. B: Quantum Semiclass. Opt. 1 364). It showed a dominant Gaussian-like distribution with an increased axial intensity in the central region (not a doughnut-like distribution), so the diffracted output beam from the hollow fibre cannot be used to form an atomic funnel. Using exact solutions of the Maxwell equations based on a vector model, however, we calculate the electric field and intensity distributions of the HE11 mode in the same hollow fibre and study the diffracted near- and far-field distributions of the HE11-mode output beam under the Fresnel approximation. We analyse and compare the differences between the output beams from the HE11 and LP01 modes. Our study shows that both the near- and far-field intensity distributions of the HE11-mode output beam are doughnut-like and can be used to form a simple atomic funnel. However, it is not suitable to use the weakly waveguiding approximation to calculate the diffracted near-field distribution of the hollow fibre due to the greater refractive-index difference between the hollow region (n0 = 1) and the core (n1 = 1.45 or 1.5). Finally, the 3D intensity distribution of the HE11-mode output beam is modelled and the corresponding optical potentials for cold atoms are calculated. Some potential applications of the HE11-mode output beam in an atomic guide and funnel are briefly discussed.

Properties and Frequency Conversion of High-Brightness Diode-Laser Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boller, Klaus-Jochen; Beier, Bernard; Wallenstein, Richard

An overview of recent developments in the field of high-power, high-brightness diode-lasers, and the optically nonlinear conversion of their output into other wavelength ranges, is given. We describe the generation of continuous-wave (CW) laser beams at power levels of several hundreds of milliwatts to several watts with near-perfect spatial and spectral properties using Master-Oscillator Power-Amplifier (MOPA) systems. With single- or double-stage systems, using amplifiers of tapered or rectangular geometry, up to 2.85 W high-brightness radiation is generated at wavelengths around 810nm with AlGaAs diodes. Even higher powers, up to 5.2W of single-frequency and high spatial quality beams at 925nm, are obtained with InGaAs diodes. We describe the basic properties of the oscillators and amplifiers used. A strict proof-of-quality for the diode radiation is provided by direct and efficient nonlinear optical conversion of the diode MOPA output into other wavelength ranges. We review recent experiments with the highest power levels obtained so far by direct frequency doubling of diode radiation. In these experiments, 100mW single-frequency ultraviolet light at 403nm was generated, as well as 1W of single-frequency blue radiation at 465nm. Nonlinear conversion of diode radiation into widely tunable infrared radiation has recently yielded record values. We review the efficient generation of widely tunable single-frequency radiation in the infrared with diode-pumped Optical Parametric Oscillators (OPOs). With this system, single-frequency output radiation with powers of more than 0.5W was generated, widely tunable around wavelengths of 2.1,m and 1.65,m and with excellent spectral and spatial quality. These developments are clear indicators of recent advances in the field of high-brightness diode-MOPA systems, and may emphasize their future central importance for applications within a vast range of optical wavelengths.

Characterizing a pulse-resolved dosimetry system for complex radiotherapy beams using organic scintillators.

PubMed

Beierholm, Anders R; Ottosson, Rickard O; Lindvold, Lars R; Behrens, Claus F; Andersen, Claus E

2011-05-21

A fast-readout dosimetry system based on fibre-coupled organic scintillators has been developed for the purpose of conducting point measurements of absorbed dose in radiotherapy beams involving high spatial and temporal dose gradients. The system measures the dose for each linac radiation pulse with millimetre spatial resolution. To demonstrate the applicability of the system in complex radiotherapy fields, output factors and per cent depth dose measurements were performed in solid water for a 6 MV photon beam and compared with Monte Carlo simulated doses for square fields down to 0.6 cm × 0.6 cm size. No significant differences between measurements and simulations were observed. The temporal resolution of the system was demonstrated by measuring dose per pulse, beam start-up transients and the quality factor for 6 MV. The precision of dose per pulse measurements was within 2.7% (1 SD) for a 10 cm × 10 cm field at 10 cm depth. The dose per pulse behaviour compared well with linac target current measurements and accumulated dose measurements, and the system was able to resolve transient dose delivery differences between two Varian linac builds. The system therefore shows promise for reference dosimetry and quality assurance of complex radiotherapy treatments.

Analysis of laser pumping and thermal effects based on element analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, Li; Liu, Zhijia; Zhang, Yizhuo; Han, Juan

2018-03-01

Thermal effect is a plateau that limits the output of high-power, high beam quality laser, and thermal effects become worse with the increase of pump power. We can reduce the effects caused by thermal effects from pumping, laser medium shape, cooling method and other aspects. In this article, by using finite element analysis software, the thermal effects between Nd:Glass and Nd:YAG laser crystal was analyzed and compared. The causes of generation for thermal effects, and factors that influence the distribution in laser medium were analyzed, including the light source, the laser medium shape and the working mode. Nd:Glass is more suitable for low repetition frequency, high energy pulsed laser output, due to its large size, line width and so on, and Nd:YAG is more suitable for continue or high repetition rate laser output, due to its higher thermal conductivity.

Compact high-efficiency 100-W-level diode-side-pumped Nd:YAG laser with linearly polarized TEM00 mode output.

PubMed

Xu, Yi-Ting; Xu, Jia-Lin; Guo, Ya-Ding; Yang, Feng-Tu; Chen, Yan-Zhong; Xu, Jian; Xie, Shi-Yong; Bo, Yong; Peng, Qin-Jun; Cui, Dafu; Xu, Zu-Yan

2010-08-20

We present a compact high-efficiency and high-average-power diode-side-pumped Nd:YAG rod laser oscillator operated with a linearly polarized fundamental mode. The oscillator resonator is based on an L-shaped convex-convex cavity with an improved module and a dual-rod configuration for birefringence compensation. Under a pump power of 344 W, a linearly polarized average output power of 101.4 W at 1064 nm is obtained, which corresponds to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 29.4%. The laser is operated at a repetition rate of 400 Hz with a beam quality factor of M(2)=1.14. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest optical-to-optical efficiency for a side-pumped TEM(00) Nd:YAG rod laser oscillator with a 100-W-level output ever reported.

PROPOSAL FOR A SIMPLE AND EFFICIENT MONTHLY QUALITY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM ASSESSING THE CONSISTENCY OF ROBOTIC IMAGE-GUIDED SMALL ANIMAL RADIATION SYSTEMS

PubMed Central

Brodin, N. Patrik; Guha, Chandan; Tomé, Wolfgang A.

2015-01-01

Modern pre-clinical radiation therapy (RT) research requires high precision and accurate dosimetry to facilitate the translation of research findings into clinical practice. Several systems are available that provide precise delivery and on-board imaging capabilities, highlighting the need for a quality management program (QMP) to ensure consistent and accurate radiation dose delivery. An ongoing, simple, and efficient QMP for image-guided robotic small animal irradiators used in pre-clinical RT research is described. Protocols were developed and implemented to assess the dose output constancy (based on the AAPM TG-61 protocol), cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) image quality and object representation accuracy (using a custom-designed imaging phantom), CBCT-guided target localization accuracy and consistency of the CBCT-based dose calculation. To facilitate an efficient read-out and limit the user dependence of the QMP data analysis, a semi-automatic image analysis and data representation program was developed using the technical computing software MATLAB. The results of the first six months experience using the suggested QMP for a Small Animal Radiation Research Platform (SARRP) are presented, with data collected on a bi-monthly basis. The dosimetric output constancy was established to be within ±1 %, the consistency of the image resolution was within ±0.2 mm, the accuracy of CBCT-guided target localization was within ±0.5 mm, and dose calculation consistency was within ±2 s (± 3 %) per treatment beam. Based on these results, this simple quality assurance program allows for the detection of inconsistencies in dosimetric or imaging parameters that are beyond the acceptable variability for a reliable and accurate pre-clinical RT system, on a monthly or bi-monthly basis. PMID:26425981

Proposal for a Simple and Efficient Monthly Quality Management Program Assessing the Consistency of Robotic Image-Guided Small Animal Radiation Systems.

PubMed

Brodin, N Patrik; Guha, Chandan; Tomé, Wolfgang A

2015-11-01

Modern pre-clinical radiation therapy (RT) research requires high precision and accurate dosimetry to facilitate the translation of research findings into clinical practice. Several systems are available that provide precise delivery and on-board imaging capabilities, highlighting the need for a quality management program (QMP) to ensure consistent and accurate radiation dose delivery. An ongoing, simple, and efficient QMP for image-guided robotic small animal irradiators used in pre-clinical RT research is described. Protocols were developed and implemented to assess the dose output constancy (based on the AAPM TG-61 protocol), cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) image quality and object representation accuracy (using a custom-designed imaging phantom), CBCT-guided target localization accuracy and consistency of the CBCT-based dose calculation. To facilitate an efficient read-out and limit the user dependence of the QMP data analysis, a semi-automatic image analysis and data representation program was developed using the technical computing software MATLAB. The results of the first 6-mo experience using the suggested QMP for a Small Animal Radiation Research Platform (SARRP) are presented, with data collected on a bi-monthly basis. The dosimetric output constancy was established to be within ±1 %, the consistency of the image resolution was within ±0.2 mm, the accuracy of CBCT-guided target localization was within ±0.5 mm, and dose calculation consistency was within ±2 s (±3%) per treatment beam. Based on these results, this simple quality assurance program allows for the detection of inconsistencies in dosimetric or imaging parameters that are beyond the acceptable variability for a reliable and accurate pre-clinical RT system, on a monthly or bi-monthly basis.

Laser radiation wavefront conjugation in fiber optic lightguides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chertkov, A. A.

1986-02-01

Wavefront conjugation precision during stimulated brillouin scattering is investigated in a monofiber with spatially homogeneous and inhomogeneous beams at lambda = 106 micrometer. A Q-modulated YAG:Nd sup 3+ laser with initial transmission of 25% was employed as the radiation source. The energy of the incident and reflected radiation was measured by means of F-28 photoelements outputting their signals to an S8-12 oscilloscope. The behavior of the coefficient of reflection from the stimulated Brillouin scattering mirror as a function of the amount by which the pumping energy exceeded the threshold was found to be the same for all types of fibers, and to be independent of astigmatism and angular beam divergence. The wavefront conjugation quality as a function of the energy level was also the same for all of the lightguides employed: quartz, silicate and silicate-quartz. The good wavefront conjugation observed for astigmatic and spatially inhomogeneous beams make it possible to compensate satisfactorily for inhomogeneities in the distorting wavefront of the beam.

Measurement and simulation of the impact of coherent synchrotron radiation on the Jefferson Laboratory energy recovery linac electron beam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hall, C. C.; Biedron, S. G.; Edelen, A. L.; Milton, S. V.; Benson, S.; Douglas, D.; Li, R.; Tennant, C. D.; Carlsten, B. E.

2015-03-01

In an experiment conducted on the Jefferson Laboratory IR free-electron laser driver, the effects of coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) on beam quality were studied. The primary goal of this work was to explore CSR output and effect on the beam with variation of the bunch compression in the IR recirculator. Here we examine the impact of CSR on the average energy loss as a function of bunch compression as well as the impact of CSR on the energy spectrum of the bunch. Simulation of beam dynamics in the machine, including the one-dimensional CSR model, shows very good agreement with the measured effect of CSR on the average energy loss as a function of compression. Finally, a well-defined structure is observed in the energy spectrum with a feature in the spectrum that varies as a function of the compression. This effect is examined in simulations, as well, and a simple explanation for the variation is proposed.

Measurement and simulation of the impact of coherent synchrotron radiation on the Jefferson Laboratory energy recovery linac electron beam

DOE PAGES

Hall, C C.; Biedron, S G.; Edelen, A L.; ...

2015-03-09

In an experiment conducted on the Jefferson Laboratory IR free-electron laser driver, the effects of coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) on beam quality were studied. The primary goal of this work was to explore CSR output and effect on the beam with variation of the bunch compression in the IR recirculator. Here we examine the impact of CSR on the average energy loss as a function of bunch compression as well as the impact of CSR on the energy spectrum of the bunch. Simulation of beam dynamics in the machine, including the one-dimensional CSR model, shows very good agreement with themore » measured effect of CSR on the average energy loss as a function of compression. Finally, a well-defined structure is observed in the energy spectrum with a feature in the spectrum that varies as a function of the compression. This effect is examined in simulations, as well, and a simple explanation for the variation is proposed.« less

Efficient dielectric metasurface collimating lenses for mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers.

PubMed

Arbabi, Amir; Briggs, Ryan M; Horie, Yu; Bagheri, Mahmood; Faraon, Andrei

2015-12-28

Light emitted from single-mode semiconductor lasers generally has large divergence angles, and high numerical aperture lenses are required for beam collimation. Visible and near infrared lasers are collimated using aspheric glass or plastic lenses, yet collimation of mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers typically requires more costly aspheric lenses made of germanium, chalcogenide compounds, or other infrared-transparent materials. Here we report mid-infrared dielectric metasurface flat lenses that efficiently collimate the output beam of single-mode quantum cascade lasers. The metasurface lenses are composed of amorphous silicon posts on a flat sapphire substrate and can be fabricated at low cost using a single step conventional UV binary lithography. Mid-infrared radiation from a 4.8 μm distributed-feedback quantum cascade laser is collimated using a polarization insensitive metasurface lens with 0.86 numerical aperture and 79% transmission efficiency. The collimated beam has a half divergence angle of 0.36° and beam quality factor of M2=1.02.

Efficient dielectric metasurface collimating lenses for mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers

DOE PAGES

Arbabi, Amir; Briggs, Ryan M.; Horie, Yu; ...

2015-01-01

Light emitted from single-mode semiconductor lasers generally has large divergence angles, and high numerical aperture lenses are required for beam collimation. Visible and near infrared lasers are collimated using aspheric glass or plastic lenses, yet collimation of mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers typically requires more costly aspheric lenses made of germanium, chalcogenide compounds, or other infrared-transparent materials. We report mid-infrared dielectric metasurface flat lenses that efficiently collimate the output beam of single-mode quantum cascade lasers. The metasurface lenses are composed of amorphous silicon posts on a flat sapphire substrate and can be fabricated at low cost using a single step conventionalmore » UV binary lithography. Mid-infrared radiation from a 4.8 μm distributed-feedback quantum cascade laser is collimated using a polarization insensitive metasurface lens with 0.86 numerical aperture and 79% transmission efficiency. The collimated beam has a half divergence angle of 0.36° and beam quality factor of M² =1.02.« less

Advanced chemical oxygen iodine lasers for novel beam generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Kenan; Zhao, Tianliang; Huai, Ying; Jin, Yuqi

2018-03-01

Chemical oxygen iodine laser, or COIL, is an impressive type of chemical laser that emits high power beam with good atmospheric transmissivity. Chemical oxygen iodine lasers with continuous-wave plane wave output are well-developed and are widely adopted in directed energy systems in the past several decades. Approaches of generating novel output beam based on chemical oxygen iodine lasers are explored in the current study. Since sophisticated physical processes including supersonic flowing of gaseous active media, chemical reacting of various species, optical power amplification, as well as thermal deformation and vibration of mirrors take place in the operation of COIL, a multi-disciplinary model is developed for tracing the interacting mechanisms and evaluating the performance of the proposed laser architectures. Pulsed output mode with repetition rate as high as hundreds of kHz, pulsed output mode with low repetition rate and high pulse energy, as well as novel beam with vector or vortex feature can be obtained. The results suggest potential approaches for expanding the applicability of chemical oxygen iodine lasers.

Rippled beam free electron laser amplifier

DOEpatents

Carlsten, Bruce E.

1999-01-01

A free electron laser amplifier provides a scalloping annular electron beam that interacts with the axial electric field of a TM.sub.0n mode. A waveguide defines an axial centerline and, a solenoid arranged about the waveguide produces an axial constant magnetic field within the waveguide. An electron beam source outputs a annular electron beam that interacts with the axial magnetic field to have an equilibrium radius and a ripple radius component having a variable radius with a ripple period along the axial centerline. An rf source outputs an axial electric field that propagates within the waveguide coaxial with the electron beam and has a radial mode that interacts at the electron beam at the equilibrium radius component of the electron beam.

Spatial light modulators for full cross-connections in optical networks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Juday, Richard D. (Inventor)

2004-01-01

A polarization-independent optical switch is disclosed for switching at least one incoming beam from at least one input source to at least one output drain. The switch includes a polarizing beam splitter to split each of the at least one incoming beam into a first input beam and a second input beam, wherein the first input beam and the second input beams are independently polarized; a wave plate optically coupled to the second input beam for converting the polarization of the second input beam to an appropriately polarized second input beam; a beam combiner optically coupled to the first input beam and the modified second input beam, wherein the beam combiner accepts the first input beam and the modified second input beam to produce a combined beam; the combined beam is invariant to the polarization state of the input source's polarization; and a controllable spatial light modulator optically coupled to the combined beam, wherein the combined beam is diffracted by the controllable spatial light modulator to place light at a plurality of output locations.

Effect of random phase mask on input plane in photorefractive authentic memory with two-wave encryption method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mita, Akifumi; Okamoto, Atsushi; Funakoshi, Hisatoshi

2004-06-01

We have proposed an all-optical authentic memory with the two-wave encryption method. In the recording process, the image data are encrypted to a white noise by the random phase masks added on the input beam with the image data and the reference beam. Only reading beam with the phase-conjugated distribution of the reference beam can decrypt the encrypted data. If the encrypted data are read out with an incorrect phase distribution, the output data are transformed into a white noise. Moreover, during read out, reconstructions of the encrypted data interfere destructively resulting in zero intensity. Therefore our memory has a merit that we can detect unlawful accesses easily by measuring the output beam intensity. In our encryption method, the random phase mask on the input plane plays important roles in transforming the input image into a white noise and prohibiting to decrypt a white noise to the input image by the blind deconvolution method. Without this mask, when unauthorized users observe the output beam by using CCD in the readout with the plane wave, the completely same intensity distribution as that of Fourier transform of the input image is obtained. Therefore the encrypted image will be decrypted easily by using the blind deconvolution method. However in using this mask, even if unauthorized users observe the output beam using the same method, the encrypted image cannot be decrypted because the observed intensity distribution is dispersed at random by this mask. Thus it can be said the robustness is increased by this mask. In this report, we compare two correlation coefficients, which represents the degree of a white noise of the output image, between the output image and the input image in using this mask or not. We show that the robustness of this encryption method is increased as the correlation coefficient is improved from 0.3 to 0.1 by using this mask.

High stability wavefront reference source

DOEpatents

Feldman, M.; Mockler, D.J.

1994-05-03

A thermally and mechanically stable wavefront reference source which produces a collimated output laser beam is disclosed. The output beam comprises substantially planar reference wavefronts which are useful for aligning and testing optical interferometers. The invention receives coherent radiation from an input optical fiber, directs a diverging input beam of the coherent radiation to a beam folding mirror (to produce a reflected diverging beam), and collimates the reflected diverging beam using a collimating lens. In a class of preferred embodiments, the invention includes a thermally and mechanically stable frame comprising rod members connected between a front end plate and a back end plate. The beam folding mirror is mounted on the back end plate, and the collimating lens mounted to the rods between the end plates. The end plates and rods are preferably made of thermally stable metal alloy. Preferably, the input optical fiber is a single mode fiber coupled to an input end of a second single mode optical fiber that is wound around a mandrel fixedly attached to the frame of the apparatus. The output end of the second fiber is cleaved so as to be optically flat, so that the input beam emerging therefrom is a nearly perfect diverging spherical wave. 7 figures.

High stability wavefront reference source

DOEpatents

Feldman, Mark; Mockler, Daniel J.

1994-01-01

A thermally and mechanically stable wavefront reference source which produces a collimated output laser beam. The output beam comprises substantially planar reference wavefronts which are useful for aligning and testing optical interferometers. The invention receives coherent radiation from an input optical fiber, directs a diverging input beam of the coherent radiation to a beam folding mirror (to produce a reflected diverging beam), and collimates the reflected diverging beam using a collimating lens. In a class of preferred embodiments, the invention includes a thermally and mechanically stable frame comprising rod members connected between a front end plate and a back end plate. The beam folding mirror is mounted on the back end plate, and the collimating lens mounted to the rods between the end plates. The end plates and rods are preferably made of thermally stable metal alloy. Preferably, the input optical fiber is a single mode fiber coupled to an input end of a second single mode optical fiber that is wound around a mandrel fixedly attached to the frame of the apparatus. The output end of the second fiber is cleaved so as to be optically flat, so that the input beam emerging therefrom is a nearly perfect diverging spherical wave.

Target isolation system, high power laser and laser peening method and system using same

DOEpatents

Dane, C. Brent; Hackel, Lloyd A.; Harris, Fritz

2007-11-06

A system for applying a laser beam to work pieces, includes a laser system producing a high power output beam. Target delivery optics are arranged to deliver the output beam to a target work piece. A relay telescope having a telescope focal point is placed in the beam path between the laser system and the target delivery optics. The relay telescope relays an image between an image location near the output of the laser system and an image location near the target delivery optics. A baffle is placed at the telescope focal point between the target delivery optics and the laser system to block reflections from the target in the target delivery optics from returning to the laser system and causing damage.

Coherent and dynamic beam splitting based on light storage in cold atoms

PubMed Central

Park, Kwang-Kyoon; Zhao, Tian-Ming; Lee, Jong-Chan; Chough, Young-Tak; Kim, Yoon-Ho

2016-01-01

We demonstrate a coherent and dynamic beam splitter based on light storage in cold atoms. An input weak laser pulse is first stored in a cold atom ensemble via electromagnetically-induced transparency (EIT). A set of counter-propagating control fields, applied at a later time, retrieves the stored pulse into two output spatial modes. The high visibility interference between the two output pulses clearly demonstrates that the beam splitting process is coherent. Furthermore, by manipulating the control lasers, it is possible to dynamically control the storage time, the power splitting ratio, the relative phase, and the optical frequencies of the output pulses. With further improvements, the active beam splitter demonstrated in this work might have applications in photonic photonic quantum information and in all-optical information processing. PMID:27677457

Cascaded injection resonator for coherent beam combining of laser arrays

DOEpatents

Kireev, Vassili [Sunnyvale, CA; Liu, Yun; Protopopescu, Vladimir [Knoxville, TN; Braiman, Yehuda [Oak Ridge, TN

2008-10-21

The invention provides a cascaded injection resonator for coherent beam combining of laser arrays. The resonator comprises a plurality of laser emitters arranged along at least one plane and a beam sampler for reflecting at least a portion of each laser beam that impinges on the beam sampler, the portion of each laser beam from one of the laser emitters being reflected back to another one of the laser emitters to cause a beam to be generated from the other one of the laser emitters to the beam reflector. The beam sampler also transmits a portion of each laser beam to produce a laser output beam such that a plurality of laser output beams of the same frequency are produced. An injection laser beam is directed to a first laser emitter to begin a process of generating and reflecting a laser beam from one laser emitter to another laser emitter in the plurality. A method of practicing the invention is also disclosed.

On the stability of the zinc x-ray laser beam quality using a half cavity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prag, A. R.; Mocek, T.; Kozlova, M.; Rus, B.

2002-11-01

At the Prague Asterix Laser System Center (PALS) the Asterix laser delivering up to 700 J in 0.5 ns is used as a pump source for x-ray laser experiments and applications. The prepulse technique was applied which is known to improve the neon-like x-ray laser at the J = 0 - 1 transition dramatically. Since Zn slab targets were used the output wavelength was 21.2 nm. A prepulse having up to 20 J precedes the main pulse by 10 ns. The main beam and the prepulse beam are focussed by two different optical systems separately and their foci are superimposed at the target surface. By implementing a half-cavity for double-pass amplification using a Mo/Si multilayer mirror - which can be used for 100 shots - the x-ray laser output was more than 10 times stronger than at the single pass in a 3 cm long plasma. Double-pass amplification was observed to be most efficient when the pump pulse was at least 150 ps longer than the round trip time (approximately 260 ps) in the half-cavity. Under this fundamental condition the x-ray laser reached saturation in the double-pass regime containing approx4mJ energy which was proved to be enough for applications. In this contribution, the x-ray laser features like divergence in two dimensions, the beam quality (symmetry), and the pointing angle are investigated over 110 shots. To characterize the stability of the x-ray laser the shot distribution, the mean value and the standard deviation for these parameters are evaluated. For 18 shots of a one-day-series these values are given, and a statistical analysis carrying out a chi-squared test characterize the Zn x-ray laser as a robust tool suitable for future applications.

Scaling the spectral beam combining channel by multiple diode laser stacks in an external cavity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meng, Huicheng; Ruan, Xu; Du, Weichuan; Wang, Zhao; Lei, Fuchuan; Yu, Junhong; Tan, Hao

2017-04-01

Spectral beam combining of a broad area diode laser is a promising technique for direct diode laser applications. We present an experimental study of three mini-bar stacks in an external cavity on spectral beam combining in conjunction with spatial beam combining. At the pump current of 70 A, a CW output power of 579 W, spectral bandwidth of 18.8 nm and electro-optical conversion efficiency of 47% are achieved. The measured M 2 values of spectral beam combining are 18.4 and 14.7 for the fast and the slow axis, respectively. The brightness of the spectral beam combining output is 232 MW · cm-2 · sr-1.

Design of High Efficiency High Power Electron Accelerator Systems Based on Normal Conducting RF Technology for Energy and Environmental Applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dolgashev, Valery; Tantawi, Sami

The goal of this project was to perform engineering design studies of three extremely high efficiency electron accelerators with the following parameters [1]: 2 MeV output beam energy and 1 MW average beam power; 10 MeV output energy and 10 MW; 10 MeV output energy and 1 MW. These linacs are intended for energy and environmental applications [2]. We based our designs on normal conducting radio-frequency technology. We have successfully reached this goal where we show rf-to-beam efficiency of 96.7 %, 97.2 %, and 79.6 % for these linacs.

The NRL (Naval Research Laboratory) Phase-Locked Gyrotron Oscillator Program for SDIO/IST

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-07-11

are neglected as are space - charge effects . The cold cavity eigenfrequency for the TE6 2 1 mode is 35.08 GHz. The calculated efficiency, output power...improved beam quality on the gyrotron operation, and to eliminate the unknown space charge effects present in the original experiment, in which a...substantial fraction of the diode current is reflected before reaching the gyrotron cavity and may cause space charge problems before being collected on

SU-F-J-179: Commissioning Dosimetric Data of a New 2.5 Megavoltage Imaging Beam from a TrueBeam Linear

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ding, G

2016-06-15

Purpose: Recently a new 2.5 megavoltage imaging beam has become available in a TrueBeam linear accelerator for image guidance. There is limited information available related to the beam characteristics. Commissioning dosimetric data of the new imaging is necessary for configuration of the beam in a treatment planning system in order to calculate imaging doses to patients resulting from this new imaging beam. The purpose of this study is to provide measured commissioning data recommended for a beam configuration in a treatment planning system. Methods: A recently installed TrueBeam linear accelerator is equipped with a new low energy photon beam withmore » a nominal energy of 2.5 MV which provides better image quality in addition to other therapeutic megavoltage beams. Dosimetric characteristics of the 2.5 MV are measured for commissioning. An ionization chamber was used to measure dosimetric data including depth-dose curves and dose profiles at different depths for field sizes ranging from 5×5 cm{sup 2} to 40×40 cm{sup 2}. Results: Although the new 2.5 MV beam is a flattening-filter-free (FFF) beam, its dose profiles are much flatter compared to a 6 MV FFF beam. The dose decrease at 20 cm away from the central axis is less than 30% for a 40×40 cm{sup 2} field. This moderately lower dose at off-axis distances benefits the imaging quality. The values of percentage depth-dose (PDD) curves are 53% and 63% for 10×10 cm{sup 2} and 40×40 cm{sup 2} fields respectively. The measured beam output is 0.85 cGy/MU for a reference field size at depth 5 cm obtained according to the AAPM TG-51 protocol. Conclusion: This systematically measured commissioning data is useful for configuring the new imaging beam in a treatment planning system for patient imaging dose calculations resulting from the application of this 2.5 MV beam which is commonly set as a default in imaging procedures.« less

Automatic control of positioning along the joint during EBW in conditions of action of magnetic fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Druzhinina, A. A.; Laptenok, V. D.; Murygin, A. V.; Laptenok, P. V.

2016-11-01

Positioning along the joint during the electron beam welding is a difficult scientific and technical problem to achieve the high quality of welds. The final solution of this problem is not found. This is caused by weak interference protection of sensors of the joint position directly in the welding process. Frequently during the electron beam welding magnetic fields deflect the electron beam from the optical axis of the electron beam gun. The collimated X-ray sensor is used to monitor the beam deflection caused by the action of magnetic fields. Signal of X-ray sensor is processed by the method of synchronous detection. Analysis of spectral characteristics of the X-ray sensor showed that the displacement of the joint from the optical axis of the gun affects on the output signal of sensor. The authors propose dual-circuit system for automatic positioning of the electron beam on the joint during the electron beam welding in conditions of action of magnetic interference. This system includes a contour of joint tracking and contour of compensation of magnetic fields. The proposed system is stable. Calculation of dynamic error of system showed that error of positioning does not exceed permissible deviation of the electron beam from the joint plane.

Confined energy distribution for charged particle beams

DOEpatents

Jason, Andrew J.; Blind, Barbara

1990-01-01

A charged particle beam is formed to a relatively larger area beam which is well-contained and has a beam area which relatively uniformly deposits energy over a beam target. Linear optics receive an accelerator beam and output a first beam with a first waist defined by a relatively small size in a first dimension normal to a second dimension. Nonlinear optics, such as an octupole magnet, are located about the first waist and output a second beam having a phase-space distribution which folds the beam edges along the second dimension toward the beam core to develop a well-contained beam and a relatively uniform particle intensity across the beam core. The beam may then be expanded along the second dimension to form the uniform ribbon beam at a selected distance from the nonlinear optics. Alternately, the beam may be passed through a second set of nonlinear optics to fold the beam edges in the first dimension. The beam may then be uniformly expanded along the first and second dimensions to form a well-contained, two-dimensional beam for illuminating a two-dimensional target with a relatively uniform energy deposition.

Motion detection, novelty filtering, and target tracking using an interferometric technique with GaAs phase conjugate mirror

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cheng, Li-Jen (Inventor); Liu, Tsuen-Hsi (Inventor)

1991-01-01

A method and apparatus for detecting and tracking moving objects in a noise environment cluttered with fast- and slow-moving objects and other time-varying background. A pair of phase conjugate light beams carrying the same spatial information commonly cancel each other out through an image subtraction process in a phase conjugate interferometer, wherein gratings are formed in a fast photorefractive phase conjugate mirror material. In the steady state, there is no output. When the optical path of one of the two phase conjugate beams is suddenly changed, the return beam loses its phase conjugate nature and the interferometer is out of balance, resulting in an observable output. The observable output lasts until the phase conjugate nature of the beam has recovered. The observable time of the output signal is roughly equal to the formation time of the grating. If the optical path changing time is slower than the formation time, the change of optical path becomes unobservable, because the index grating can follow the change. Thus, objects traveling at speeds which result in a path changing time which is slower than the formation time are not observable and do not clutter the output image view.

Two-beam pumped cascaded four-wave-mixing process for producing multiple-beam quantum correlation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Shengshuai; Wang, Hailong; Jing, Jietai

2018-04-01

We propose a two-beam pumped cascaded four-wave-mixing (CFWM) scheme with a double-Λ energy-level configuration in 85Rb vapor cell and experimentally observe the emission of up to 10 quantum correlated beams from such CFWM scheme. During this process, the seed beam is amplified; four new signal beams and five idler beams are generated. The 10 beams show strong quantum correlation which is characterized by the intensity-difference squeezing of about -6.7 ±0.3 dB. Then, by altering the angle between the two pump beams, we observe the notable transition of the number of the output beams from 10 to eight, and even to six. We find that both the number of the output quantum correlated beams and their degree of quantum correlation from such two-beam pumped CFWM scheme increase with the decrease of the angle between the two pump beams. Such system may find potential applications in quantum information and quantum metrology.

High-brightness tapered laser diodes with photonic crystal structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yi; Du, Weichuan; Kun, Zhou; Gao, Songxin; Ma, Yi; Tang, Chun

2018-02-01

Beam quality of tapered laser diodes is limited by higher order lateral mode. On purpose of optimizing the brightness of tapered laser diodes, we developed a novel design of tapered diodes. This devices based on InGaAs/AlGaAs asymmetry epitaxial structure, containing higher order lateral mode filtering schemes especially photonic crystal structures, which fabricated cost effectively by using standard photolithography and dry etch processes. Meanwhile, the effects of photonic crystal structures on mode control are also investigated theoretically by FDBPM (Finite-Difference Beam Propagation Method) calculation. We achieved a CW optical output power of 6.9W at 940nm for a single emitter with 4 mm cavity length. A nearly diffraction limited beam of M2 ≍1.9 @ 0.5W has been demonstrated, and a highest brightness of β =75MW/(cm2 ·sr) was reached.

Mode-medium instability and its correction with a Gaussian-reflectivity mirror

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Webster, K. L.; Sung, C. C.

1992-01-01

A high-power CO2 laser beam is known to deteriorate after a few microseconds due to a mode-medium instability (MMI) which results from an intensity-dependent heating rate related to the vibrational-to-translational decay of the upper and lower CO2 lasing levels. An iterative numerical technique is developed to model the time evolution of the beam as it is affected by the MMI. The technique is used to study the MMI in an unstable CO2 resonator with a hard-edge output mirror for different parameters like the Fresnel number and the gas density. The results show that the mode of the hard edge unstable resonator deteriorates because of the diffraction ripples in the mode. A Gaussian-reflectivity mirror was used to correct the MMI. This mirror produces a smoother intensity profile which significantly reduces the effects of the MMI. Quantitative results on peak density variation and beam quality are presented.

Mode-medium instability and its correction with a Gaussian reflectivity mirror

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Webster, K. L.; Sung, C. C.

1990-01-01

A high power CO2 laser beam is known to deteriorate after a few microseconds due to a mode-medium instability (MMI) which results from an intensity dependent heating rate related to the vibrational-to-translational decay of the upper and lower CO2 lasing levels. An iterative numerical technique is developed to model the time evolution of the beam as it is affected by the MMI. The technique is used to study the MMI in an unstable CO2 resonator with a hard-edge output mirror for different parameters like the Fresnel number and the gas density. The results show that the mode of the hard edge unstable resonator deteriorates because of the diffraction ripples in the mode. A Gaussian-reflectivity mirror was used to correct the MMI. This mirror produces a smoother intensity profile which significantly reduces the effects of the MMI. Quantitative results on peak density variation and beam quality are presented.

Power combination of two phase-locked high power microwave beams from a new coaxial microwave source based on dual beams

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Yangmei; Zhang, Xiaoping, E-mail: plinafly@163.com; Zhang, Jiande

2014-10-15

The new coaxial high power microwave source based on dual beams has demonstrated two phase-locked output microwave beams generated by its two sub-sources. In order to achieve a single higher output power, we present a three-port waveguide-based power combiner to combine the two microwave beams. Particle-in-cell simulation results show that when the diode voltage is 675 kV and the guiding magnetic field is 0.8 T, a combined microwave with an average power of about 4.0 GW and a frequency of 9.74 GHz is generated; the corresponding power conversion efficiency is 29%. The combination effect of the combiner is further validated in the diodemore » voltage range from 675 kV to 755 kV as well as in the pulse regime. The simulations indicate that the maximum surface axial electric field strength of the electrodynamic structure is 720 kV/cm, which is relatively low corresponding to an output power of 4.0 GW. The stable combined output suggests the probability of long-pulse operation for the combined source.« less

Continuous wavelength tunable laser source with optimum positioning of pivot axis for grating

DOEpatents

Pushkarsky, Michael; Amone, David F.

2010-06-08

A laser source (10) for generating a continuously wavelength tunable light (12) includes a gain media (16), an optical output coupler (36F), a cavity collimator (38A), a diffraction grating (30), a grating beam (54), and a beam attacher (56). The diffraction grating (30) is spaced apart from the cavity collimator (38A) and the grating (30) cooperates with the optical output coupler (36F) to define an external cavity (32). The grating (30) includes a grating face surface (42A) that is in a grating plane (42B). The beam attacher (56) retains the grating beam (54) and allows the grating beam (54) and the grating (30) to effectively pivot about a pivot axis (33) that is located approximately at an intersection of a pivot plane (50) and the grating plane (42B). As provided herein, the diffraction grating (30) can be pivoted about the unique pivot axis (33) to move the diffraction grating (30) relative to the gain media (16) to continuously tune the lasing frequency of the external cavity (32) and the wavelength of the output light (12) so that the output light (12) is mode hop free.

Method and system for modulation of gain suppression in high average power laser systems

DOEpatents

Bayramian, Andrew James [Manteca, CA

2012-07-31

A high average power laser system with modulated gain suppression includes an input aperture associated with a first laser beam extraction path and an output aperture associated with the first laser beam extraction path. The system also includes a pinhole creation laser having an optical output directed along a pinhole creation path and an absorbing material positioned along both the first laser beam extraction path and the pinhole creation path. The system further includes a mechanism operable to translate the absorbing material in a direction crossing the first laser beam extraction laser path and a controller operable to modulate the second laser beam.

Relativistic electron beam generator

DOEpatents

Mooney, L.J.; Hyatt, H.M.

1975-11-11

A relativistic electron beam generator for laser media excitation is described. The device employs a diode type relativistic electron beam source having a cathode shape which provides a rectangular output beam with uniform current density.

Study on the amplifier experiment of end-pumped long pulse slab laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, Quanwei; Chen, Xiaoming; Jiang, JianFeng; Pang, Yu; Tong, Lixin; Li, Mi; Hu, Hao; Lv, Wenqiang; Gao, Qingsong; Tang, Chun

2018-03-01

The amplifier experiment research of end-pumped long pulse slab laser is developed, the results of out-put energy, optical-optical efficiency and pulse waveform are obtained at different experiment conditions, such as peak pumped power, amplifier power and pumped pulse width. The seed laser is CW fundamental transverse-mode operation fiber laser, the laser medium is composited Nd:YAG slab. Under end-pumped and the 2 passes, the laser obtain 7.65J out-put energy and 43.1% optical-optical efficiency with 45kW peak-pumped power and 386μs pump pulse width. The experimental results provide the basic for the optimization design to high frequency, high energy and high beam-quality slab lasers.

Numerical simulation of a battlefield Nd:YAG laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henriksson, Markus; Sjoqvist, Lars; Uhrwing, Thomas

2005-11-01

A numeric model has been developed to identify the critical components and parameters in improving the output beam quality of a flashlamp pumped Q-switched Nd:YAG laser with a folded Porro-prism resonator and polarization output coupling. The heating of the laser material and accompanying thermo-optical effects are calculated using the finite element partial differential equations package FEMLAB allowing arbitrary geometries and time distributions. The laser gain and the cavity are modeled with the physical optics simulation code GLAD including effects such as gain profile, thermal lensing and stress-induced birefringence, the Pockels cell rise-time and component aberrations. The model is intended to optimize the pumping process of an OPO providing radiation to be used for ranging, imaging or optical countermeasures.

A compact Nd:YAG DPSSL using diamond-cooled technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chou, Hsian P.; Wang, Yu-Lin; Hasson, Victor H.; Trainor, Daniel W.

2005-03-01

In our diamond-cooled approach, thin disks of laser gain material, e.g., Nd:YAG, are alternated between thin disks of single crystal synthetic diamond whose heat conductivity is over 2000 W/m-°K. The gain medium is face-pumped (along the optical axis) by the output of laser diode arrays. This optical configuration produces heat transfer from Nd:YAG to the diamond, in the direction of the optical axis, and then heat is rapidly conducted radially outward through the diamond to the cooling fluid circulating at the circumference of the diamond/YAG assembly. This geometry effectively removes the heat from the gain material in a manner that permits the attainment of high power output with excellent beam quality.

Commissioning a passive-scattering proton therapy nozzle for accurate SOBP delivery.

PubMed

Engelsman, M; Lu, H M; Herrup, D; Bussiere, M; Kooy, H M

2009-06-01

Proton radiotherapy centers that currently use passively scattered proton beams do field specific calibrations for a non-negligible fraction of treatment fields, which is time and resource consuming. Our improved understanding of the passive scattering mode of the IBA universal nozzle, especially of the current modulation function, allowed us to re-commission our treatment control system for accurate delivery of SOBPs of any range and modulation, and to predict the output for each of these fields. We moved away from individual field calibrations to a state where continued quality assurance of SOBP field delivery is ensured by limited system-wide measurements that only require one hour per week. This manuscript reports on a protocol for generation of desired SOBPs and prediction of dose output.

Is the PTW 60019 microDiamond a suitable candidate for small field reference dosimetry?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Coste, Vanessa; Francescon, Paolo; Marinelli, Marco; Masi, Laura; Paganini, Lucia; Pimpinella, Maria; Prestopino, Giuseppe; Russo, Serenella; Stravato, Antonella; Verona, Claudio; Verona-Rinati, Gianluca

2017-09-01

A systematic study of the PTW microDiamond (MD) output factors (OF) is reported, aimed at clarifying its response in small fields and investigating its suitability for small field reference dosimetry. Ten MDs were calibrated under 60Co irradiation. OF measurements were performed in 6 MV photon beams by a CyberKnife M6, a Varian DHX and an Elekta Synergy linacs. Two PTW silicon diodes E (Si-D) were used for comparison. The results obtained by the MDs were evaluated in terms of absorbed dose to water determination in reference conditions and OF measurements, and compared to the results reported in the recent literature. To this purpose, the Monte Carlo (MC) beam-quality correction factor, kQMD , was calculated for the MD, and the small field output correction factors, k{{Qclin},{{Q}msr}}{{fclin},{{f}msr}} , were calculated for both the MD and the Si-D by two different research groups. An empirical function was also derived, providing output correction factors within 0.5% from the MC values calculated for all of the three linacs. A high reproducibility of the dosimetric properties was observed among the ten MDs. The experimental kQMD values are in agreement within 1% with the MC calculated ones. Output correction factors within  +0.7% and  -1.4% were obtained down to field sizes as narrow as 5 mm. The resulting MD and Si-D field factors are in agreement within 0.2% in the case of CyberKnife measurements and 1.6% in the other cases. This latter higher spread of the data was demonstrated to be due to a lower reproducibility of small beam sizes defined by jaws or multi leaf collimators. The results of the present study demonstrate the reproducibility of the MD response and provide a validation of the MC modelling of this device. In principle, accurate reference dosimetry is thus feasible by using the microDiamond dosimeter for field sizes down to 5 mm.

Development of an X-Band 50 MW Multiple Beam Klystron

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Liqun; Ferguson, Patrick; Ives, R. Lawrence; Miram, George; Marsden, David; Mizuhara, Max

2003-12-01

Calabazas Creek Research, Inc. is developing an X-band 50 MW multiple beam klystron (MBK) on a DOE SBIR Phase II grant. The electrical design and preliminary mechanical design were completed on the Phase I. This MBK consists of eight discrete klystron circuits driven by eight electron beams located symmetrically on a circle with a radius of 6.3 cm. Each beam operates at 190 kV and 66 A. The eight beam electron gun is in development on a DOE SBIR Phase II grant. Each circuit consists of an input cavity, two gain cavities, three penultimate cavities, and a three cavity output circuit operating in the PI/2 mode. Ring resonators were initially proposed for the complete circuit; however, low beam — wave interaction resulted in the necessity to use discrete cavities for all eight circuits. The input cavities are coupled via hybrid waveguides to ensure constant drive power amplitude and phase. The output circuits can either be combined using compact waveguide twists driving a TE01 high power window or combined into a TM04 mode converter driving the same TE01 window. The gain and efficiency for a single circuit has been optimized using KLSC, a 2 1/2D large signal klystron code. Simulations for a single circuit predict an efficiency of 53% for a single output cavity and 55% for the three cavity output resonator. The total RF output power for this MBK is 55 MW. During the Phase II emphasis will be given to cost reduction techniques resulting in a robust — high efficient — long life high power amplifier.

Traveling wave linear accelerator with RF power flow outside of accelerating cavities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dolgashev, Valery A.

A high power RF traveling wave accelerator structure includes a symmetric RF feed, an input matching cell coupled to the symmetric RF feed, a sequence of regular accelerating cavities coupled to the input matching cell at an input beam pipe end of the sequence, one or more waveguides parallel to and coupled to the sequence of regular accelerating cavities, an output matching cell coupled to the sequence of regular accelerating cavities at an output beam pipe end of the sequence, and output waveguide circuit or RF loads coupled to the output matching cell. Each of the regular accelerating cavities hasmore » a nose cone that cuts off field propagating into the beam pipe and therefore all power flows in a traveling wave along the structure in the waveguide.« less

TU-FG-201-05: Varian MPC as a Statistical Process Control Tool

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Carver, A; Rowbottom, C

Purpose: Quality assurance in radiotherapy requires the measurement of various machine parameters to ensure they remain within permitted values over time. In Truebeam release 2.0 the Machine Performance Check (MPC) was released allowing beam output and machine axis movements to be assessed in a single test. We aim to evaluate the Varian Machine Performance Check (MPC) as a tool for Statistical Process Control (SPC). Methods: Varian’s MPC tool was used on three Truebeam and one EDGE linac for a period of approximately one year. MPC was commissioned against independent systems. After this period the data were reviewed to determine whethermore » or not the MPC was useful as a process control tool. Analyses on individual tests were analysed using Shewhart control plots, using Matlab for analysis. Principal component analysis was used to determine if a multivariate model was of any benefit in analysing the data. Results: Control charts were found to be useful to detect beam output changes, worn T-nuts and jaw calibration issues. Upper and lower control limits were defined at the 95% level. Multivariate SPC was performed using Principal Component Analysis. We found little evidence of clustering beyond that which might be naively expected such as beam uniformity and beam output. Whilst this makes multivariate analysis of little use it suggests that each test is giving independent information. Conclusion: The variety of independent parameters tested in MPC makes it a sensitive tool for routine machine QA. We have determined that using control charts in our QA programme would rapidly detect changes in machine performance. The use of control charts allows large quantities of tests to be performed on all linacs without visual inspection of all results. The use of control limits alerts users when data are inconsistent with previous measurements before they become out of specification. A. Carver has received a speaker’s honorarium from Varian.« less

Technical Report: TG-142 compliant and comprehensive quality assurance tests for respiratory gating

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Woods, Kyle; Rong, Yi, E-mail: yrong@ucdavis.edu

2015-11-15

Purpose: To develop and establish a comprehensive gating commissioning and quality assurance procedure in compliance with TG-142. Methods: Eight Varian TrueBeam Linacs were used for this study. Gating commissioning included an end-to-end test and baseline establishment. The end-to-end test was performed using a CIRS dynamic thoracic phantom with a moving cylinder inside the lung, which was used for carrying both optically simulated luminescence detectors (OSLDs) and Gafchromic EBT2 films while the target is moving, for a point dose check and 2D profile check. In addition, baselines were established for beam-on temporal delay and calibration of the surrogate, for both megavoltagemore » (MV) and kilovoltage (kV) beams. A motion simulation device (MotionSim) was used to provide periodic motion on a platform, in synchronizing with a surrogate motion. The overall accuracy and uncertainties were analyzed and compared. Results: The OSLD readings were within 5% compared to the planned dose (within measurement uncertainty) for both phase and amplitude gated deliveries. Film results showed less than 3% agreement to the predicted dose with a standard sinusoid motion. The gate-on temporal accuracy was averaged at 139 ± 10 ms for MV beams and 92 ± 11 ms for kV beams. The temporal delay of the surrogate motion depends on the motion speed and was averaged at 54.6 ± 3.1 ms for slow, 24.9 ± 2.9 ms for intermediate, and 23.0 ± 20.1 ms for fast speed. Conclusions: A comprehensive gating commissioning procedure was introduced for verifying the output accuracy and establishing the temporal accuracy baselines with respiratory gating. The baselines are needed for routine quality assurance tests, as suggested by TG-142.« less

Technical Report: TG-142 compliant and comprehensive quality assurance tests for respiratory gating.

PubMed

Woods, Kyle; Rong, Yi

2015-11-01

To develop and establish a comprehensive gating commissioning and quality assurance procedure in compliance with TG-142. Eight Varian TrueBeam Linacs were used for this study. Gating commissioning included an end-to-end test and baseline establishment. The end-to-end test was performed using a CIRS dynamic thoracic phantom with a moving cylinder inside the lung, which was used for carrying both optically simulated luminescence detectors (OSLDs) and Gafchromic EBT2 films while the target is moving, for a point dose check and 2D profile check. In addition, baselines were established for beam-on temporal delay and calibration of the surrogate, for both megavoltage (MV) and kilovoltage (kV) beams. A motion simulation device (MotionSim) was used to provide periodic motion on a platform, in synchronizing with a surrogate motion. The overall accuracy and uncertainties were analyzed and compared. The OSLD readings were within 5% compared to the planned dose (within measurement uncertainty) for both phase and amplitude gated deliveries. Film results showed less than 3% agreement to the predicted dose with a standard sinusoid motion. The gate-on temporal accuracy was averaged at 139±10 ms for MV beams and 92±11 ms for kV beams. The temporal delay of the surrogate motion depends on the motion speed and was averaged at 54.6±3.1 ms for slow, 24.9±2.9 ms for intermediate, and 23.0±20.1 ms for fast speed. A comprehensive gating commissioning procedure was introduced for verifying the output accuracy and establishing the temporal accuracy baselines with respiratory gating. The baselines are needed for routine quality assurance tests, as suggested by TG-142.

Status of experiments at LLNL on high-power X-band microwave generators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Houck, Timothy L.; Westenskow, Glen A.

1994-05-01

The Microwave Source Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is studying the application of induction accelerator technology to high-power microwave generators suitable for linear collider power sources. We report on the results of two experiments, both using the Choppertron's 11.4 GHz modulator and a 5-MeV, 1-kA induction beam. The first experimental configuration has a single traveling-wave output structure designed to produce in excess of 300 MW in a single fundamental waveguide. This output structure consists of 12 individual cells, the first two incorporating de-Q-ing circuits to dampen higher order resonant modes. The second experiment studies the feasibility of enhancing beam to microwave power conversion by accelerating a modulated beam with induction cells. Referred to as the `reacceleration experiment,' this experiment consists of three traveling-wave output structures designed to produce about 125 MW per output and two induction cells located between the outputs. Status of current and planned experiments are presented.

SU-F-T-476: Performance of the AS1200 EPID for Periodic Photon Quality Assurance

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

DeMarco, J; Fraass, B; Yang, W

2016-06-15

Purpose: To assess the dosimetric performance of a new amorphous silicon flat-panel electronic portal imaging device (EPID) suitable for high-intensity, flattening-filter-free delivery mode. Methods: An EPID-based QA suite was created with automation to periodically monitor photon central-axis output and two-dimensional beam profile constancy as a function of gantry angle and dose-rate. A Varian TrueBeamTM linear accelerator installed with Developer Mode was used to customize and deliver XML script routines for the QA suite using the dosimetry mode image acquisition for an aS1200 EPID. Automatic post-processing software was developed to analyze the resulting DICOM images. Results: The EPID was used tomore » monitor photon beam output constancy (central-axis), flatness, and symmetry over a period of 10 months for four photon beam energies (6x, 15x, 6xFFF, and 10xFFF). EPID results were consistent to those measured with a standard daily QA check device. At the four cardinal gantry angles, the standard deviation of the EPID central-axis output was <0.5%. Likewise, EPID measurements were independent for the wide range of dose rates (including up to 2400 mu/min for 10xFFF) studied with a standard deviation of <0.8% relative to the nominal dose rate for each energy. Also, profile constancy and field size measurements showed good agreement with the reference acquisition of 0° gantry angle and nominal dose rate. XML script files were also tested for MU linearity and picket-fence delivery. Using Developer Mode, the test suite was delivered in <60 minutes for all 4 photon energies with 4 dose rates per energy and 5 picket-fence acquisitions. Conclusion: Dosimetry image acquisition using a new EPID was found to be accurate for standard and high-intensity photon beams over a broad range of dose rates over 10 months. Developer Mode provided an efficient platform to customize the EPID acquisitions by using custom script files which significantly reduced the time. This work was funded in part by Varian Medical Systems.« less

Study of the stability of beam characteristics of the neon-like Zn X-ray laser using a half cavity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Präg, A. R.; Mocek, T.; Kozlová, M.; Rus, B.; Jamelot, G.; Ros, D.

2003-01-01

At the Prague Asterix Laser System Center (PALS) the Asterix iodine laser delivering up to 700 J/0.5 ns is used as a pump source for X-ray laser experiments and applications. The prepulse technique was applied which is known to improve the neon-like X-ray laser output at the J = 0 {-} 1 transition dramatically. Since Zn slab targets were used the operating wavelength was 21.2 nm. A prepulse having up to 20 J precedes the main pulse by 10 ns. The main beam and the prepulse beam are focussed by two different optical systems separately and their foci are superimposed at the target surface. By implementing a half-cavity set-up for double-pass amplification using a Mo/Si multilayer mirror which can be used for more than 100 shots the X-ray laser output was more than 10 times stronger than at the single pass in a 30 mm long plasma. Double-pass amplification was observed to be most efficient when the pump pulse duration was at least 150 ps longer than the round trip time (≈ 260 ps) in the half-cavity. Under this fundamental condition the X-ray laser reached saturation in the double-pass regime containing approx. 4 mJ energy which has been proved to be enough for future applications. In this contribution, the X-ray laser features like divergence in two dimensions, the beam quality (symmetry), the pointing angle and the integrated intensity giving an estimation of the output energy are investigated over 110 shots. To characterize the stability of the X-ray laser the shot distribution, the mean value and the standard deviation for these parameters are evaluated. For 18 shots in a series what was achievable during one day the corresponding values are given, and a statistical analysis carrying out a chi-squared test characterize the Zn X-ray laser as a robust tool suitable for applications. In the future it is planned to allocate X-ray laser beam time to external research groups.

Method and apparatus for second-rank tensor generation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, Hua-Kuang (Inventor)

1991-01-01

A method and apparatus are disclosed for generation of second-rank tensors using a photorefractive crystal to perform the outer-product between two vectors via four-wave mixing, thereby taking 2n input data to a control n squared output data points. Two orthogonal amplitude modulated coherent vector beams x and y are expanded and then parallel sides of the photorefractive crystal in exact opposition. A beamsplitter is used to direct a coherent pumping beam onto the crystal at an appropriate angle so as to produce a conjugate beam that is the matrix product of the vector beam that propagates in the exact opposite direction from the pumping beam. The conjugate beam thus separated is the tensor output xy (sup T).

Thermal actuator improvements: tapering and folding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sinclair, Michael J.; Wang, Kerwin

2003-04-01

Electrothermal actuation is not a popular technology for today"s MEMS transducers due to its relatively slow response and large appetite for power. The large displacement with high force and low voltage gives reason to try to improve thermal actuator"s operating characteristics. This paper describes some improvements to thermal actuators, mainly in increased output energy per actuator chip area and area utilization. The devices presented here are a variation of the chevron thermal actuator - one with two sets of thermally expanding beams pushing at a slight angle on either side of a suspended shuttle, causing it to be displaced parallel to the substrate. One improvement is to taper the thermal expansion beams so they exhibit a higher strain energy, allowing a larger thermal input power and hence more output mechanical power per beam. Another improvement is to move (fold) both sets of thermal beams to the same side of the shuttle so all are exerting force on the same side. The thermal expansion beams cause compression against the shuttle and work against one or two orthogonal cold beams in tension to produce an output force and displacement. This resembles a pseudo-bimorph array with the exception of having far fewer non-force-producing beams to bend.

An X-band high-impedance relativistic klystron amplifier with an annular explosive cathode

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhu, Danni; Zhang, Jun, E-mail: zhangjun@nudt.edu.cn; Zhong, Huihuang

2015-11-15

The feasibility of employing an annular beam instead of a solid one in the X-band high-impedance relativistic klystron amplifier (RKA) is investigated in theory and simulation. Small-signal theory analysis indicates that the optimum bunching distance, fundamental current modulation depth, beam-coupling coefficient, and beam-loaded quality factor of annular beams are all larger than the corresponding parameters of solid beams at the same beam voltage and current. An annular beam RKA and a solid beam RKA with almost the same geometric parameters are compared in particle-in-cell simulation. Output microwave power of 100 MW, gain of 50 dB, and power conversion efficiency of 42% aremore » obtained in an annular beam RKA. The annular beam needs a 15% lower uniform guiding magnetic field than the solid beam. Our investigations demonstrate that we are able to use a simple annular explosive cathode immersed in a lower uniform magnetic field instead of a solid thermionic cathode in a complicated partially shielding magnetic field for designing high-impedance RKA, which avoids high temperature requirement, complicated electron-optical system, large area convergence, high current density, and emission uniformity for the solid beam. An equivalent method for the annular beam and the solid beam on bunching features is proposed and agrees with the simulation. The annular beam has the primary advantages over the solid beam that it can employ the immersing uniform magnetic field avoiding the complicated shielding magnetic field system and needs a lower optimum guiding field due to the smaller space charge effect.« less

High-power disk lasers: advances and applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Havrilla, David; Ryba, Tracey; Holzer, Marco

2012-03-01

Though the genesis of the disk laser concept dates to the early 90's, the disk laser continues to demonstrate the flexibility and the certain future of a breakthrough technology. On-going increases in power per disk, and improvements in beam quality and efficiency continue to validate the genius of the disk laser concept. As of today, the disk principle has not reached any fundamental limits regarding output power per disk or beam quality, and offers numerous advantages over other high power resonator concepts, especially over monolithic architectures. With about 2,000 high power disk lasers installations, and a demand upwards of 1,000 lasers per year, the disk laser has proven to be a robust and reliable industrial tool. With advancements in running cost, investment cost and footprint, manufacturers continue to implement disk laser technology with more vigor than ever. This paper will explain recent advances in disk laser technology and process relevant features of the laser, like pump diode arrangement, resonator design and integrated beam guidance. In addition, advances in applications in the thick sheet area and very cost efficient high productivity applications like remote welding, remote cutting and cutting of thin sheets will be discussed.

Beam profile measurement on HITU transducers using a thermal intensity sensor technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilkens, V.; Sonntag, S.; Jenderka, K.-V.

2011-02-01

Thermal intensity sensors based on the transformation of the incident ultrasonic energy into heat inside a small cylindrical absorber have been developed at PTB in the past, in particular to determine the acoustic output of medical diagnostic ultrasound equipment. Currently, this sensor technique is being expanded to match the measurement challenges of high intensity therapeutic ultrasound (HITU) fields. At the high acoustic power levels as utilized in the clinical application of HITU transducers, beam characterization using hydrophones is critical due to the possible damage of the sensitive and expensive measurement devices. Therefore, the low-cost and robust thermal sensors developed offer a promising alternative for the determination of high intensity output beam profiles. A sensor prototype with a spatial resolution of 0.5 mm was applied to the beam characterization of an HITU transducer operated at several driving amplitude levels. Axial beam plots and lateral profiles at focus were acquired. The absolute continuous wave output power was, in addition, determined using a radiation force balance.

High-Brightness Lasers with Spectral Beam Combining on Silicon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stanton, Eric John

Modern implementations of absorption spectroscopy and infrared-countermeasures demand advanced performance and integration of high-brightness lasers, especially in the molecular fingerprint spectral region. These applications, along with others in communication, remote-sensing, and medicine, benefit from the light source comprising a multitude of frequencies. To realize this technology, a single multi-spectral optical beam of near-diffraction-limited divergence is created by combining the outputs from an array of laser sources. Full integration of such a laser is possible with direct bonding of several epitaxially-grown chips to a single silicon (Si) substrate. In this platform, an array of lasers is defined with each gain material, creating a densely spaced set of wavelengths similar to wavelength division multiplexing used in communications. Scaling the brightness of a laser typically involves increasing the active volume to produce more output power. In the direction transverse to the light propagation, larger geometries compromise the beam quality. Lengthening the cavity provides only limited scaling of the output power due to the internal losses. Individual integrated lasers have low brightness due to combination of thermal effects and high optical intensities. With heterogeneous integration, many lasers can be spectrally combined on a single integrated chip to scale brightness in a compact platform. Recent demonstrations of 2.0-microm diode and 4.8-microm quantum cascade lasers on Si have extended this heterogeneous platform beyond the telecommunications band to the mid-infrared. In this work, low-loss beam combining elements spanning the visible to the mid-infrared are developed and a high-brightness multi-spectral laser is demonstrated in the range of 4.6-4.7-microm wavelengths. An architecture is presented where light is combined in multiple stages: first within the gain-bandwidth of each laser material and then coarsely between each spectral band to a single output waveguide. All components are demonstrated on a common material platform with a Si substrate, which lends feasibility to the complete system integration. Particular attention is focused on improving the efficiency of arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs), used in the dense wavelength combining stage. This requires development of a refined characterization technique involving AWGs in a ring-resonator configuration to reduce measurement uncertainty. New levels of low-loss are achieved for visible, near-infrared, and mid-infrared multiplexing devices. Also, a multi-spectral laser in the mid-infrared is demonstrated by integrating an array of quantum cascade lasers and an AWG with Si waveguides. The output power and spectra are measured, demonstrating efficient beam combining and power scaling. Thus, a bright laser source in the mid-infrared has been demonstrated, along with an architecture and the components for incorporating visible and near-infrared optical bands.

Universal modal radiation laws for all thermal emitters

PubMed Central

Zhu, Linxiao; Fan, Shanhui

2017-01-01

We derive four laws relating the absorptivity and emissivity of thermal emitters. Unlike the original Kirchhoff radiation law derivations, these derivations include diffraction, and so are valid also for small objects, and can also cover nonreciprocal objects. The proofs exploit two recent approaches. First, we express all fields in terms of the mode-converter basis sets of beams; these sets, which can be uniquely established for any linear optical object, give orthogonal input beams that are coupled one-by-one to orthogonal output beams. Second, we consider thought experiments using universal linear optical machines, which allow us to couple appropriate beams and black bodies. Two of these laws can be regarded as rigorous extensions of previously known laws: One gives a modal version of a radiation law for reciprocal objects—the absorptivity of any input beam equals the emissivity into the “backward” (i.e., phase-conjugated) version of that beam; another gives the overall equality of the sums of the emissivities and the absorptivities for any object, including nonreciprocal ones. The other two laws, valid for reciprocal and nonreciprocal objects, are quite different from previous relations. One shows universal equivalence of the absorptivity of each mode-converter input beam and the emissivity into its corresponding scattered output beam. The other gives unexpected equivalences of absorptivity and emissivity for broad classes of beams. Additionally, we prove these orthogonal mode-converter sets of input and output beams are the ones that maximize absorptivities and emissivities, respectively, giving these beams surprising additional physical meaning. PMID:28396436

High efficiency and high-energy intra-cavity beam shaping laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Hailong; Meng, Junqing; Chen, Weibiao

2015-09-01

We present a technology of intra-cavity laser beam shaping with theory and experiment to obtain a flat-top-like beam with high-pulse energy. A radial birefringent element (RBE) was used in a crossed Porro prism polarization output coupling resonator to modulate the phase delay radially. The reflectively of a polarizer used as an output mirror was variable radially. A flat-top-like beam with 72.5 mJ, 11 ns at 20 Hz was achieved by a side-pumped Nd:YAG zigzag slab laser, and the optical-to-optical conversion efficiency was 17.3%.

High-repetition-rate, widely tunable terahertz generation in GaSe pumped by a dual-wavelength KTP-OPO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Dexian; Xu, Degang; Wang, Yuye; Shi, Wei; Zhong, Kai; Liu, Pengxiang; Yan, Chao; Sheng, Quan; Mei, Jialin; Shi, Jia; Yao, Jianquan

2016-11-01

High-repetition-rate, monochromatic and tunable terahertz (THz) source is demonstrated. We use an orthogonally polarized dual-wavelength intracavity OPO to complete the type-II phase-matched collinear difference-frequency generation in GaSe. A high average-power 2 μm laser with 12 W output power and good beam quality based on an intracavity KTP OPO is experimentally designed. The KTP OPO is intracavity pumped by an acousto-optical Q-switched side-pumped Nd:YAG with the repetition rate of 10 kHz. Two identical KTP crystals were 7 × 8 × 15 mm3 in size, cut at θ = 51.2°, φ = 0°, which were tuned in the x-z plane to achieve type-II phase-matching. The KTP OPO consists of two identical KTP crystals to reduce the walk-off effect and improve the beam overlap area of the output signal and idler waves. The pulse-width of the 2-μm KTP OPO laser is about 11 ns with the linewidth about 0.8 nm. The focused OPO beam is injected into the uncoated GaSe with the length of 8 mm, and the generated THz wave is detected with a 4.2-K Si-bolometer after focusing with a polyethylene lens. The tunable and coherent radiation from 0.2 to 3 THz has been achieved based on the type-II phase-matching DFG when the two pump waves are in the range of 2.1064 - 2.1272 μm and 2.1516 - 2.1304 μm while symmetrically tuning the phase-matching angle of the KTPs. The maximum output THz average power can reach μW-level around 1.48 THz.

High power ultraviolet light emitting diodes based on GaN /AlGaN quantum wells produced by molecular beam epitaxy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cabalu, J. S.; Bhattacharyya, A.; Thomidis, C.; Friel, I.; Moustakas, T. D.; Collins, C. J.; Komninou, Ph.

2006-11-01

In this paper, we report on the growth by molecular beam epitaxy and fabrication of high power nitride-based ultraviolet light emitting diodes emitting in the spectral range between 340 and 350nm. The devices were grown on (0001) sapphire substrates via plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. The growth of the light emitting diode (LED) structures was preceded by detailed materials studies of the bottom n-AlGaN contact layer, as well as the GaN /AlGaN multiple quantum well (MQW) active region. Specifically, kinetic conditions were identified for the growth of the thick n-AlGaN films to be both smooth and to have fewer defects at the surface. Transmission-electron microscopy studies on identical GaN /AlGaN MQWs showed good quality and well-defined interfaces between wells and barriers. Large area mesa devices (800×800μm2) were fabricated and were designed for backside light extraction. The LEDs were flip-chip bonded onto a Si submount for better heat sinking. For devices emitting at 340nm, the measured differential on-series resistance is 3Ω with electroluminescence spectrum full width at half maximum of 18nm. The output power under dc bias saturates at 0.5mW, while under pulsed operation it saturates at approximately 700mA to a value of 3mW, suggesting that thermal heating limits the efficiency of these devices. The output power of the investigated devices was found to be equivalent with those produced by the metal-organic chemical vapor deposition and hydride vapor-phase epitaxy methods. The devices emitting at 350nm were investigated under dc operation and the output power saturates at 4.5mW under 200mA drive current.

National Ignition Facility Comes to Life

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moses, E

2003-09-01

First conceived of nearly 15 years ago, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) is up and running and successful beyond almost everyone's expectations. During commissioning of the first four laser beams, the laser system met design specifications for everything from beam quality to energy output. NIF will eventually have 192 laser beams. Yet with just 2% of its final beam configuration complete, NIF has already produced the highest energy laser shots in the world. In July, laser shots in the infrared wavelength using four beams produced a total of 26.5 kilojoules of energy per beam, not only meeting NIF's design energymore » requirement of 20 kilojoules per beam but also exceeding the energy of any other infrared laser beamline. In another campaign, NIF produced over 11.4 kilojoules of energy when the infrared light was converted to green light. An earlier performance campaign of laser light that had been frequency converted from infrared to ultraviolet really proved NIF's mettle. Over 10.4 kilojoules of ultraviolet energy were produced in about 4 billionths of a second. If all 192 beamlines were to operate at these levels, over 2 megajoules of energy would result. That much energy for the pulse duration of several nanoseconds is about 500 trillion watts of power, more than 500 times the US peak generating power.« less

A low cost hermetic packaging for high power industry fiber lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ding, Jianwu; Liu, Jinhui

2018-02-01

For water-cooled fiber lasers, humidity and the resulting water-condensation has always been the biggest threat for laser reliability or power degradation, especially when used in harsh industrial environment. Here we present an innovative fiber laser packaging method featuring cast aluminum frame and an almost screw-free exterior packaging. A CW fiber laser with 1.5KW laser output power in such a compact and light-weight package has been demonstrated with an excellent beam quality and power stability for industry applications.

Efficient solar-pumped Nd:YAG laser by a double-stage light-guide/V-groove cavity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Almeida, Joana; Liang, Dawei

2011-05-01

Since the first reported Nd:YAG solar laser, researchers have been exploiting parabolic mirrors and heliostats for enhancing laser output performance. We are now investigating the production of an efficient solar-pumped laser for the reduction of magnesium from magnesium oxide, which could be an alternative solution to fossil fuel. Therefore both high conversion efficiency and excellent beam quality are imperative. By using a single fused silica light guide of rectangular cross section, highly concentrated solar radiation at the focal spot of a stationary parabolic mirror is efficiently transferred to a water-flooded V-groove pump cavity. It allows for the double-pass absorption of pump light along a 4mm diameter, 30mm length, 1.1at% Nd:YAG rod. Optimum pumping parameters and solar laser output power are found through ZEMAXTM non-sequential ray-tracing and LASCADTM laser cavity analysis. 11.0 W of multimode laser output power with excellent beam profile is numerically calculated, corresponding to 6.1W/m2 collection efficiency. To validate the proposed pumping scheme, an experimental setup of the double-stage light-guide/V-groove cavity was built. 78% of highly concentrated solar radiation was efficiently transmitted by the fused silica light guide. The proposed pumping scheme can be an effective solution for enhancing solar laser performances when compared to other side-pump configurations.

Apparatus and method for increasing the bandwidth of a laser beam

DOEpatents

Wilcox, Russell B.

1992-01-01

A method and apparatus using sinusoidal cross-phase modulation, provides a laser pulse having a very broad bandwidth while substantially retaining the input laser's temporal shape. The modulator may be used in a master oscillator system for a laser having a master oscillator-power amplifier (MOPA) configration. The modulator utilizes a first laser providing an output wavelength .lambda. and a second laser providing an output wavelength shifted by a small amount to .lambda.+.DELTA..lambda.. Each beam has a single, linear polarization. Each beam is coupled into a length of polarization-preserving optical fiber. The first laser beam is coupled into the optical fiber with the beam's polarization aligned with the fiber's main axis, and the second beam is coupled into the fiber with its polarization rotated from the main axis by a predetermined angle. Within the fiber, the main axis' polarization defines an interference beam and the orthogonal axis' polarization defines a signal beam. In the interference beam, the first laser beam and the parallel polarized vector component of the other beam interfere to create areas of high and low intensity, which modulates the signal beam by cross phase modulation. Upon exit from the optical fiber, the beams are coupled out and the modulated signal beam is separated out by a polarization selector. The signal beam can be applied to coherence reducing systems to provide an output that is temporally and spatially incoherent. The U.S. Government has rights in this invention pursuant to Contract No. W7405-ENG-48 between the U.S. Department of Energy and the University of California for the operation of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Parameter space for the collective laser coupling in the laser fusion driver based on the concept of fiber amplification network.

PubMed

Huang, Zhihua; Lin, Honghuan; Xu, Dangpeng; Li, Mingzhong; Wang, Jianjun; Deng, Ying; Zhang, Rui; Zhang, Yongliang; Tian, Xiaocheng; Wei, Xiaofeng

2013-07-15

Collective laser coupling of the fiber array in the inertial confinement fusion (ICF) laser driver based on the concept of fiber amplification network (FAN) is researched. The feasible parameter space is given for laser coupling of the fundamental, second and third harmonic waves by neglecting the influence of the frequency conversion on the beam quality under the assumption of beam quality factor conservation. Third harmonic laser coupling is preferred due to its lower output energy requirement from a single fiber amplifier. For coplanar fiber array, the energy requirement is around 0.4 J with an effective mode field diameter of around 500 μm while maintaining the fundamental mode operation which is more than one order of magnitude higher than what can be achieved with state-of-the-art technology. Novel waveguide structure needs to be developed to enlarge the fundamental mode size while mitigating the catastrophic self-focusing effect.

Single-mode large-mode-area laser fiber with ultralow numerical aperture and high beam quality.

PubMed

Peng, Kun; Zhan, Huan; Ni, Li; Wang, Xiaolong; Wang, Yuying; Gao, Cong; Li, Yuwei; Wang, Jianjun; Jing, Feng; Lin, Aoxiang

2016-12-10

By using the chelate precursor doping technique, we report on an ytterbium-doped aluminophosphosilicate (APS) large-mode-area fiber with ultralow numerical aperture of 0.036 and effective fundamental mode area of ∼550  μm². With a bend diameter of 600 mm, the bending loss of fundamental mode LP₀₁ was measured to be <10^-3  dB/m, in agreement with the corresponding simulation results, while that of higher order mode LP₁₁ is >100  dB/m at 1080 nm. Measured in an all-fiber oscillator laser cavity, 592 W single-mode laser output was obtained at 1079.64 nm with high-beam quality M² of 1.12. The results indicate that the chelate precursor doping technique is a competitive method for ultralow numerical aperture fiber fabrication, which is very suitable for developing single-mode seed lasers for high power laser systems.

Means for phase locking the outputs of a surface emitting laser diode array

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lesh, James R. (Inventor)

1987-01-01

An array of diode lasers, either a two-dimensional array of surface emitting lasers, or a linear array of stripe lasers, is phase locked by a diode laser through a hologram which focuses the output of the diode laser into a set of distinct, spatially separated beams, each one focused onto the back facet of a separate diode laser of the array. The outputs of the diode lasers thus form an emitted coherent beam out of the front of the array.

Pulse stretcher

DOEpatents

Horton, J.A.

1994-05-03

Apparatus for increasing the length of a laser pulse to reduce its peak power without substantial loss in the average power of the pulse is disclosed. The apparatus uses a White cell having a plurality of optical delay paths of successively increasing number of passes between the field mirror and the objective mirrors. A pulse from a laser travels through a multi-leg reflective path between a beam splitter and a totally reflective mirror to the laser output. The laser pulse is also simultaneously injected through the beam splitter to the input mirrors of the optical delay paths. The pulses from the output mirrors of the optical delay paths go simultaneously to the laser output and to the input mirrors of the longer optical delay paths. The beam splitter is 50% reflective and 50% transmissive to provide equal attenuation of all of the pulses at the laser output. 6 figures.

SABRE, a 10-MV linear induction accelerator

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Corely, J.P.; Alexander, J.A.; Pankuch, P.J.

SABRE (Sandia Accelerator and Beam Research Experiment) is a 10-MV, 250-kA, 40-ns linear induction accelerator. It was designed to be used in positive polarity output. Positive polarity accelerators are important for application to Sandia's ICF (Inertial Confinement Fusion) and LMF (Laboratory Microfusion Facility) program efforts. SABRE was built to allow a more detailed study of pulsed power issues associated with positive polarity output machines. MITL (Magnetically Insulated Transmission Line) voltage adder efficiency, extraction ion diode development, and ion beam transport and focusing. The SABRE design allows the system to operate in either positive polarity output for ion extraction applications ormore » negative polarity output for more conventional electron beam loads. Details of the design of SABRE and the results of initial machine performance in negative polarity operation are presented in this paper. 13 refs., 12 figs., 1 tab.« less

Piezoelectric energy harvester having planform-tapered interdigitated beams

DOEpatents

Kellogg, Rick A [Tijeras, NM; Sumali, Hartono [Albuquerque, NM

2011-05-24

Embodiments of energy harvesters have a plurality of piezoelectric planform-tapered, interdigitated cantilevered beams anchored to a common frame. The plurality of beams can be arranged as two or more sets of beams with each set sharing a common sense mass affixed to their free ends. Each set thus defined being capable of motion independent of any other set of beams. Each beam can comprise a unimorph or bimorph piezoelectric configuration bonded to a conductive or non-conductive supporting layer and provided with electrical contacts to the active piezoelectric elements for collecting strain induced charge (i.e. energy). The beams are planform tapered along the entirety or a portion of their length thereby increasing the effective stress level and power output of each piezoelectric element, and are interdigitated by sets to increase the power output per unit volume of a harvester thus produced.

Variable energy constant current accelerator structure

DOEpatents

Anderson, O.A.

1988-07-13

A variable energy, constant current ion beam accelerator structure is disclosed comprising an ion source capable of providing the desired ions, a pre-accelerator for establishing an initial energy level, a matching/pumping module having means for focusing means for maintaining the beam current, and at least one main accelerator module for continuing beam focus, with means capable of variably imparting acceleration to the beam so that a constant beam output current is maintained independent of the variable output energy. In a preferred embodiment, quadrupole electrodes are provided in both the matching/pumping module and the one or more accelerator modules, and are formed using four opposing cylinder electrodes which extend parallel to the beam axis and are spaced around the beam at 90/degree/ intervals with opposing electrodes maintained at the same potential. 12 figs., 3 tabs.

Motion detection, novelty filtering, and target tracking using an interferometric technique with a GaAs phase conjugate mirror

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cheng, Li-Jen (Inventor); Liu, Tsuen-Hsi (Inventor)

1990-01-01

A method and apparatus is disclosed for detecting and tracking moving objects in a noise environment cluttered with fast-and slow-moving objects and other time-varying background. A pair of phase conjugate light beams carrying the same spatial information commonly cancel each other out through an image subtraction process in a phase conjugate interferometer, wherein gratings are formed in a fast photo-refractive phase conjugate mirror material. In the steady state, there is no output. When the optical path of one of the two phase conjugate beams is suddenly changed, the return beam loses its phase conjugate nature and the inter-ferometer is out of balance, resulting in an observable output. The observable output lasts until the phase conjugate nature of the beam has recovered. The observable time of the output signal is roughly equal to the formation time of the grating. If the optical path changing time is slower than the formation time, the change of optical path becomes unobservable, because the index grating can follow the change. Thus, objects traveling at speeds which result in a path changing time which is slower than the formation time are not observable and do not clutter the output image view.

SU-G-BRB-04: Automated Output Factor Measurements Using Continuous Data Logging for Linac Commissioning

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhu, X; Li, S; Zheng, D

Purpose: Linac commissioning is a time consuming and labor intensive process, the streamline of which is highly desirable. In particular, manual measurement of output factors for a variety of field sizes and energy greatly hinders the commissioning efficiency. In this study, automated measurement of output factors was demonstrated as ‘one-click’ using data logging of an electrometer. Methods: Beams to be measured were created in the recording and verifying (R&V) system and configured for continuous delivery. An electrometer with an automatic data logging feature enabled continuous data collection for all fields without human intervention. The electrometer saved data into a spreadsheetmore » every 0.5 seconds. A Matlab program was developed to analyze the excel data to monitor and check the data quality. Results: For each photon energy, output factors were measured for five configurations, including open field and four wedges. Each configuration includes 72 fields sizes, ranging from 4×4 to 20×30 cm{sup 2}. Using automation, it took 50 minutes to complete the measurement of 72 field sizes, in contrast to 80 minutes when using the manual approach. The automation avoided the necessity of redundant Linac status checks between fields as in the manual approach. In fact, the only limiting factor in such automation is Linac overheating. The data collection beams in the R&V system are reusable, and the simplified process is less error-prone. In addition, our Matlab program extracted the output factors faithfully from data logging, and the discrepancy between the automatic and manual measurement is within ±0.3%. For two separate automated measurements 30 days apart, consistency check shows a discrepancy within ±1% for 6MV photon with a 60 degree wedge. Conclusion: Automated output factor measurements can save time by 40% when compared with conventional manual approach. This work laid ground for further improvement for the automation of Linac commissioning.« less

High peak current operation of x-ray free-electron laser multiple beam lines by suppressing coherent synchrotron radiation effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hara, Toru; Kondo, Chikara; Inagaki, Takahiro; Togawa, Kazuaki; Fukami, Kenji; Nakazawa, Shingo; Hasegawa, Taichi; Morimoto, Osamu; Yoshioka, Masamichi; Maesaka, Hirokazu; Otake, Yuji; Tanaka, Hitoshi

2018-04-01

The parallel operation of multiple beam lines is an important means to expand the opportunity of user experiments at x-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) facilities. At SPring-8 Angstrom free-electron laser (SACLA), the multi-beam-line operation had been tested using two beam lines, but transverse coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) effects at a dogleg beam transport severely limited the laser performance. To suppress the CSR effects, a new beam optics based on two double bend achromat (DBA) structures was introduced for the dogleg. After the replacement of the beam optics, high peak current bunches of more than 10 kA are now stably transported through the dogleg and the laser pulse output is increased by a factor of 2-3. In the multi-beam-line operation of SACLA, the electron beam parameters, such as the beam energy and peak current, can be adjusted independently for each beam line. Thus the laser output can be optimized and wide spectral tunability is ensured for all beam lines.

Extension of Ko Straight-Beam Displacement Theory to Deformed Shape Predictions of Slender Curved Structures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ko, William L.; Fleischer, Van Tran

2011-01-01

The Ko displacement theory originally developed for shape predictions of straight beams is extended to shape predictions of curved beams. The surface strains needed for shape predictions were analytically generated from finite-element nodal stress outputs. With the aid of finite-element displacement outputs, mathematical functional forms for curvature-effect correction terms are established and incorporated into straight-beam deflection equations for shape predictions of both cantilever and two-point supported curved beams. The newly established deflection equations for cantilever curved beams could provide quite accurate shape predictions for different cantilever curved beams, including the quarter-circle cantilever beam. Furthermore, the newly formulated deflection equations for two-point supported curved beams could provide accurate shape predictions for a range of two-point supported curved beams, including the full-circular ring. Accuracy of the newly developed curved-beam deflection equations is validated through shape prediction analysis of curved beams embedded in the windward shallow spherical shell of a generic crew exploration vehicle. A single-point collocation method for optimization of shape predictions is discussed in detail

Method and apparatus for free-space quantum key distribution in daylight

DOEpatents

Hughes, Richard J.; Buttler, William T.; Lamoreaux, Steve K.; Morgan, George L.; Nordholt, Jane E.; Peterson, C. Glen; Kwiat, Paul G.

2004-06-08

A quantum cryptography apparatus securely generates a key to be used for secure transmission between a sender and a receiver connected by an atmospheric transmission link. A first laser outputs a timing bright light pulse; other lasers output polarized optical data pulses after having been enabled by a random bit generator. Output optics transmit output light from the lasers that is received by receiving optics. A first beam splitter receives light from the receiving optics, where a received timing bright light pulse is directed to a delay circuit for establishing a timing window for receiving light from the lasers and where an optical data pulse from one of the lasers has a probability of being either transmitted by the beam splitter or reflected by the beam splitter. A first polarizer receives transmitted optical data pulses to output one data bit value and a second polarizer receives reflected optical data pulses to output a second data bit value. A computer receives pulses representing receipt of a timing bright timing pulse and the first and second data bit values, where receipt of the first and second data bit values is indexed by the bright timing pulse.

Green high-power tunable external-cavity GaN diode laser at 515  nm.

PubMed

Chi, Mingjun; Jensen, Ole Bjarlin; Petersen, Paul Michael

2016-09-15

A 480 mW green tunable diode laser system is demonstrated for the first time to our knowledge. The laser system is based on a GaN broad-area diode laser and Littrow external-cavity feedback. The green laser system is operated in two modes by switching the polarization direction of the laser beam incident on the grating. When the laser beam is p-polarized, an output power of 50 mW with a tunable range of 9.2 nm is achieved. When the laser beam is s-polarized, an output power of 480 mW with a tunable range of 2.1 nm is obtained. This constitutes the highest output power from a tunable green diode laser system.

Demonstration of KHILS two-color IR projection capability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, Lawrence E.; Coker, Jason S.; Garbo, Dennis L.; Olson, Eric M.; Murrer, Robert Lee, Jr.; Bergin, Thomas P.; Goldsmith, George C., II; Crow, Dennis R.; Guertin, Andrew W.; Dougherty, Michael; Marler, Thomas M.; Timms, Virgil G.

1998-07-01

For more than a decade, there has been considerable discussion about using different IR bands for the detection of low contrast military targets. Theory predicts that a target can have little to no contrast against the background in one IR band while having a discernible signature in another IR band. A significant amount of effort has been invested towards establishing hardware that is capable of simultaneously imaging in two IR bands to take advantage of this phenomenon. Focal plane arrays (FPA) are starting to materialize with this simultaneous two-color imaging capability. The Kinetic Kill Vehicle Hardware-in-the-loop Simulator (KHILS) team of the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Guided Weapons Evaluation Facility (GWEF), both at Eglin AFB, FL, have spent the last 10 years developing the ability to project dynamic IR scenes to imaging IR seekers. Through the Wideband Infrared Scene Projector (WISP) program, the capability to project two simultaneous IR scenes to a dual color seeker has been established at KHILS. WISP utilizes resistor arrays to produce the IR energy. Resistor arrays are not ideal blackbodies. The projection of two IR colors with resistor arrays, therefore, requires two optically coupled arrays. This paper documents the first demonstration of two-color simultaneous projection at KHILS. Agema cameras were used for the measurements. The Agema's HgCdTe detector has responsivity from 4 to 14 microns. A blackbody and two IR filters (MWIR equals 4.2 t 7.4 microns, LWIR equals 7.7 to 13 microns) were used to calibrate the Agema in two bands. Each filter was placed in front of the blackbody one at a time, and the temperature of the blackbody was stepped up in incremental amounts. The output counts from the Agema were recorded at each temperature. This calibration process established the radiance to Agema output count curves for the two bands. The WISP optical system utilizes a dichroic beam combiner to optically couple the two resistor arrays. The transmission path of the beam combiner provided the LWIR (6.75 to 12 microns), while the reflective path produced the MWIR (3 to 6.5 microns). Each resistor array was individually projected into the Agema through the beam combiner at incremental output levels. Once again the Agema's output counts were recorded at each resistor array output level. These projections established the resistor array output to Agema count curves for the MWIR and LWIR resistor arrays. Using the radiance to Agema counts curves, the MWIR and LWIR resistor array output to radiance curves were established. With the calibration curves established, a two-color movie was projected and compared to the generated movie radiance values. By taking care to correctly account for the spectral qualities of the Agema camera, the calibration filters, and the diachroic beam combiner, the projections matched the theoretical calculations. In the near future, a Lockheed- Martin Multiple Quantum Well camera with true two-color IR capability will be tested.

An interval programming model for continuous improvement in micro-manufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ouyang, Linhan; Ma, Yizhong; Wang, Jianjun; Tu, Yiliu; Byun, Jai-Hyun

2018-03-01

Continuous quality improvement in micro-manufacturing processes relies on optimization strategies that relate an output performance to a set of machining parameters. However, when determining the optimal machining parameters in a micro-manufacturing process, the economics of continuous quality improvement and decision makers' preference information are typically neglected. This article proposes an economic continuous improvement strategy based on an interval programming model. The proposed strategy differs from previous studies in two ways. First, an interval programming model is proposed to measure the quality level, where decision makers' preference information is considered in order to determine the weight of location and dispersion effects. Second, the proposed strategy is a more flexible approach since it considers the trade-off between the quality level and the associated costs, and leaves engineers a larger decision space through adjusting the quality level. The proposed strategy is compared with its conventional counterparts using an Nd:YLF laser beam micro-drilling process.

Highly efficient 400  W near-fundamental-mode green thin-disk laser.

PubMed

Piehler, Stefan; Dietrich, Tom; Rumpel, Martin; Graf, Thomas; Ahmed, Marwan Abdou

2016-01-01

We report on the efficient generation of continuous-wave, high-brightness green laser radiation. Green lasers are particularly interesting for reliable and reproducible deep-penetration welding of copper or for pumping Ti:Sa oscillators. By intracavity second-harmonic generation in a thin-disk laser resonator designed for fundamental-mode operation, an output power of up to 403 W is demonstrated at a wavelength of 515 nm with almost diffraction-limited beam quality. The unprecedented optical efficiency of 40.7% of green output power with respect to the pump power of the thin-disk laser is enabled by the intracavity use of a highly efficient grating waveguide mirror, which combines the functions of wavelength stabilization and spectral narrowing, as well as polarization selection in a single element.

Commissioning a passive-scattering proton therapy nozzle for accurate SOBP delivery

PubMed Central

Engelsman, M.; Lu, H.-M.; Herrup, D.; Bussiere, M.; Kooy, H. M.

2009-01-01

Proton radiotherapy centers that currently use passively scattered proton beams do field specific calibrations for a non-negligible fraction of treatment fields, which is time and resource consuming. Our improved understanding of the passive scattering mode of the IBA universal nozzle, especially of the current modulation function, allowed us to re-commission our treatment control system for accurate delivery of SOBPs of any range and modulation, and to predict the output for each of these fields. We moved away from individual field calibrations to a state where continued quality assurance of SOBP field delivery is ensured by limited system-wide measurements that only require one hour per week. This manuscript reports on a protocol for generation of desired SOBPs and prediction of dose output. PMID:19610306

Hollow Gaussian beam generated by beam shaping with phase-only liquid crystal spatial light modulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nie, Yongming; Li, Xiujian; Qi, Junli; Ma, Haotong; Liao, Jiali; Yang, Jiankun; Hu, Wenhua

2012-03-01

Based on the refractive beam shaping system, the transformation of a quasi-Gaussian beam into a dark hollow Gaussian beam by a phase-only liquid crystal spatial light modulator (LC-SLM) is proposed. According to the energy conservation and constant optical path principle, the phase distribution of the aspheric lens and the phase-only LC-SLM can modulate the wave-front properly to generate the hollow beam. The numerical simulation results indicate that, the dark hollow intensity distribution of the output shaped beam can be maintained well for a certain propagation distance during which the dark region will not decrease whereas the ideal hollow Gaussian beam will do. By designing the phase modulation profile, which loaded into the LC-SLM carefully, the experimental results indicate that the dark hollow intensity distribution of the output shaped beam can be maintained well even at a distance much more than 550 mm from the LC-SLM, which agree with the numerical simulation results.

Electro-mechanical control of an on-chip optical beam splitter containing an embedded quantum emitter.

PubMed

Bishop, Z K; Foster, A P; Royall, B; Bentham, C; Clarke, E; Skolnick, M S; Wilson, L R

2018-05-01

We demonstrate electro-mechanical control of an on-chip GaAs optical beam splitter containing a quantum dot single-photon source. The beam splitter consists of two nanobeam waveguides, which form a directional coupler (DC). The splitting ratio of the DC is controlled by varying the out-of-plane separation of the two waveguides using electromechanical actuation. We reversibly tune the beam splitter between an initial state, with emission into both output arms, and a final state with photons emitted into a single output arm. The device represents a compact and scalable tuning approach for use in III-V semiconductor integrated quantum optical circuits.

Experimental demonstration of an optical phased array antenna for laser space communications.

PubMed

Neubert, W M; Kudielka, K H; Leeb, W R; Scholtz, A L

1994-06-20

The feasibility of an optical phased array antenna applicable for spaceborne laser communications was experimentally demonstrated. Heterodyne optical phase-locked loops provide for a defined phase relationship between the collimated output beams of three single-mode fibers. In the far field the beams interfere with a measured efficiency of 99%. The main lobe of the interference pattern can be moved by phase shifting the subaperture output beams. The setup permitted agile beam steering within an angular range of 1 mr and a response time of 0.7 ms. We propose an operational optical phased array antenna fed by seven lasers, featuring high transmit power and redundance.

The TIL commissioning and performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, X.; Zheng, W.; Wei, X.; Jing, F.; Sui, Z.; Zheng, K.; Xu, Q.; Yuan, X.; Jiang, X.; Yang, L.; Ma, P.; Li, M.; Wang, J.; Hu, D.; He, S.; Li, F.; Peng, Z.; Feng, B.; Zhou, H.; Guo, L.; Li, X.; Zhang, X.; Su, J.; Zhu, Q.; Yu, H.; Zhao, R.; Ma, C.; He, H.; Fan, D.; Zhang, W.

2008-05-01

The TIL serves for both technological platforms for SG-III construction and physical experiments to study and understand target physics toward ignition and plasma burning [2]. The TIL has been designed to produce 10kJ blue light. Its eight-beam are stacked 4 high by 2 wide, The clear optical aperture is 30cm×30cm The cavity and booster amplifiers have 9 and 6 glass slabs respectively, with thickness of 3.8cm. The cavity is a four-pass amplification stage with the seed pulse injected through its cavity spatial filter, while the booster a single pass amplification stage. The commissioning experiments have successfully been conducted to test the output and control abilities of the system. A single beam line of TIL produced 3-ns pulse of 1645 Joule blue light at the target, which demonstrated that the TIL can deliver ten-thousand-joule blue light to the target. Beam qualities have been investigated jointly with the laser chain simulations using the SG-99 code. The wavefront distortions of the beams will be improved by deformable mirrors.

Matching optics for Gaussian beams

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gunter, William D. (Inventor)

1991-01-01

A system of matching optics for Gaussian beams is described. The matching optics system is positioned between a light beam emitter (such as a laser) and the input optics of a second optics system whereby the output from the light beam emitter is converted into an optimum input for the succeeding parts of the second optical system. The matching optics arrangement includes the combination of a light beam emitter, such as a laser with a movable afocal lens pair (telescope) and a single movable lens placed in the laser's output beam. The single movable lens serves as an input to the telescope. If desired, a second lens, which may be fixed, is positioned in the beam before the adjustable lens to serve as an input processor to the movable lens. The system provides the ability to choose waist diameter and position independently and achieve the desired values with two simple adjustments not requiring iteration.

Dosimetric verification of gated delivery of electron beams using a 2D ion chamber array

PubMed Central

Yoganathan, S. A.; Das, K. J. Maria; Raj, D. Gowtham; Kumar, Shaleen

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the dosimetric characteristics; such as beam output, symmetry and flatness between gated and non-gated electron beams. Dosimetric verification of gated delivery was carried for all electron beams available on Varian CL 2100CD medical linear accelerator. Measurements were conducted for three dose rates (100 MU/min, 300 MU/min and 600 MU/min) and two respiratory motions (breathing period of 4s and 8s). Real-time position management (RPM) system was used for the gated deliveries. Flatness and symmetry values were measured using Imatrixx 2D ion chamber array device and the beam output was measured using plane parallel ion chamber. These detector systems were placed over QUASAR motion platform which was programmed to simulate the respiratory motion of target. The dosimetric characteristics of gated deliveries were compared with non-gated deliveries. The flatness and symmetry of all the evaluated electron energies did not differ by more than 0.7 % with respect to corresponding non-gated deliveries. The beam output variation of gated electron beam was less than 0.6 % for all electron energies except for 16 MeV (1.4 %). Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that Varian CL2100 CD is well suitable for gated delivery of non-dynamic electron beams. PMID:26170552

Narrow-linewidth, quasi-continuous-wave ASE source based on a multiple-pass Nd:YAG zigzag slab amplifier configuration.

PubMed

Chen, Xiaoming; Lu, Yanhua; Hu, Hao; Tong, Lixin; Zhang, Lei; Yu, Yi; Wang, Juntao; Ren, Huaijin; Xu, Liu

2018-03-05

We present investigations into a narrow-linewidth, quasi-continuous-wave pulsed all-solid-state amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) source by use of a novel multiple-pass zigzag slab amplifier. The SE fluorescence emitted from a Nd:YAG slab active medium acts as the seed and is amplified back and forth 8 times through the same slab. Thanks to the angular multiplexing nature of the zigzag slab, high-intensity 1064-nm ASE output can be produced without unwanted self-lasing in this configuration. Experimentally, the output energy, optical conversion efficiency, pulse dynamics, spectral property, and beam quality of the ASE source are studied when the Nd:YAG slab end-pumped by two high-brightness laser diode arrays. The maximum single pulse energy of 347 mJ is generated with an optical efficiency of ~5.9% and a beam quality of 3.5/17 in the thickness/width direction of the slab. As expected, smooth pulses without relaxing spikes and continuous spectra are achieved. Moreover, the spectral width of the ASE source narrows versus the pump energy, getting a 3-dB linewidth of as narrow as 20 pm (i.e. 5.3 GHz). Via the sum frequency generation, high-intensity, smooth-pulse, and narrow-linewidth ASE sources are preferred for solving the major problem of saturation of the mesospheric sodium atoms and can create a much brighter sodium guide star to meet the needs of adaptive imaging applications in astronomy.

Cyan laser diode grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Turski, H., E-mail: henryk@unipress.waw.pl; Muziol, G.; Wolny, P.

We demonstrate AlGaN-cladding-free laser diodes (LDs), operating in continuous wave (CW) mode at 482 nm grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE). The maximum CW output power was 230 mW. LDs were grown on c-plane GaN substrates obtained by hydride vapor phase epitaxy. The PAMBE process was carried out in metal-rich conditions, supplying high nitrogen flux (Φ{sub N}) during quantum wells (QWs) growth. We found that high Φ{sub N} improves quality of high In content InGaN QWs. The role of nitrogen in the growth of InGaN on (0001) GaN surface as well as the influence of LDs design on threshold currentmore » density are discussed.« less

Electrode Coverage Optimization for Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting from Tip Excitation

PubMed Central

Chen, Guangzhu; Bai, Nan

2018-01-01

Piezoelectric energy harvesting using cantilever-type structures has been extensively investigated due to its potential application in providing power supplies for wireless sensor networks, but the low output power has been a bottleneck for its further commercialization. To improve the power conversion capability, a piezoelectric beam with different electrode coverage ratios is studied theoretically and experimentally in this paper. A distributed-parameter theoretical model is established for a bimorph piezoelectric beam with the consideration of the electrode coverage area. The impact of the electrode coverage on the capacitance, the output power and the optimal load resistance are analyzed, showing that the piezoelectric beam has the best performance with an electrode coverage of 66.1%. An experimental study was then carried out to validate the theoretical results using a piezoelectric beam fabricated with segmented electrodes. The experimental results fit well with the theoretical model. A 12% improvement on the Root-Mean-Square (RMS) output power was achieved with the optimized electrode converge ratio (66.1%). This work provides a simple approach to utilizing piezoelectric beams in a more efficient way. PMID:29518934

SU-E-T-665: Radiochromic Film Quenching Effect Reduction for Proton Beam Dosimetry

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aldelaijan, S; Alzorkany, F; Moftah, B

2015-06-15

Purpose: Depending on the useful dose range in which radiochromic films operate, number of different radiochromic film models have been designed. The impact of different film models on quenching effect for percent depth dose (PDD) measurements in proton beams has been investigated. Methods: Calibrated PTW Markus ionization chamber was used to measure PDD and beam output for 26.5 MeV protons produced by CS30 cyclotron. An aluminum cylinder was added in front of the beam exit serving as a radiation shutter. The measured signal was normalized to a monitor chamber reading and subsequently scaled by ratio of water-to-air stopping powers atmore » given depth, while the effective depth of measurements was scaled by ratios of material-to-water physical densities and CSDA ranges. Output was measured in water at 2.1 mm reference-depth in the plateau upstream from the Bragg peak. Following the TRS-398 reference dosimetry protocol for proton beams, the output was calibrated in water. Three radiochromic film models (EBT, EBT3 and HD-V2) were calibrated within Lexan phantom positioned at the same water-equivalent depth. Thicknesses of films sensitive layers were 34 µm, 30 µm and 8 µm, respectively. Small film pieces (1 x 2 cm{sup 2}) were positioned within polyethylene phantom along the beam central axis with an angulation of 5° for PDD measurements. Results: While the output of the proton beam was found to be around 7 Gy/sec, the actual value of the output per monitor chamber reading (2.32 Gy/nC) was used for reference-dose irradiations during film calibration. Dose ratios at the Bragg peak relative to the reference-depth were 3.88, 2.52, 2.19, and 2.02 for the Markus chamber, HD-V2, EBT3, and EBT film models, respectively. Conclusion: Results at hand suggest that quenching effect is reduced when a radiochromic film model with smaller sensitive layer thickness is used for PDD measurements in proton beams. David Lewis is the owner of RCF Consulting, LLC.« less

STUDIES OF A FREE ELECTRON LASER DRIVEN BY A LASER-PLASMA ACCELERATOR

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Montgomery, A.; Schroeder, C.; Fawley, W.

A free electron laser (FEL) uses an undulator, a set of alternating magnets producing a periodic magnetic fi eld, to stimulate emission of coherent radiation from a relativistic electron beam. The Lasers, Optical Accelerator Systems Integrated Studies (LOASIS) group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) will use an innovative laserplasma wakefi eld accelerator to produce an electron beam to drive a proposed FEL. In order to optimize the FEL performance, the dependence on electron beam and undulator parameters must be understood. Numerical modeling of the FEL using the simulation code GINGER predicts the experimental results for given input parameters. Amongmore » the parameters studied were electron beam energy spread, emittance, and mismatch with the undulator focusing. Vacuum-chamber wakefi elds were also simulated to study their effect on FEL performance. Energy spread was found to be the most infl uential factor, with output FEL radiation power sharply decreasing for relative energy spreads greater than 0.33%. Vacuum chamber wakefi elds and beam mismatch had little effect on the simulated LOASIS FEL at the currents considered. This study concludes that continued improvement of the laser-plasma wakefi eld accelerator electron beam will allow the LOASIS FEL to operate in an optimal regime, producing high-quality XUV and x-ray pulses.« less

Video Guidance Sensor System With Integrated Rangefinding

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Book, Michael L. (Inventor); Bryan, Thomas C. (Inventor); Howard, Richard T. (Inventor); Roe, Fred Davis, Jr. (Inventor); Bell, Joseph L. (Inventor)

2006-01-01

A video guidance sensor system for use, p.g., in automated docking of a chase vehicle with a target vehicle. The system includes an integrated rangefinder sub-system that uses time of flight measurements to measure range. The rangefinder sub-system includes a pair of matched photodetectors for respectively detecting an output laser beam and return laser beam, a buffer memory for storing the photodetector outputs, and a digitizer connected to the buffer memory and including dual amplifiers and analog-to-digital converters. A digital signal processor processes the digitized output to produce a range measurement.

Paint stripping with high power flattened Gaussian beams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Forbes, Andrew; du Preez, Neil C.; Belyi, Vladimir; Botha, Lourens R.

2009-08-01

In this paper we present results on improved paint stripping performance with an intra-cavity generated Flattened Gaussian Beam (FGB). A resonator with suitable diffractive optical elements was designed in order to produce a single mode flat-top like laser beam as the output. The design was implemented in a TEA CO2 laser outputting more than 5 J per pulse in the desired mode. The FGB showed improved performance in a paint stripping application due to its uniformity of intensity, and high energy extraction from the cavity.

Enhancement of the output power of terahertz folded waveguide oscillator by two parallel electron beams

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Ke, E-mail: like.3714@163.com; Cao, Miaomiao, E-mail: mona486@yeah.net; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190

2015-11-15

A novel two-beam folded waveguide (FW) oscillator is presented for the purpose of gaining higher power with a small-size circuit compared with the normal FW oscillator. The high-frequency characteristics of the two-beam FW, including dispersion and interaction impedance, were investigated by the numerical simulation and compared with the one-beam FW. The radio-frequency loss of the two-beam FW was also analyzed. A 3-D particle-in-cell code CHIPIC was applied to analyze and optimize the performance of a G-band two-beam FW oscillator. The influences of the distance between the two beam tunnels, beam voltage, the number of periods, magnetic field, radius of beammore » tunnel, and the packing ratio on the circuit performance are investigated in detail. Compared with a one-beam circuit, a larger output power of the two-beam circuit with the same beam power was observed by the simulation. Moreover, the start-oscillation current of two-beam circuit is much lower than the one-beam circuit with better performance. It will favor the miniaturized design of the high-power terahertz oscillator.« less

Dedicated Cone-Beam CT System for Extremity Imaging

PubMed Central

Al Muhit, Abdullah; Zbijewski, Wojciech; Thawait, Gaurav K.; Stayman, J. Webster; Packard, Nathan; Senn, Robert; Yang, Dong; Foos, David H.; Yorkston, John; Siewerdsen, Jeffrey H.

2014-01-01

Purpose To provide initial assessment of image quality and dose for a cone-beam computed tomographic (CT) scanner dedicated to extremity imaging. Materials and Methods A prototype cone-beam CT scanner has been developed for imaging the extremities, including the weight-bearing lower extremities. Initial technical assessment included evaluation of radiation dose measured as a function of kilovolt peak and tube output (in milliampere seconds), contrast resolution assessed in terms of the signal difference–to-noise ratio (SDNR), spatial resolution semiquantitatively assessed by using a line-pair module from a phantom, and qualitative evaluation of cadaver images for potential diagnostic value and image artifacts by an expert CT observer (musculoskeletal radiologist). Results The dose for a nominal scan protocol (80 kVp, 108 mAs) was 9 mGy (absolute dose measured at the center of a CT dose index phantom). SDNR was maximized with the 80-kVp scan technique, and contrast resolution was sufficient for visualization of muscle, fat, ligaments and/or tendons, cartilage joint space, and bone. Spatial resolution in the axial plane exceeded 15 line pairs per centimeter. Streaks associated with x-ray scatter (in thicker regions of the patient—eg, the knee), beam hardening (about cortical bone—eg, the femoral shaft), and cone-beam artifacts (at joint space surfaces oriented along the scanning plane—eg, the interphalangeal joints) presented a slight impediment to visualization. Cadaver images (elbow, hand, knee, and foot) demonstrated excellent visibility of bone detail and good soft-tissue visibility suitable to a broad spectrum of musculoskeletal indications. Conclusion A dedicated extremity cone-beam CT scanner capable of imaging upper and lower extremities (including weight-bearing examinations) provides sufficient image quality and favorable dose characteristics to warrant further evaluation for clinical use. © RSNA, 2013 Online supplemental material is available for this article. PMID:24475803

Highly Efficient Small Form Factor LED Retrofit Lamp

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Steven Allen; Fred Palmer; Ming Li

2011-09-11

This report summarizes work to develop a high efficiency LED-based MR16 lamp downlight at OSRAM SYLVANIA under US Department of Energy contract DE-EE0000611. A new multichip LED package, electronic driver, and reflector optic were developed for these lamps. At steady-state, the lamp luminous flux was 409 lumens (lm), luminous efficacy of 87 lumens per watt (LPW), CRI (Ra) of 87, and R9 of 85 at a correlated color temperature (CCT) of 3285K. The LED alone achieved 120 lumens per watt efficacy and 600 lumen flux output at 25 C. The driver had 90% electrical conversion efficiency while maintaining excellent powermore » quality with power factor >0.90 at a power of only 5 watts. Compared to similar existing MR16 lamps using LED sources, these lamps had much higher efficacy and color quality. The objective of this work was to demonstrate a LED-based MR16 retrofit lamp for replacement of 35W halogen MR16 lamps having (1) luminous flux of 500 lumens, (2) luminous efficacy of 100 lumens per watt, (3) beam angle less than 40{sup o} and center beam candlepower of at least 1000 candelas, and (4) excellent color quality.« less

Energy correction factors of LiF powder TLDs irradiated in high-energy electron beams and applied to mailed dosimetry for quality assurance networks.

PubMed

Marre, D; Ferreira, I H; Bridier, A; Björeland, A; Svensson, H; Dutreix, A; Chavaudra, J

2000-12-01

Absorbed dose determination with thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) generally relies on calibration in 60Co gamma-ray reference beams. The energy correction factor fCo(E) for electron beams takes into account the difference between the response of the TLD in the beam of energy E and in the 60Co gamma-ray beam. In this work, fCo(E) was evaluated for an LiF powder irradiated in electron beams of 6 to 20 MeV (Varian 2300C/D) and 10 to 50 MeV (Racetrack MM50), and its variation with electron energy, TLD size and nature of the surrounding medium was also studied for LiF powder. The results have been applied to the ESTRO-EQUAL mailed dosimetry quality assurance network. Monte Carlo calculations (EGS4, PENELOPE) and experiments have been performed for the LiF powder (rho = 1.4 g cm3) (DTL937, Philitech, France), read on a home made reader and a PCL3 automatic reader (Fimel, France). The TLDs were calibrated using Fricke dosimetry and compared with three ionization chambers (NE2571, NACP02, ROOS). The combined uncertainties in the experimental fCo(E) factors determined in this work are less than about 0.4% (1 SD), which is appreciably smaller than the uncertainties up to 1.4% (1 SD) reported for other calculated values in the literature. Concerning the Varian 2300C/D beams, the measured fCo(E) values decrease from 1.065 to 1.049 +/- 0.004 (1 SD) when the energy at depth in water increases from 2.6 to 14.1 MeV; the agreement with Monte Carlo calculations is better than 0.5%. For the Racetrack MM50 pulsed-scanned beams, the average experimental value of fCo(E) is 1.071 +/- 0.005 (1 SD) for a mean electron energy at depth Ez ranging from 4.3 to 36.3 MeV: fCo(E) is up to 2% higher for the MM50 beams than for the 2300C/D beams in the range of the tested energies. The energy correction factor for LiF powder (3 mm diameter and 15 mm length) varies with beam quality and type (pulsed or pulsed-scanning), cavity size and nature of the surrounding medium. The fCo(E) values obtained for the LiF powder (3 mm diameter and 15 mm length) irradiated in water, have been applied to the EQUAL external audit network, leading to a good agreement between stated and measured doses, with a mean value of 1.002 +/- 0.022 (1 SD), for 170 beam outputs checked (36 electron beam energies) in 13 'reference' radiotherapy centres in Europe. Such fCo(E) data improve the accuracy of the absorbed dose TLD determination in electron beams, justifying their use for quality control in radiotherapy.

Laser beam control device

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Marshall, H.L.

1976-01-06

The shutter and beam expander for diverting the output of a high power laser into an absorption body comprises a onepiece metallic structure having a convex spherically shaped portion adapted to be moved into the beam path for simultaneously reflecting and expanding the beam into energy absorption material.

Compact dual-wavelength Nd:GdVO4 laser working at 1063 and 1065 nm.

PubMed

Wu, Bo; Jiang, Peipei; Yang, Dingzhong; Chen, Tao; Kong, Jian; Shen, Yonghang

2009-04-13

We report a compact diode-laser pumped Nd:GdVO(4) laser with stable dual-wavelength output at 1063 nm and 1065 nm simultaneously. Two types of resonant cavity configurations were presented to support the stable dual-wavelength operation of the laser. Using a polarization beam splitter(PBS) included T-shaped cavity, we obtained a total power output over 5 W in two orthogonal polarized beam directions with 4 W in sigma polarization (1065.5 nm) and 1 W in pi polarization (1063.1 nm). By combining a half-wave-plate with the PBS in the laser cavity, a new configuration favoring one beam direction dual-wavelength output with same polarization direction was realized. A phenomenon of further line splitting was observed in both 1065 nm and 1063 nm.

Optical device with conical input and output prism faces

DOEpatents

Brunsden, Barry S.

1981-01-01

A device for radially translating radiation in which a right circular cylinder is provided at each end thereof with conical prism faces. The faces are oppositely extending and the device may be severed in the middle and separated to allow access to the central part of the beam. Radiation entering the input end of the device is radially translated such that radiation entering the input end at the perimeter is concentrated toward the output central axis and radiation at the input central axis is dispersed toward the output perimeter. Devices are disclosed for compressing beam energy to enhance drilling techniques, for beam manipulation of optical spatial frequencies in the Fourier plane and for simplification of dark field and color contrast microscopy. Both refracting and reflecting devices are disclosed.

Phase-locking of an axisymmetric-fold combination cavity CO2 laser using the back surface of the output-mirror

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Yonggen; Li, Yude; Feng, Ting; Qiu, Yi

2009-12-01

The principle of phase-locking of an axisymmetric fold combination cavity CO2 laser, fulfilled by the reflection-injection of the back surface of the output-mirror, has been studied in detail. Variation of the equiphase surface and the influence of some characteristic parameters on phase-locking are analyzed—for example, phase error, changes in the cavity length and curvature radius, line-width and temperature. It is shown that the injected beam can excite a stable mode in the cavities, and the value of the energy coupling coefficient directly reflects the degree of phase-locking. Therefore, the output beams have a fixed phase relation between each other, and good coherent beams can be obtained by using the phase-locking method.

Wavelength-conserving grating router for intermediate wavelength density

DOEpatents

Deri, Robert J.; Patel, Rajesh R.; Bond, Steven W.; Bennett, Cory V.

2007-03-20

A wavelength router to be used for fiber optical networking router is based on a diffraction grating which utilizes only N wavelengths to interconnect N inputs to N outputs. The basic approach is to augment the grating with additional couplers or wavelength selective elements so than N-1 of the 2N-1 outputs are combined with other N outputs (leaving only N outputs). One embodiment uses directional couplers as combiners. Another embodiment uses wavelength-selective couplers. Another embodiment uses a pair of diffraction gratings to maintain parallel propagation of all optical beams. Also, beam combining can be implemented either by using retroflection back through the grating pair or by using couplers.

Comprehensive quality assurance phantom for the small animal radiation research platform (SARRP)

PubMed Central

Jermoumi, M.; Korideck, H.; Bhagwat, M.; Zygmanski, P.; Makrigiogos, G.M.; Berbeco, R.I.; Cormack, R.C.; Ngwa, W.

2016-01-01

Purpose To develop and test the suitability and performance of a comprehensive quality assurance (QA) phantom for the Small Animal Radiation Research Platform (SARRP). Methods and materials A QA phantom was developed for carrying out daily, monthly and annual QA tasks including: imaging, dosimetry and treatment planning system (TPS) performance evaluation of the SARRP. The QA phantom consists of 15 (60 × 60 × 5 mm3) kV-energy tissue equivalent solid water slabs. The phantom can incorporate optically stimulated luminescence dosimeters (OSLD), Mosfet or film. One slab, with inserts and another slab with hole patterns are particularly designed for image QA. Results Output constancy measurement results showed daily variations within 3%. Using the Mosfet in phantom as target, results showed that the difference between TPS calculations and measurements was within 5%. Annual QA results for the Percentage depth dose (PDD) curves, lateral beam profiles, beam flatness and beam profile symmetry were found consistent with results obtained at commissioning. PDD curves obtained using film and OSLDs showed good agreement. Image QA was performed monthly, with image-quality parameters assessed in terms of CBCT image geometric accuracy, CT number accuracy, image spatial resolution, noise and image uniformity. Conclusions The results show that the developed QA phantom can be employed as a tool for comprehensive performance evaluation of the SARRP. The study provides a useful reference for development of a comprehensive quality assurance program for the SARRP and other similar small animal irradiators, with proposed tolerances and frequency of required tests. PMID:25964129

Comprehensive quality assurance phantom for the small animal radiation research platform (SARRP).

PubMed

Jermoumi, M; Korideck, H; Bhagwat, M; Zygmanski, P; Makrigiogos, G M; Berbeco, R I; Cormack, R C; Ngwa, W

2015-07-01

To develop and test the suitability and performance of a comprehensive quality assurance (QA) phantom for the Small Animal Radiation Research Platform (SARRP). A QA phantom was developed for carrying out daily, monthly and annual QA tasks including: imaging, dosimetry and treatment planning system (TPS) performance evaluation of the SARRP. The QA phantom consists of 15 (60 × 60 × 5 mm(3)) kV-energy tissue equivalent solid water slabs. The phantom can incorporate optically stimulated luminescence dosimeters (OSLD), Mosfet or film. One slab, with inserts and another slab with hole patterns are particularly designed for image QA. Output constancy measurement results showed daily variations within 3%. Using the Mosfet in phantom as target, results showed that the difference between TPS calculations and measurements was within 5%. Annual QA results for the Percentage depth dose (PDD) curves, lateral beam profiles, beam flatness and beam profile symmetry were found consistent with results obtained at commissioning. PDD curves obtained using film and OSLDs showed good agreement. Image QA was performed monthly, with image-quality parameters assessed in terms of CBCT image geometric accuracy, CT number accuracy, image spatial resolution, noise and image uniformity. The results show that the developed QA phantom can be employed as a tool for comprehensive performance evaluation of the SARRP. The study provides a useful reference for development of a comprehensive quality assurance program for the SARRP and other similar small animal irradiators, with proposed tolerances and frequency of required tests. Copyright © 2015 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pulsed laser facilities operating from UV to IR at the Gas Laser Lab of the Lebedev Institute

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ionin, Andrei; Kholin, Igor; Vasil'Ev, Boris; Zvorykin, Vladimir

2003-05-01

Pulsed laser facilities developed at the Gas Lasers Lab of the Lebedev Physics Institute and their applications for different laser-matter interactions are discussed. The lasers operating from UV to mid-IR spectral region are as follows: e-beam pumped KrF laser (λ= 0.248 μm) with output energy 100 J; e-beam sustained discharge CO2(10.6 μm) and fundamental band CO (5-6 μm) lasers with output energy up to ~1 kJ; overtone CO laser (2.5-4.2 μm) with output energy ~ 50 J and N2O laser (10.9 μm) with output energy of 100 J; optically pumped NH3 laser (11-14 μm). Special attention is paid to an e-beam sustained discharge Ar-Xe laser (1.73 μm ~ 100 J) as a potential candidate for a laser-propulsion facility. The high energy laser facilities are used for interaction of laser radiation with polymer materials, metals, graphite, rocks, etc.

All-fiber 7x1 signal combiner for incoherent laser beam combining

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noordegraaf, D.; Maack, M. D.; Skovgaard, P. M. W.; Johansen, J.; Becker, F.; Belke, S.; Blomqvist, M.; Laegsgaard, J.

2011-02-01

We demonstrate an all-fiber 7x1 signal combiner for incoherent laser beam combining. This is a potential key component for reaching several kW of stabile laser output power. The combiner couples the output from 7 single-mode (SM) fiber lasers into a single multi-mode (MM) fiber. The input signal fibers have a core diameter of 17 μm and the output MM fiber has a core diameter of 100 μm. In a tapered section light gradually leaks out of the SM fibers and is captured by a surrounding fluorine-doped cladding. The combiner is tested up to 2.5 kW of combined output power and only a minor increase in device temperature is observed. At an intermediate power level of 600 W a beam parameter product (BPP) of 2.22 mm x mrad is measured, corresponding to an M2 value of 6.5. These values are approaching the theoretical limit dictated by brightness conservation.

Megavoltage cargo radiography with dual energy material decomposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shikhaliev, Polad M.

2018-02-01

Megavoltage (MV) radiography has important applications in imaging large cargos for detecting illicit materials. A useful feature of MV radiography is the possibility of decomposing and quantifying materials with different atomic numbers. This can be achieved by imaging cargo at two different X-ray energies, or dual energy (DE) radiography. The performance of both single energy and DE radiography depends on beam energy, beam filtration, radiation dose, object size, and object content. The purpose of this work was to perform comprehensive qualitative and quantitative investigations of the image quality in MV radiography depending on the above parameters. A digital phantom was designed including Fe background with thicknesses of 2cm, 6cm, and 18cm, and materials samples of Polyethylene, Fe, Pb, and U. The single energy images were generated at x-ray beam energies 3.5MV, 6MV, and 9MV. The DE material decomposed images were generated using interlaced low and high energy beams 3.5/6MV and 6/9MV. The X-ray beams were filtered by low-Z (Polyethylene) and high-Z (Pb) filters with variable thicknesses. The radiation output of the accelerator was kept constant for all beam energies. The image quality metrics was signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the particular sample over a particular background. It was found that the SNR depends on the above parameters in a complex way, but can be optimized by selecting a particular set of parameters. For some imaging setups increased filter thicknesses, while strongly absorbing the beams, increased the SNR of material decomposed images. Beam hardening due to polyenergetic x-ray spectra resulted in material decomposition errors, but this could be addressed using region of interest decomposition. It was shown that it is not feasible to separate the materials with close atomic numbers using the DE method. Particularly, Pb and U were difficult to decompose, at least at the dose levels allowed by radiation source and safety requirements.

Monte Carlo modeling of HD120 multileaf collimator on Varian TrueBeam linear accelerator for verification of 6X and 6X FFF VMAT SABR treatment plans

PubMed Central

Gete, Ermias; Duzenli, Cheryl; Teke, Tony

2014-01-01

A Monte Carlo (MC) validation of the vendor‐supplied Varian TrueBeam 6 MV flattened (6X) phase‐space file and the first implementation of the Siebers‐Keall MC MLC model as applied to the HD120 MLC (for 6X flat and 6X flattening filterfree (6X FFF) beams) are described. The MC model is validated in the context of VMAT patient‐specific quality assurance. The Monte Carlo commissioning process involves: 1) validating the calculated open‐field percentage depth doses (PDDs), profiles, and output factors (OF), 2) adapting the Siebers‐Keall MLC model to match the new HD120‐MLC geometry and material composition, 3) determining the absolute dose conversion factor for the MC calculation, and 4) validating this entire linac/MLC in the context of dose calculation verification for clinical VMAT plans. MC PDDs for the 6X beams agree with the measured data to within 2.0% for field sizes ranging from 2 × 2 to 40 × 40 cm2. Measured and MC profiles show agreement in the 50% field width and the 80%‐20% penumbra region to within 1.3 mm for all square field sizes. MC OFs for the 2 to 40 cm2 square fields agree with measurement to within 1.6%. Verification of VMAT SABR lung, liver, and vertebra plans demonstrate that measured and MC ion chamber doses agree within 0.6% for the 6X beam and within 2.0% for the 6X FFF beam. A 3D gamma factor analysis demonstrates that for the 6X beam, > 99% of voxels meet the pass criteria (3%/3 mm). For the 6X FFF beam, > 94% of voxels meet this criteria. The TrueBeam accelerator delivering 6X and 6X FFF beams with the HD120 MLC can be modeled in Monte Carlo to provide an independent 3D dose calculation for clinical VMAT plans. This quality assurance tool has been used clinically to verify over 140 6X and 16 6X FFF TrueBeam treatment plans. PACS number: 87.55.K‐ PMID:24892341

Design of 150W, 105-μm, 0.22NA, fiber coupled laser diode module by ZEMAX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qi, Yunfei; Zhao, Pengfei; Chen, Qing; Wu, Yulong; Chen, Yongqi; Zou, Yonggang; Lin, Xuechun

2016-10-01

We represent a design of a high brightness, fiber coupled diode laser module based on 16 single emitters at 915nm. The module can produce more than 150 Watts output power from a standard fiber with core diameter of 105μm and numerical aperture (NA) of 0.22. To achieve a high power and high brightness laser beam, the spatial beam combination and polarization beam combination are used to combine output of 16 single emitters into a single beam, and then an aspheric lens is used to couple the combined beam into an optical fiber. The simulation show that the total coupling efficiency is more than 95% and the highest brightness is estimated to be 11MW/ (cm2*sr).

Beam shaping in high-power laser systems with using refractive beam shapers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laskin, Alexander; Laskin, Vadim

2012-06-01

Beam Shaping of the spatial (transverse) profile of laser beams is highly desirable by building optical systems of high-power lasers as well in various applications with these lasers. Pumping of the crystals of Ti:Sapphire lasers by the laser radiation with uniform (flattop) intensity profile improves performance of these ultrashort pulse high-power lasers in terms of achievable efficiency, peak-power and stability, output beam profile. Specifications of the solid-state lasers built according to MOPA configuration can be also improved when radiation of the master oscillator is homogenized and then is amplified by the power amplifier. Features of building these high power lasers require that a beam shaping solution should be capable to work with single mode and multimode beams, provide flattop and super-Gauss intensity distributions, the consistency and divergence of a beam after the intensity re-distribution should be conserved and low absorption provided. These specific conditions are perfectly fulfilled by the refractive field mapping beam shapers due to their unique features: almost lossless intensity profile transformation, low output divergence, high transmittance and flatness of output beam profile, extended depth of field, adaptability to real intensity profiles of TEM00 and multimode laser sources. Combining of the refractive field mapping beam shapers with other optical components, like beam-expanders, relay imaging lenses, anamorphic optics makes it possible to generate the laser spots of necessary shape, size and intensity distribution. There are plenty of applications of high-power lasers where beam shaping bring benefits: irradiating photocathode of Free Electron Lasers (FEL), material ablation, micromachining, annealing in display making techniques, cladding, heat treating and others. This paper will describe some design basics of refractive beam shapers of the field mapping type, with emphasis on the features important for building and applications of high-power laser sources. There will be presented results of applying the refractive beam shapers in real installations.

SU-F-T-487: On-Site Beam Matching of An Elekta Infinity with Agility MLC with An Elekta Versa HD

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nelson, C; Garcia, M; Mason, B

2016-06-15

Purpose: Historically, beam matching of similar Linear Accelerators has been accomplished by sending beam data to the manufacturer to match at their factory. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate that fine beam matching can be carried out on-site as part of the acceptance test, with similar or better results. Methods: Initial scans of a 10 × 10 Percent depth dose (PDD) and a 40 × 40 beam profile at the depth of Dmax, for 6MV and 10 MV were taken to compare with the standard beam data from the Versa. The energy was then adjusted and the beammore » steered to achieve agreement between the depth dose and the horns of the beam profile. This process was repeated until the best agreement between PDD and profiles was achieved. Upon completion, all other clinical data were measured to verify match. This included PDD, beam profiles, output factors and Wedge factors. For electron beams PDD’s were matched and the beam profiles verified for the final beam energy. Confirmatory PDD and beam profiles for clinical field sizes, as well as Output Factors were measured. Results: The average difference in PDD’s for 6MV and 10MV were within 0.4% for both wedged and open fields. Beam profile comparisons over the central 80% of the field, at multiple depths, show agreement of 0.8% or less for both wedged and open fields. Average output factor agreement over all field sizes was 0.4% for 6MV and 0.2 % for 10MV. Wedge factors agreement was less than 0.6% for both photon energies over all field sizes. Electron PDD agreed to 0.5mm. Cone ratios agreed to 1% or less. Conclusion: This work indicates that beam matching can be carried out on-site simply and quickly. The results of this beam matching can achieve similar or better results than factory matching.« less

Interaction of vortices with flexible piezoelectric beams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goushcha, Oleg; Akaydin, Huseyin Dogus; Elvin, Niell; Andreopoulos, Yiannis

2012-11-01

A cantilever piezoelectric beam immersed in a flow is used to harvest fluidic energy. Pressure distribution induced by naturally present vortices in a turbulent fluid flow can force the beam to oscillate producing electrical output. Maximizing the power output of such an electromechanical fluidic system is a challenge. In order to understand the behavior of the beam in a fluid flow where vortices of different scales are present, an experimental facility was set up to study the interaction of individual vortices with the beam. In our set up, vortex rings produced by an audio speaker travel at specific distances from the beam or impinge on it, with a frequency varied up to the natural frequency of the beam. Depending on this frequency both constructive and destructive interactions between the vortices and the beam are observed. Vortices traveling over the beam with a frequency multiple of the natural frequency of the beam cause the beam to resonate and larger deflection amplitudes are observed compared to excitation from a single vortex. PIV is used to compute the flow field and circulation of each vortex and estimate the effect of pressure distribution on the beam deflection. Sponsored by NSF Grant: CBET #1033117.

Electro-mechanical control of an on-chip optical beam splitter containing an embedded quantum emitter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bishop, Z. K.; Foster, A. P.; Royall, B.; Bentham, C.; Clarke, E.; Skolnick, M. S.; Wilson, L. R.

2018-05-01

We demonstrate electro-mechanical control of an on-chip GaAs optical beam splitter containing a quantum dot single-photon source. The beam splitter consists of two nanobeam waveguides, which form a directional coupler (DC). The splitting ratio of the DC is controlled by varying the out-of-plane separation of the two waveguides using electro-mechanical actuation. We reversibly tune the beam splitter between an initial state, with emission into both output arms, and a final state with photons emitted into a single output arm. The device represents a compact and scalable tuning approach for use in III-V semiconductor integrated quantum optical circuits.

Tungsten disulphide based all fiber Q-switching cylindrical-vector beam generation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lin, J.; Yan, K.; Zhou, Y.

2015-11-09

We proposed and demonstrated an all fiber passively Q-switching laser to generate cylindrical-vector beam, a two dimensional material, tungsten disulphide (WS{sub 2}), was adopted as a saturable absorber inside the laser cavity, while a few-mode fiber Bragg grating was used as a transverse mode-selective output coupler. The repetition rate of the Q-switching output pulses can be varied from 80 kHz to 120 kHz with a shortest duration of 958 ns. Attributed to the high damage threshold and polarization insensitivity of the WS{sub 2} based saturable absorber, the radially polarized beam and azimuthally polarized beam can be easily generated in the Q-switching fiber laser.

Grating tuned unstable resonator laser cavity

DOEpatents

Johnson, Larry C.

1982-01-01

An unstable resonator to be used in high power, narrow line CO.sub.2 pump lasers comprises an array of four reflectors in a ring configuration wherein spherical and planar wavefronts are separated from each other along separate optical paths and only the planar wavefronts are impinged on a plane grating for line tuning. The reflector array comprises a concave mirror for reflecting incident spherical waves as plane waves along an output axis to form an output beam. A plane grating on the output axis is oriented to reflect a portion of the output beam off axis onto a planar relay mirror spaced apart from the output axis in proximity to the concave mirror. The relay mirror reflects plane waves from the grating to impinge on a convex expanding mirror spaced apart from the output axis in proximity to the grating. The expanding mirror reflects the incident planar waves as spherical waves to illuminate the concave mirror. Tuning is provided by rotating the plane grating about an axis normal to the output axis.

Laser system refinements to reduce variability in infarct size in the rat photothrombotic stroke model

PubMed Central

Alaverdashvili, Mariam; Paterson, Phyllis G.; Bradley, Michael P.

2015-01-01

Background The rat photothrombotic stroke model can induce brain infarcts with reasonable biological variability. Nevertheless, we observed unexplained high inter-individual variability despite using a rigorous protocol. Of the three major determinants of infarct volume, photosensitive dye concentration and illumination period were strictly controlled, whereas undetected fluctuation in laser power output was suspected to account for the variability. New method The frequently utilized Diode Pumped Solid State (DPSS) lasers emitting 532 nm (green) light can exhibit fluctuations in output power due to temperature and input power alterations. The polarization properties of the Nd:YAG and Nd:YVO4 crystals commonly used in these lasers are another potential source of fluctuation, since one means of controlling output power uses a polarizer with a variable transmission axis. Thus, the properties of DPSS lasers and the relationship between power output and infarct size were explored. Results DPSS laser beam intensity showed considerable variation. Either a polarizer or a variable neutral density filter allowed adjustment of a polarized laser beam to the desired intensity. When the beam was unpolarized, the experimenter was restricted to using a variable neutral density filter. Comparison with existing method(s) Our refined approach includes continuous monitoring of DPSS laser intensity via beam sampling using a pellicle beamsplitter and photodiode sensor. This guarantees the desired beam intensity at the targeted brain area during stroke induction, with the intensity controlled either through a polarizer or variable neutral density filter. Conclusions Continuous monitoring and control of laser beam intensity is critical for ensuring consistent infarct size. PMID:25840363

Integrated 220 GHz Source Development

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-05-27

placement of the anode far enough from the emitter to prevent the deposi- tion of sputtered anode particles. Fully-Integrated High Power Amplifier The...waveguide circuit dimensions and tolerances. We demonstrated high power and good transmission with a five-beam configuration during 2012. Peak output...circuit dimensions and tolerances. We demonstrated high power and good transmission with a five-beam configuration during 2012. Peak output powers up

650-nJ pulses from a cavity-dumped Yb:fiber-pumped ultrafast optical parametric oscillator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lamour, Tobias P.; Reid, Derryck T.

2011-08-01

Sub-250-fs pulses with energies of up to 650 nJ and peak powers up to 2.07 MW were generated from a cavity-dumped optical parametric oscillator, synchronously-pumped at 15.3 MHz with sub-400-fs pulses from an Yb:fiber laser. The average beam quality factor of the dumped output was M2 ~1.2 and the total relative-intensity noise was 8 mdBc, making the system a promising candidate for ultrafast laser inscription of infrared materials.

High-power arrays of quantum cascade laser master-oscillator power-amplifiers.

PubMed

Rauter, Patrick; Menzel, Stefan; Goyal, Anish K; Wang, Christine A; Sanchez, Antonio; Turner, George; Capasso, Federico

2013-02-25

We report on multi-wavelength arrays of master-oscillator power-amplifier quantum cascade lasers operating at wavelengths between 9.2 and 9.8 μm. All elements of the high-performance array feature longitudinal (spectral) as well as transverse single-mode emission at peak powers between 2.7 and 10 W at room temperature. The performance of two arrays that are based on different seed-section designs is thoroughly studied and compared. High output power and excellent beam quality render the arrays highly suitable for stand-off spectroscopy applications.

One-Joule-per-Pulse Q-Switched 2-micron Solid State Laser

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yu, Jirong; Trieu, Bo C.; Modlin, Ed A.; Singh, Upendra N.; Kavaya, Michael J.; Chen, Songsheng; Bai, Yingxin; Petzar, Pual J.; Petros, Mulugeta

2005-01-01

Q-switched output of 1.1 J per pulse at 2-micron wavelength has been achieved in a diode pumped Ho:Tm:LuLF laser using a side-pumped rod configuration in a Master-Oscillator-Power-Amplifier (MOPA) architecture. This is the first time that a 2-micron laser has broken the Joule per pulse barrier for Q-switched operation. The total system efficiency reaches 5% and 6.2% for single and double pulse operation, respectively. The system produces excellent 1.4 times of transform limited beam quality.

Conceptual Design of a 50--100 MW Electron Beam Accelerator System for the National Hypersonic Wind Tunnel Program

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

SCHNEIDER,LARRY X.

2000-06-01

The National Hypersonic Wind Tunnel program requires an unprecedented electron beam source capable of 1--2 MeV at a beam power level of 50--100 MW. Direct-current electron accelerator technology can readily generate high average power beams to approximately 5 MeV at output efficiencies greater than 90%. However, due to the nature of research and industrial applications, there has never been a requirement for a single module with an output power exceeding approximately 500 kW. Although a 50--100 MW module is a two-order extrapolation from demonstrated power levels, the scaling of accelerator components appears reasonable. This paper presents an evaluation of componentmore » and system issues involved in the design of a 50--100 MW electron beam accelerator system with precision beam transport into a high pressure flowing air environment.« less

Design of 20 W fiber-coupled green laser diode by Zemax

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qi, Yunfei; Zhao, Pengfei; Wu, Yulong; Chen, Yongqi; Zou, Yonggang

2017-09-01

We represent a design of a 20 W, fiber-coupled diode laser module based on 26 single emitters at 520 nm. The module can produce more than 20 W output power from a standard fiber with core diameter of 400 μm and numerical aperture (NA) of 0.22. To achieve a 20 W laser beam, the spatial beam combination and polarization beam combination by polarization beam splitter are used to combine output of 26 single emitters into a single beam, and then an aspheric lens is used to couple the combined beam into an optical fiber. The simulation shows that the total coupling efficiency is more than 95%. Project supported by the National Key R& D Program of China (No. 2016YFB0402105), the Key Deployment Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KGZD-SW-T01-2), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 61404135).

Characterization and Power Scaling of Beam-Combinable Ytterbium-Doped Microstructured Fiber Amplifier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mart, Cody W.

In this dissertation, high-power ytterbium-doped fiber amplifiers designed with advanced waveguide concepts are characterized and power scaled. Fiber waveguides utilizing cladding microstructures to achieve wave guidance via the photonic bandgap (PBG) effect and a combination of PBG and modified total internal reflection (MTIR) have been proposed as viable single-mode waveguides. Such novel structures allow larger core diameters (>35 ?m diameters) than conventional step-index fibers while still maintaining near-diffraction limited beam quality. These microstructured fibers are demonstrated as robust single-mode waveguides at low powers and are power scaled to realize the thermal power limits of the structure. Here above a certain power threshold, these coiled few-mode fibers have been shown to be limited by modal instability (MI); where energy is dynamically transferred between the fundamental mode and higher-order modes. Nonlinear effects such as stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) are also studied in these fiber waveguides as part of this dissertation. Suppressing SBS is critical towards achieving narrow optical bandwidths (linewidths) necessary for efficient fiber amplifier beam combining. Towards that end, new effects that favorably reduce acoustic wave dispersion to increase the SBS threshold are discovered and reported. The first advanced waveguide examined is a Yb-doped 50/400 mum diameter core/clad PBGF. The PBGF is power scaled with a single-frequency 1064 nm seed to an MI-limited 410 W with 79% optical-to-optical efficiency and near-diffraction limited beam quality (M-Squared < 1.25) before MI onset. To this author's knowledge, this represents 2.4x improvement in power output from a PBGF amplifier without consideration for linewidth and a 16x improvement in single-frequency power output from a PBGF amplifier. During power scaling of the PBGF, a remarkably low Brillouin response was elicited from the fiber even when the ultra large diameter 50 mum core is accounted for in the SBS threshold equation. Subsequent interrogation of the Brillouin response in a pump probe Brillouin gain spectrum diagnostic estimated a Brillouin gain coefficient, gB, of 0.62E-11 m/W; which is 4x reduced from standard silica-based fiber. A finite element numerical model that solves the inhomogenous Helmholtz equation that governs the acoustic and optical coupling in SBS is utilized to verify experimental results with an estimated gB = 0.68E-11 m/W. Consequently, a novel SBS-suppression mechanism based on inclusion of sub-optical wavelength acoustic features in the core is proposed. The second advanced waveguide analyzed is a 35/350 mum diameter core/clad fiber that achieved wave guidance via both PBG and MTIR, and is referred to as a hybrid fiber. The waveguide benefits mutually from the amenable properties of PBG and MTIR wave guidance because robust single-mode propagation with minimal confinement loss is assured due to MTIR effects, and the waveguide spectrally filters unwanted wavelengths via the PBG effect. The waveguide employs annular Yb-doped gain tailoring to reduce thermal effects and mitigate MI. Moreover, it is designed to suppress Raman processes for a 1064 nm signal by attenuating wavelengths > 1110 nm via the PBG effect. When seeded with a 1064 nm signal deterministically broadened to ˜1 GHz, the hybrid fiber was power scaled to a MI-limited 820 W with 78% optical-to-optical efficiency and near diffraction limited beam quality of M_Squared ˜1.2 before MI onset. This represents a 14x improvement in power output from a hybrid fiber, and demonstrates that this type of fiber amplifier is a quality candidate for further power scaling for beam combining.

New generation of compact high power disk lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feuchtenbeiner, Stefanie; Zaske, Sebastian; Schad, Sven-Silvius; Gottwald, Tina; Kuhn, Vincent; Kumkar, Sören; Metzger, Bernd; Killi, Alexander; Haug, Patrick; Speker, Nicolai

2018-02-01

New technological developments in high power disk lasers emitting at 1030 nm are presented. These include the latest generation of TRUMPF's TruDisk product line offering high power disk lasers with up to 6 kW output power and beam qualities of up to 4 mm*mrad. With these compact devices a footprint reduction of 50% compared to the previous model could be achieved while at the same time improving robustness and increasing system efficiency. In the context of Industry 4.0, the new generation of TruDisk lasers features a synchronized data recording of all sensors, offering high-quality data for virtual analyses. The lasers therefore provide optimal hardware requirements for services like Condition Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance. We will also discuss its innovative and space-saving cooling architecture. It allows operation of the laser under very critical ambient conditions. Furthermore, an outlook on extending the new disk laser platform to higher power levels will be given. We will present a disk laser with 8 kW laser power out of a single disk with a beam quality of 5 mm*mrad using a 125 μm fiber, which makes it ideally suited for cutting and welding applications. The flexibility of the disk laser platform also enables the realization of a wide variety of beam guiding setups. As an example a new scheme called BrightLine Weld will be discussed. This technology allows for an almost spatter free laser welding process, even at high feed rates.

Analysis of continuous beams with joint slip

Treesearch

L. A. Soltis

1981-01-01

A computer analysis with user guidelines to analyze partially continuous multi-span beams is presented. Partial continuity is due to rotational slip which occurs at spliced joints at the supports of continuous beams such as floor joists. Beam properties, loads, and joint slip are input; internal forces, reactions, and deflections are output.

High-slope-efficiency 2.06 μm Ho: YLF laser in-band pumped by a fiber-coupled broadband diode.

PubMed

Ji, Encai; Liu, Qiang; Nie, Mingming; Cao, Xuezhe; Fu, Xing; Gong, Mali

2016-03-15

We first demonstrate the laser performance of a compact 2.06 μm Ho: YLF laser resonantly pumped by a broadband fiber-coupled diode. In continuous-wave (CW) operation, maximum output power of 1.63 W, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 89.2%, was obtained with a near diffraction-limited beam quality. In actively Q-switched operation, maximum pulse energy of 1.1 mJ was achieved at the repetition frequency of 100 Hz. The minimum pulse duration was 43 ns. The performance in both the CW and Q-switched regimes indicates that the current fiber-coupled diode in-band pumped Ho: YLF laser has great potential in certain conditions that require several watts of output power or several millijoules of short pulse energy.

Theoretical and experimental investigations on high peak power Q-switched Nd:YAG laser at 1112 nm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Miao; Yang, Feng; Wang, Zhi-Chao; Gao, Hong-Wei; Yuan, Lei; Li, Chen-Long; Zong, Nan; Shen, Yu; Bo, Yong; Peng, Qin-Jun; Cui, Da-Fu; Xu, Zu-Yan

2018-07-01

We report on the experimental measurement and theoretical analysis on a Q-switched high peak power laser diode (LD) side-pumped 1112 nm Nd:YAG laser by means of special mirrors coating design in cavity. In theory, a numerical model, based on four-wavelength rate equations, is performed to analyze the competition process of different gain lines and the output characteristics of the Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. In the experiment, a maximum output power of 25.2 W with beam quality factor M2 of 1.46 is obtained at the pulse repetition rate of 2 kHz and 210 ns of pulse width, corresponding to a pulse energy and peak power of 12.6 mJ and 60 kW, respectively. The experimental data agree well with the theoretical simulation results.

Application Summary Report 22: LED MR16 Lamps

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Royer, Michael P.

2014-07-23

This report analyzes the independently tested photometric performance of 27 LED MR16 lamps. It describes initial performance based on light output, efficacy, distribution, color quality, electrical characteristics, and form factor, with comparisons to a selection of benchmark halogen MR16s and ENERGY STAR qualification thresholds. Three types of products were targeted. First, CALiPER sought 3000 K lamps with the highest rated lumen output (i.e., at least 500 lm) or a claim of equivalency to a 50 W halogen MR16 or higher. The test results indicate that while the initial performance of LED MR16s has improved across the board, market-available products stillmore » do not produce the lumen output and center beam intensity of typical 50 W halogen MR16 lamps. In fact, most of the 18 lamps in this category had lower lumen output and center beam intensity than a typical 35 W halogen MR16 lamp. Second, CALiPER sought lamps with a CRI of 90 or greater. Only four manufacturers were identified with a product in this category. CALiPER testing confirmed the performance of these lamps, which are a good option for applications where high color fidelity is needed. A vast majority of the LED MR16 lamps have a CRI in the low 80s; this is generally acceptable for ambient lighting, but may not always be acceptable for focal lighting. For typical LED packages, there is a fundamental tradeoff between CRI and efficacy, but the lamps in the high-CRI group in this report still offer comparable performance to the rest of the Series 22 products in other performance areas. Finally, CALiPER sought lamps with a narrow distribution, denoted as a beam angle less than 15°. Five such lamps were purchased. Notably, no lamp was identified as having high lumen output (500 lumens or greater), high CRI (90 or greater), a narrow distribution (15° or less), and an efficacy greater than 60 lm/W. This would be an important achievement for LED MR16s especially if output could reach approximately 700 800 lumens, or the approximate equivalent of a 50 W halogen MR16 lamp. Many factors beyond photometric performance should be considered during specification. For example, performance over time, transformer and dimmer compatibility, and total system performance are all critical to a successful installation. Subsequent CALiPER reports will investigate more complex issues.« less

Propagation and coherence properties of higher order partially coherent dark hollow beams in turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eyyuboğlu, Halil Tanyer

2008-02-01

We formulate and evaluate in terms of graphical outputs, source and receiver plane expressions, the complex degree of coherence, beam size variation and power in bucket performance for higher order partially coherent dark hollow beams propagating in turbulent atmosphere. Our formulation is able to cover square, rectangular, circular, elliptical geometries for dark hollow and flat-topped beams in one single expression. From the graphical outputs of the receiver plane, it is observed that higher order partially coherent dark hollow beams will initially develop an outer ring around a central lobe, but will eventually evolve towards a Gaussian shape as the propagation distance is extended. It is further observed that stronger turbulence levels and greater partial coherence have similar effects on beam profile. During propagation, modulus of complex degree of coherence of partially coherent dark hollow beams appears to rise above that of the source plane values, reaching as high as near unity. Beam size analysis shows that, among the types examined, (nearly) flat-topped beam experiences the least beam expansion. Power in bucket analysis indicates that lowest order square fully coherent dark beam offers the best power capturing.

High Power OPO Laser and wavelength-controlled system for 1.6μm CO2-DIAL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abo, M.; Nagasawa, C.; Shibata, Y.

2009-12-01

Unlike the existing 2.0μm CO2-DIAL, a high-energy pulse laser operating in the 1.6μm absorption band of CO2 has not been realized. Quasi phase matching (QPM) devices have high conversion efficiency and high beam quality due to their higher nonlinear optical coefficient. We adapt the PPMgLT crystal as the QPM device. The PPMgLT crystal had 3mm × 3mm apertures, and the periodically poled period was 30.9 μm, with the duty ratio close to the ideal value of 0.5. The beam quality of the pumping laser was exceed M2 ≥1.2. The repetition rate was 400 Hz and the energy was 35 mJ. The pumping laser pulse was injection-seeded by the continuous-wave (CW) fiber laser, which had a narrow spectrum. The pulse pumped the PPMgLT crystal in the ring cavity with a single pass through the dielectric mirror. The PPMgLT crystal was mounted on a copper holder, and the temperature was maintained at 40 °C using a Peltier module. The holder’s temperature was stabilized to within 0.01 °C when the copper holder was covered with a plastic case. The OPO ring cavity was a singly resonant oscillator optimized for the signal wave. Single-frequency oscillation of the PPMgLT OPO was achieved by injection seeding, as described in the following. The injection seeder was a DFB laser having a power of 30mW with a 1MHz oscillation spectrum. Their oscillation wavelength was coarse tuned by temperature and fine tuned by adjusting injection currents. The partial power of the online wavelength was split in the wavelength control unit. We locked the DFB laser as an injection seeder of the online wavelength onto the line center by referencing the fiber coupled multipath gas cell (path length 800mm) containing pure CO2 at a pressure of 700 Torr. Stabilization was estimated to within 1.8MHz rms of the line center of the CO2 absorption line by monitoring the feedback signal of a wavelength-controlled unit. Injection seeding of the PPMgLT OPO was performed by matching the cavity length to the seeder wavelength for each oscillation pulse. The on-line and off-line wavelengths were injected into the OPO cavity through its output mirror. The injection seeder could be automatically switched by applying the TTL trigger to an optical fiber switch. A typical power of 8mW was injected into the cavity. The OPO cavity length was controlled as follows. A slope voltage was applied to the piezoelectric element mounted on the cavity mirror. If the longitudinal mode of the cavity was closed at the wavelength of the injection seeder, the electrical signal monitored by the photodiode would be maximized. The CW laser beam was injected from the output coupler to control the oscillation wavelength. The maximum output energy of 12mJ at 400 Hz was observed at 35mJ of pumping laser energy. The slope efficiency was 43.7%. This output energy and this repetition rate were the highest achieved so far. No damage was observed even after 1 h of operation. Therefore higher-energy operations can be expected with this device if the beam quality of the pumping laser is improved. This work was financially supported by the System Development Program for Advanced Measurement and Analysis by the JST.

A comparison of TPS and different measurement techniques in small-field electron beams

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Donmez Kesen, Nazmiye, E-mail: nazo94@gmail.com; Cakir, Aydin; Okutan, Murat

In recent years, small-field electron beams have been used for the treatment of superficial lesions, which requires small circular fields. However, when using very small electron fields, some significant dosimetric problems may occur. In this study, dose distributions and outputs of circular fields with dimensions of 5 cm and smaller, for nominal energies of 6, 9, and 15 MeV from the Siemens ONCOR Linac, were measured and compared with data from a treatment planning system using the pencil-beam algorithm in electron beam calculations. All dose distribution measurements were performed using the Gafchromic EBT film; these measurements were compared with datamore » that were obtained from the Computerized Medical Systems (CMS) XiO treatment planning system (TPS), using the gamma-index method in the PTW VeriSoft software program. Output measurements were performed using the Gafchromic EBT film, an Advanced Markus ion chamber, and thermoluminescent dosimetry (TLD). Although the pencil-beam algorithm is used to model electron beams in many clinics, there is no substantial amount of detailed information in the literature about its use. As the field size decreased, the point of maximum dose moved closer to the surface. Output factors were consistent; differences from the values obtained from the TPS were, at maximum, 42% for 6 and 15 MeV and 32% for 9 MeV. When the dose distributions from the TPS were compared with the measurements from the Gafchromic EBT films, it was observed that the results were consistent for 2-cm diameter and larger fields, but the outputs for fields of 1-cm diameter and smaller were not consistent. In CMS XiO TPS, calculated using the pencil-beam algorithm, the dose distributions of electron treatment fields that were created with circular cutout of a 1-cm diameter were not appropriate for patient treatment and the pencil-beam algorithm is not convenient for monitor unit (MU) calculations in electron dosimetry.« less

Dynamic analysis of a buckled asymmetric piezoelectric beam for energy harvesting

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Van Blarigan, Louis, E-mail: louis01@umail.ucsb.edu; Moehlis, Jeff

2016-03-15

A model of a buckled beam energy harvester is analyzed to determine the phenomena behind the transition between high and low power output levels. It is shown that the presence of a chaotic attractor is a sufficient condition to predict high power output, though there are relatively small areas where high output is achieved without a chaotic attractor. The chaotic attractor appears as a product of a period doubling cascade or a boundary crisis. Bifurcation diagrams provide insight into the development of the chaotic region as the input power level is varied, as well as the intermixed periodic windows.

TU-FG-201-01: 18-Month Clinical Experience of a Linac Daily Quality Assurance (QA) Solution Using Only EPID and OBI

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cai, B; Sun, B; Yaddanapudi, S

Purpose: To describe the clinical use of a Linear Accelerator (Linac) DailyQA system with only EPID and OBI. To assess the reliability over an 18-month period and improve the robustness of this system based on QA failure analysis. Methods: A DailyQA solution utilizing an in-house designed phantom, combined EPID and OBI image acquisitions, and a web-based data analysis and reporting system was commissioned and used in our clinic to measure geometric, dosimetry and imaging components of a Varian Truebeam Linac. During an 18-month period (335 working days), the Daily QA results, including the output constancy, beam flatness and symmetry, uniformity,more » TPR20/10, MV and KV imaging quality, were collected and analyzed. For output constancy measurement, an independent monthly QA system with an ionization chamber (IC) and annual/incidental TG51 measurements with ADCL IC were performed and cross-compared to Daily QA system. Thorough analyses were performed on the recorded QA failures to evaluate the machine performance, optimize the data analysis algorithm, adjust the tolerance setting and improve the training procedure to prevent future failures. Results: A clinical workflow including beam delivery, data analysis, QA report generation and physics approval was established and optimized to suit daily clinical operation. The output tests over the 335 working day period cross-correlated with the monthly QA system within 1.3% and TG51 results within 1%. QA passed with one attempt on 236 days out of 335 days. Based on the QA failures analysis, the Gamma criteria is revised from (1%, 1mm) to (2%, 1mm) considering both QA accuracy and efficiency. Data analysis algorithm is improved to handle multiple entries for a repeating test. Conclusion: We described our 18-month clinical experience on a novel DailyQA system using only EPID and OBI. The long term data presented demonstrated the system is suitable and reliable for Linac daily QA.« less

SU-F-T-559: High-Resolution Scintillating Fiber Array for In-Vivo Real-Time SRS and SBRT Patient QA

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Knewtson, T; Pokhrel, S; University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN

2016-06-15

Purpose: A high-resolution scintillating fiber detector was built for in-vivo real-time patient specific quality assurance (QA). The detector is designed for stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) to monitor treatment delivery and detect real-time deviations from planned dose to increase patient safety and treatment accuracy. Methods: The detector consists of two high-density scintillating fiber arrays layered to form an X-Y grid which can be attached to the accessory tray of a medical linac for SBRT and cone SRS treatment QA. Fiber arrays consist of 128 scintillating fibers embedded within a precision-machined, high-transmission polymer substrate with 0.8mm pitch. Themore » fibers are coupled on both ends to high-sensitivity photodetectors and the output is recorded through a high-speed analog-to-digital converter to capture the linac pulse sequence as treatment delivery progresses. The detector has a software controlled 360 degree rotational system to capture angular beam projections for high-resolution beam profile reconstruction. Results: The detector was validated using SRS cone sizes from 6mm to 34mm and MLC defined field sizes from 5×5mm2 to 100×100mm2. The detector output response is linear with dose and is dose rate independent. Each field can be reconstructed accurately with a spatial resolution of 0.8mm and the current beam output is displayed every 50msec. Dosimetric errors of 1% with respect to the treatment plan can be identified and clinically significant deviations from the expected treatment can be displayed in real-time to alert the therapists. Conclusion: The high resolution detector is capable of reconstructing beam profiles in real-time with submillimeter resolution and 1% dose resolution. This system has the ability to project in-vivo both spatial and dosimetric errors during SBRT and SRS treatments when only a non-clinically significant fraction of the intended dose was delivered. The device has the potential to establish new standards for in-vivo patient specific QA.« less

A noble technique a using force-sensing resistor for immobilization-device quality assurance: A feasibility study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cho, Min-Seok; Kim, Tae-Ho; Kang, Seong-Hee; Kim, Dong-Su; Kim, Kyeong-Hyeon; Shin, Dong-Seok; Noh, Yu-Yun; Koo, Hyun-Jae; Cheon, Geum Seong; Suh, Tae Suk; Kim, Siyong

2016-03-01

Many studies have reported that a patient can move even when an immobilization device is used. Researchers have developed an immobilization-device quality-assurance (QA) system that evaluates the validity of immobilization devices. The QA system consists of force-sensing-resistor (FSR) sensor units, an electric circuit, a signal conditioning device, and a control personal computer (PC) with in-house software. The QA system is designed to measure the force between an immobilization device and a patient's skin by using the FSR sensor unit. This preliminary study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of using the QA system in radiation-exposure situations. When the FSR sensor unit was irradiated with a computed tomography (CT) beam and a treatment beam from a linear accelerator (LINAC), the stability of the output signal, the image artifact on the CT image, and changing the variation on the patient's dose were tested. The results of this study demonstrate that this system is promising in that it performed within the error range (signal variation on CT beam < 0.30 kPa, root-mean-square error (RMSE) of the two CT images according to presence or absence of the FSR sensor unit < 15 HU, signal variation on the treatment beam < 0.15 kPa, and dose difference between the presence and the absence of the FSR sensor unit < 0.02%). Based on the obtained results, we will volunteer tests to investigate the clinical feasibility of the QA system.

Helical tomotherapy quality assurance with ArcCHECK.

PubMed

Chapman, David; Barnett, Rob; Yartsev, Slav

2014-01-01

To design a quality assurance (QA) procedure for helical tomotherapy that measures multiple beam parameters with 1 delivery and uses a rotating gantry to simulate treatment conditions. The customized QA procedure was preprogrammed on the tomotherapy operator station. The dosimetry measurements were performed using an ArcCHECK diode array and an A1SL ion chamber inserted in the central holder. The ArcCHECK was positioned 10cm above the isocenter so that the 21-cm diameter detector array could measure the 40-cm wide tomotherapy beam. During the implementation of the new QA procedure, separate comparative measurements were made using ion chambers in both liquid and solid water, the tomotherapy onboard detector array, and a MapCHECK diode array for a period of 10 weeks. There was good agreement (within 1.3%) for the beam output and cone ratio obtained with the new procedure and the routine QA measurements. The measured beam energy was comparable (0.3%) to solid water measurement during the 10-week evaluation period, excluding 2 of the 10 measurements with unusually high background. The symmetry reading was similarly compromised for those 2 weeks, and on the other weeks, it deviated from the solid water reading by ~2.5%. The ArcCHECK phantom presents a suitable alternative for performing helical tomotherapy QA, provided the background is collected properly. The proposed weekly procedure using ArcCHECK and water phantom makes the QA process more efficient. Copyright © 2014 American Association of Medical Dosimetrists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Helical tomotherapy quality assurance with ArcCHECK

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chapman, David; Barnett, Rob; Yartsev, Slav, E-mail: slav.yartsev@lhsc.on.ca

2014-07-01

To design a quality assurance (QA) procedure for helical tomotherapy that measures multiple beam parameters with 1 delivery and uses a rotating gantry to simulate treatment conditions. The customized QA procedure was preprogrammed on the tomotherapy operator station. The dosimetry measurements were performed using an ArcCHECK diode array and an A1SL ion chamber inserted in the central holder. The ArcCHECK was positioned 10 cm above the isocenter so that the 21-cm diameter detector array could measure the 40-cm wide tomotherapy beam. During the implementation of the new QA procedure, separate comparative measurements were made using ion chambers in both liquidmore » and solid water, the tomotherapy onboard detector array, and a MapCHECK diode array for a period of 10 weeks. There was good agreement (within 1.3%) for the beam output and cone ratio obtained with the new procedure and the routine QA measurements. The measured beam energy was comparable (0.3%) to solid water measurement during the 10-week evaluation period, excluding 2 of the 10 measurements with unusually high background. The symmetry reading was similarly compromised for those 2 weeks, and on the other weeks, it deviated from the solid water reading by ∼2.5%. The ArcCHECK phantom presents a suitable alternative for performing helical tomotherapy QA, provided the background is collected properly. The proposed weekly procedure using ArcCHECK and water phantom makes the QA process more efficient.« less

End-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser with reduced thermal lensing via the use of a ring-shaped pump beam.

PubMed

Lin, Di; Andrew Clarkson, W

2017-08-01

A simple approach for alleviating thermal lensing in end-pumped solid-state lasers using a pump beam with a ring-shaped intensity distribution to decrease the radial temperature gradient is described. This scheme has been implemented in a diode-end-pumped Nd:YVO 4 laser yielding 14 W of TEM 00 output at 1.064 μm with a corresponding slope efficiency of 53% and a beam propagation factor (M 2 ) of 1.08 limited by available pump power. By comparison, the same laser design with a conventional quasi-top-hat pump beam profile of approximately equal radial extent yielded only 9 W of output before the power rolled over due to thermal lensing. Further investigation with the aid of a probe beam revealed that the thermal lens power was ∼30% smaller for the ring-shaped pump beam compared to the quasi-top-hat beam. The implications for further power scaling in end-pumped laser configurations are considered.

Ultracompact 1×4 TM-polarized beam splitter based on photonic crystal surface mode.

PubMed

Jiang, Bin; Zhang, Yejin; Wang, Yufei; Liu, Anjin; Zheng, Wanhua

2012-05-01

We provide an improved surface-mode photonic crystal (PhC) T-junction waveguide, combine it with an improved PhC bandgap T-junction waveguide, and then provide an ultracompact 1×4 TM-polarized beam splitter. The energy is split equally into the four output waveguides. The maximal transmission ratio of each output waveguide branch equals 24.7%, and the corresponding total transmission ratio of the ultracompact 1×4 beam splitter equals 98.8%. The normalized frequency of maximal transmission ratio is 0.397(2πc/a), and the bandwidth of the ultracompact 1×4 TM-polarized beam splitter is 0.0106(2πc/a). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time such a high-efficiency 1×4 beam splitter exploiting the nonradiative surface mode as a guided mode has been proposed. Although we only employed a 1×4 beam splitter, our design can easily be extended to other 1×n beam splitters.

Scatter correction, intermediate view estimation and dose characterization in megavoltage cone-beam CT imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sramek, Benjamin Koerner

The ability to deliver conformal dose distributions in radiation therapy through intensity modulation and the potential for tumor dose escalation to improve treatment outcome has necessitated an increase in localization accuracy of inter- and intra-fractional patient geometry. Megavoltage cone-beam CT imaging using the treatment beam and onboard electronic portal imaging device is one option currently being studied for implementation in image-guided radiation therapy. However, routine clinical use is predicated upon continued improvements in image quality and patient dose delivered during acquisition. The formal statement of hypothesis for this investigation was that the conformity of planned to delivered dose distributions in image-guided radiation therapy could be further enhanced through the application of kilovoltage scatter correction and intermediate view estimation techniques to megavoltage cone-beam CT imaging, and that normalized dose measurements could be acquired and inter-compared between multiple imaging geometries. The specific aims of this investigation were to: (1) incorporate the Feldkamp, Davis and Kress filtered backprojection algorithm into a program to reconstruct a voxelized linear attenuation coefficient dataset from a set of acquired megavoltage cone-beam CT projections, (2) characterize the effects on megavoltage cone-beam CT image quality resulting from the application of Intermediate View Interpolation and Intermediate View Reprojection techniques to limited-projection datasets, (3) incorporate the Scatter and Primary Estimation from Collimator Shadows (SPECS) algorithm into megavoltage cone-beam CT image reconstruction and determine the set of SPECS parameters which maximize image quality and quantitative accuracy, and (4) evaluate the normalized axial dose distributions received during megavoltage cone-beam CT image acquisition using radiochromic film and thermoluminescent dosimeter measurements in anthropomorphic pelvic and head and neck phantoms. The conclusions of this investigation were: (1) the implementation of intermediate view estimation techniques to megavoltage cone-beam CT produced improvements in image quality, with the largest impact occurring for smaller numbers of initially-acquired projections, (2) the SPECS scatter correction algorithm could be successfully incorporated into projection data acquired using an electronic portal imaging device during megavoltage cone-beam CT image reconstruction, (3) a large range of SPECS parameters were shown to reduce cupping artifacts as well as improve reconstruction accuracy, with application to anthropomorphic phantom geometries improving the percent difference in reconstructed electron density for soft tissue from -13.6% to -2.0%, and for cortical bone from -9.7% to 1.4%, (4) dose measurements in the anthropomorphic phantoms showed consistent agreement between planar measurements using radiochromic film and point measurements using thermoluminescent dosimeters, and (5) a comparison of normalized dose measurements acquired with radiochromic film to those calculated using multiple treatment planning systems, accelerator-detector combinations, patient geometries and accelerator outputs produced a relatively good agreement.

Diode amplifier of modulated optical beam power

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

D'yachkov, N V; Bogatov, A P; Gushchik, T I

2014-11-30

Analytical relations are obtained between characteristics of modulated light at the output and input of an optical diode power amplifier operating in the highly saturated gain regime. It is shown that a diode amplifier may act as an amplitude-to-phase modulation converter with a rather large bandwidth (∼10 GHz). The low sensitivity of the output power of the amplifier to the input beam power and its high energy efficiency allow it to be used as a building block of a high-power multielement laser system with coherent summation of a large number of optical beams. (lasers)

E-beam generated holographic masks for optical vector-matrix multiplication

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arnold, S. M.; Case, S. K.

1981-01-01

An optical vector matrix multiplication scheme that encodes the matrix elements as a holographic mask consisting of linear diffraction gratings is proposed. The binary, chrome on glass masks are fabricated by e-beam lithography. This approach results in a fairly simple optical system that promises both large numerical range and high accuracy. A partitioned computer generated hologram mask was fabricated and tested. This hologram was diagonally separated outputs, compact facets and symmetry about the axis. The resultant diffraction pattern at the output plane is shown. Since the grating fringes are written at 45 deg relative to the facet boundaries, the many on-axis sidelobes from each output are seen to be diagonally separated from the adjacent output signals.

Comparison and characterization of efficient frequency doubling at 397.5 nm with PPKTP, LBO and BiBO crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wen, Xin; Han, Yashuai; Wang, Junmin

2016-04-01

A continuous-wave Ti:sapphire laser at 795 nm is frequency doubled in a bow-tie type enhancement four-mirror ring cavity with LiB3O5 (LBO), BiB3O6 (BiBO), and periodically polled KTiOPO4 (PPKTP) crystals, respectively. The properties of 397.5 nm ultra-violet (UV) output power, beam quality, stability for these different nonlinear crystals are investigated and compared. For PPKTP crystal, the highest doubling efficiency of 58.1% is achieved from 191 mW of 795 nm mode-matched fundamental power to 111 mW of 397.5 nm UV output. For LBO crystal, with 1.34 W of mode-matched 795 nm power, 770 mW of 397.5 nm UV output is achieved, implying a doubling efficiency of 57.4%. For BiBO crystal, with 323 mW of mode-matched 795 nm power, 116 mW of 397.5 nm UV output is achieved, leading to a doubling efficiency of 35.9%. The generated UV radiation has potential applications in the fields of quantum physics.

MO-D-BRB-02: The Radiological Physics Center's Quality Audit Program: Where Can We Improve?

PubMed

Followill, D; Lowenstein, J; Molineu, A; Alvarez, P; Aguirre, J; Kry, S; Summers, P; Ibbott, G

2012-06-01

To analyze the findings of the Radiological Physics Center's (RPC) QA audits of institutions participating in NCI sponsored clinical trials. The RPC has developed an extensive Quality Assurance (QA) program over the past 44 years. This program includes on-site dosimetry reviews where measurements on therapy machines are made, records are reviewed and personnel are interviewed. The program's remote audit tools include mailed dosimeters (OSLD/TLD) to verify output calibration, comparison of dosimetry data with RPC 'standard' data, evaluation of benchmark and patient calculations to verify the treatment planning algorithms, review of institution's QA procedures and records, and use of anthropomorphic phantoms to verify tumor dose delivery. The RPC endeavors to assist institutions in finding the origins of any detected discrepancies, and to resolve them. Ninety percent of institutions receiving dosimetry recommendations has remained level for the past 5 years. The most frequent recommendations were for not performing TG-40 QA tests, wedge factors, small field size output factors and off-axis factors. Since TG-51 was published, the number of beam calibrations audited during visits with ion chambers, that met the RPC's ±3% criterion, decreased initially but has risen to pre-TG-51 levels. The OSLD/TLD program shows that only ∼3% of the beams are outside our ±5% criteria, but these discrepancies are distributed over 12-20% of the institutions. The percent of institutions with ï, 3 l beam outside the RPC's criteria is approximately the same whether OSLD/TLD or ion chambers were used. The first time passing rate for the anthropomorphic phantoms is increasing with time. The prostate phantom has the highest pass rate while the spine phantom has the lowest. Numerous dosimetry errors continue to be discovered by the RPC's QA program and the RPC continues to play an important role in helping institutions resolve these errors. This work was supported by PHS grants CA10953 and CA081647 awarded by NCI. © 2012 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

High-energy master oscillator power amplifier with near-diffraction-limited output based on ytterbium-doped PCF fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Rao; Qiao, Zhi; Wang, Xiaochao; Fan, Wei; Lin, Zunqi

2017-10-01

With the development of fiber technologies, fiber lasers are able to deliver very high power beams and high energy pulses which can be used not only in scientific researches but industrial fields (laser marking, welding,…). The key of high power fiber laser is fiber amplifier. In this paper, we present a two-level master-oscillator power amplifier system at 1053 nm based on Yb-doped photonic crystal fibers. The system is used in the front-end of high power laser facility for the amplification of nano-second pulses to meet the high-level requirements. Thanks to the high gain of the system which is over 50 dB, the pulse of more than 0.89 mJ energy with the nearly diffraction-limited beam quality has been obtained.

Single-longitudinal-mode Er:GGG microchip laser operating at 2.7  μm.

PubMed

You, Zhenyu; Wang, Yan; Xu, Jinlong; Zhu, Zhaojie; Li, Jianfu; Wang, Hongyan; Tu, Chaoyang

2015-08-15

We reported on a diode-end-pumped single-longitudinal-mode microchip laser using a 600-μm-thick Er:GGG crystal at ∼2.7  μm, generating a maximum output power of 50.8 mW and the maximum pulsed energy of 0.306 mJ, with repetition rates of pumping light of 300, 200, and 100 Hz, respectively. The maximum slope efficiency of the laser was 20.1%. The laser was operated in a single-longitudinal mode centered at about 2704 nm with a FWHM of 0.42 nm. The laser had a fundamental beam profile and the beam quality parameter M(2) was measured as 1.46. These results indicate that the Er:GGG microchip laser is a potential compact mid-infrared laser source.

Experimental study of a 1 MW, 170 GHz gyrotron oscillator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kimura, Takuji

A detailed experimental study is presented of a 1 MW, 170 GHz gyrotron oscillator whose design is consistent with the ECH requirements of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) for bulk heating and current drive. This work is the first to demonstrate that megawatt power level at 170 GHz can be achieved in a gyrotron with high efficiency for plasma heating applications. Maximum output power of 1.5 MW is obtained at 170.1 GHz in 85 kV, 50A operation for an efficiency of 35%. Although the experiment at MIT is conducted with short pulses (3 μs), the gyrotron is designed to be suitable for development by industry for continuous wave operation. The peak ohmic loss on the cavity wall for 1 MW of output power is calculated to be 2.3 kW/cm2, which can be handled using present cooling technology. Mode competition problems in a highly over-moded cavity are studied to maximize the efficiency. Various aspects of electron gun design are examined to obtain high quality electron beams with very low velocity spread. A triode magnetron injection gun is designed using the EGUN simulation code. A total perpendicular velocity spread of less than 8% is realized by designing a low- sensitivity, non-adiabatic gun. The RF power is generated in a short tapered cavity with an iris step. The operating mode is the TE28,8,1 mode. A mode converter is designed to convert the RF output to a Gaussian beam. Power and efficiency are measured in the design TE28,8,1 mode at 170.1 GHz as well as the TE27,8,1 mode at 166.6 GHz and TE29,8,1 mode at 173.5 GHz. Efficiencies between 34%-36% are consistently obtained over a wide range of operating parameters. These efficiencies agree with the highest values predicted by the multimode simulations. The startup scenario is investigated and observed to agree with the linear theory. The measured beam velocity ratio is consistent with EGUN simulation. Interception of reflected beam by the mod-anode is measured as a function of velocity ratio, from which the beam velocity spreads are estimated. A preliminary test of the mode converter shows that the radiation from the dimpled wall launcher is a Gaussian-like beam. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, Rm. 14-0551, Cambridge, MA 02139- 4307. Ph. 617-253-5668; Fax 617-253-1690.)

Generation of high power sub millimeter radiation using free electron laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panwar, J.; Sharma, S. C.; Malik, P.; Yadav, M.; Sharma, R.

2018-03-01

We have developed an analytical formalism to study the emission of high power radiation lying in the sub millimetre range. A relativistic electron beam (REB) is velocity modulated by the pondermotive force exerted by the laser beams. After passing through the drift space, the beam gets density modulated which further interacts with the strong field wiggler and acquires a transverse velocity that couples with the modulated density of the beam in the presence of ion channel which contribute to the non-linear current density which further leads to the emission of the radiation. The output radiation can be modified by changing the wiggler parameters and the energy of the electron beam. The power of the output radiation is found to increase with the modulation. The obtained radiation can be employed for various applications.

Method and Apparatus for Accurately Calibrating a Spectrometer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Youngquist, Robert C. (Inventor); Simmons, Stephen M. (Inventor)

2013-01-01

A calibration assembly for a spectrometer is provided. The assembly includes a spectrometer having n detector elements, where each detector element is assigned a predetermined wavelength value. A first source emitting first radiation is used to calibrate the spectrometer. A device is placed in the path of the first radiation to split the first radiation into a first beam and a second beam. The assembly is configured so that one of the first and second beams travels a path-difference distance longer than the other of the first and second beams. An output signal is generated by the spectrometer when the first and second beams enter the spectrometer. The assembly includes a controller operable for processing the output signal and adapted to calculate correction factors for the respective predetermined wavelength values assigned to each detector element.

SU-E-T-145: Beam Characteristics of Flattening Filter Free Beams Including Low Dose Rate Setting

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Uehara, K; Ogata, T; Nakayama, M

2015-06-15

Purpose: In commissioning of volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), it is necessary to evaluate the beam characteristics of various dose rate settings with potential to use. The aim of this study is to evaluate the beam characteristics of flattened and flattening filter free (FFF) including low dose rate setting. Methods: We used a Varian TrueBeam with Millennium 120 MLC. Both 6 and 10 MV beams with or without flattening filter were used for this study. To evaluate low-dose rate FFF beams, specially-designed leaf sequence files control out-of-field MLC leaf pair at constant dose rate ranging from 80 to 400 MU/min.more » For dose rate from 80 MU/min to the maximum usable value of all energies, beam output were measured using ionization chamber (CC04, IBA). The ionization chamber was inserted into water equivalent phantom (RT3000-New, R-tech), and the phantom was set with SAD of 100cm. The beam profiles were performed using the 2D diode array (Profiler2, Sun Nuclear). The SSD was set to 90cm and a combined 30cmx30cmx9cm phantom which consisted of solid water slabs was put on the device. All measurement were made using 100MU irradiation for 10cmx10cm jaw-defined field size with a gantry angle of 0°. Results: In all energies, the dose rate dependences with beam output and variation coefficient were within 0.2% and 0.07%, respectively. The flatness and symmetry exhibited small variations (flatness ≤0.1 point and symmetry≤0.3 point at absolute difference). Conclusion: We had studied the characteristics of flattened and FFF beam over the 80 MU/min. Our results indicated that the beam output and profiles of FFF of TrueBeam linac were highly stable at low dose rate setting.« less

Building mechanical Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger and cluster states by harnessing optomechanical quantum steerable correlations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, Huatang; Wei, Yanghua; Li, Gaoxiang

2017-11-01

Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) and cluster states are two typical kinds of multipartite entangled states and can respectively be used for realizing quantum networks and one-way computation. We propose a feasible scheme for generating Gaussian GHZ and cluster states of multiple mechanical oscillators by pulsed cavity optomechanics. In our scheme, each optomechanical cavity is driven by a blue-detuned pulse to establish quantum steerable correlations between the cavity output field and the mechanical oscillator, and the cavity outputs are combined at a beam-splitter array with given transmissivity and reflectivity for each beam splitter. We show that by harnessing the light-mechanical steerable correlations, the mechanical GHZ and cluster states can be realized via homodyne detection on the amplitude and phase quadratures of the output fields from the beam-splitter array. These achieved mechanical entangled states can be viewed as the output states of an effective mechanical beam-splitter array with the mechanical inputs prepared in squeezed states with the light-mechanical steering. The effects of detection efficiency and thermal noise on the achieved mechanical states are investigated. The present scheme does not require externally injected squeezing and it can also be applicable to other systems such as light-atomic-ensemble interface, apart from optomechanical systems.

Fully vectorial laser resonator modeling of continuous-wave solid-state lasers including rate equations, thermal lensing and stress-induced birefringence.

PubMed

Asoubar, Daniel; Wyrowski, Frank

2015-07-27

The computer-aided design of high quality mono-mode, continuous-wave solid-state lasers requires fast, flexible and accurate simulation algorithms. Therefore in this work a model for the calculation of the transversal dominant mode structure is introduced. It is based on the generalization of the scalar Fox and Li algorithm to a fully-vectorial light representation. To provide a flexible modeling concept of different resonator geometries containing various optical elements, rigorous and approximative solutions of Maxwell's equations are combined in different subdomains of the resonator. This approach allows the simulation of plenty of different passive intracavity components as well as active media. For the numerically efficient simulation of nonlinear gain, thermal lensing and stress-induced birefringence effects in solid-state active crystals a semi-analytical vectorial beam propagation method is discussed in detail. As a numerical example the beam quality and output power of a flash-lamp-pumped Nd:YAG laser are improved. To that end we compensate the influence of stress-induced birefringence and thermal lensing by an aspherical mirror and a 90° quartz polarization rotator.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhou, S; Fan, Q; Lei, Y

Purpose: In-Water-Output-Ratio (IWOR) plays a significant role in linac-based radiotherapy treatment planning, linking MUs to delivered radiation dose. For an open rectangular field, IWOR depends on both its width and length, and changes rapidly when one of them becomes small. In this study, a universal functional form is proposed to fit the open field IWOR tables in Varian TrueBeam representative datasets for all photon energies. Methods: A novel Generalized Mean formula is first used to estimate the Equivalent Square (ES) for a rectangular field. The formula’s weighting factor and power index are determined by collapsing all data points as muchmore » as possible onto a single curve in IWOR vs. ES plot. The result is then fitted with a novel universal function IWOR=1+b*Log(ES/10cm)/(ES/10cm)^c via a least-square procedure to determine the optimal values for parameters b and c. The maximum relative residual error in IWOR over the entire two-dimensional measurement table with field sizes between 3cm and 40cm is used to evaluate the quality of fit for the function. Results: The two-step fitting strategy works very well in determining the optimal parameter values for open field IWOR of each photon energies in the Varian data-set. Relative residual error ≤0.71% is achieved for all photon energies (including Flattening-Filter-Free modes) with field sizes between 3cm and 40cm. The optimal parameter values change smoothly with regular photon beam quality. Conclusion: The universal functional form fits the Varian TrueBeam open field IWOR measurement tables accurately with small relative residual errors for all photon energies. Therefore, it can be an excellent choice to represent IWOR in absolute dose and MU calculations. The functional form can also be used as a QA/commissioning tool to verify the measured data quality and consistency by checking the IWOR data behavior against the function for new photon energies with arbitrary beam quality.« less

A CMOS-MEMS clamped–clamped beam displacement amplifier for resonant switch applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Jia-Ren; Lu, Shih-Chuan; Tsai, Chun-Pu; Li, Wei-Chang

2018-06-01

This paper presents a micromechanical clamped–clamped beam (CC-beam) displacement amplifier based on a CMOS-MEMS fabrication process platform. In particular, a 2.0 MHz resonant displacement amplifier composed of two identical CC-beams coupled by a mechanical beam at locations where the two beams have mismatched velocities exhibits a larger displacement, up to 9.96×, on one beam than that of the other. The displacement amplification prevents unwanted input impacting—the structure switches only to the output but not the input—required by resonant switch-based mechanical circuits (Kim et al 2009 22nd IEEE Int. Conf. on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems; Lin et al 2009 15th Int. Conf. on Solid-State Sensors, Actuators, & Microsystems (TRANSDUCERS’09) Li et al 2013 17th Int. Conf. on Solid-State Sensors, Actuators, & Microsystems (TRANSDUCERS’13)). Compared to a single CC-beam displacement amplifier, theory predicts that the displacement amplifying CC-beam array yields a larger overall output displacement for displacement gain beyond 1.13 thanks to the preserved input driving force. A complete analytical model predicts the resultant stiffness and displacement gain of the coupled CC-beam displacement amplifier that match well with finite element analysis (FEA) prediction and measured results.

SU-E-J-127: Implementation of An Online Replanning Tool for VMAT Using Flattening Filter-Free Beams

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ates, O; Ahunbay, E; Li, X

2015-06-15

Purpose: This is to report the implementation of an online replanning tool based on segment aperture morphing (SAM) for VMAT with flattening filter free (FFF) beams. Methods: Previously reported SAM algorithm modified to accommodate VMAT with FFF beams was implemented in a tool that was interfaced with a treatment planning system (Monaco, Elekta). The tool allows (1) to output the beam parameters of the original VMAT plan from Monaco, and (2) to input the apertures generated from the SAM algorithm into Monaco for the dose calculation on daily CT/CBCT/MRI in the following steps:(1) Quickly generating target contour based on themore » image of the day, using an auto-segmentation tool (ADMIRE, Elekta) with manual editing if necessary; (2) Morphing apertures based on the SAM in the original VMAT plan to account for the interfractional change of the target from the planning to the daily images; (3) Calculating dose distribution for new apertures with the same numbers of MU as in the original plan; (4) Transferring the new plan into a record & verify system (MOSAIQ, Elekta); (5) Performing a pre-delivery QA based on software; (6) Delivering the adaptive plan for the fraction.This workflow was implemented on a 16-CPU (2.6 GHz dual-core) hardware with GPU and was tested for sample cases of prostate, pancreas and lung tumors. Results: The online replanning process can be completed within 10 minutes. The adaptive plans generally have improved the plan quality when compared to the IGRT repositioning plans. The adaptive plans with FFF beams have better normal tissue sparing as compared with those of FF beams. Conclusion: The online replanning tool based on SAM can quickly generate adaptive VMAT plans using FFF beams with improved plan quality than those from the IGRT repositioning plans based on daily CT/CBCT/MRI and can be used clinically. This research was supported by Elekta Inc. (Crawley, UK)« less

Sensitivity of a three-mirror cavity to thermal and nonlinear lensing: Gaussian-beam analysis.

PubMed

Anctil, G; McCarthy, N; Piché, M

2000-12-20

We consider a compact three-mirror cavity consisting of a flat output coupler, a curved folding mirror, and an active medium with one facet cut at the Brewster angle and the other facet coated for unit reflectivity. We examine the sensitivity to thermal lensing and to self-focusing in the active medium of the Gaussian beam that is circulating in that cavity. We use a simple thin-lens model; the astigmatism of the beam that is circulating in the cavity and the nonlinear coupling between the field distributions along the two orthogonal axes are taken into account. We find configurations in which beam ellipticity is compensated for at either end of the cavity in the presence of thermal lensing. We have derived an analytical criterion that predicts the sensitivity of the beam size to nonlinear lensing. The ability of the cavity to favor self-mode locking is found to be sensitive to the strength of thermal lensing. In the absence of thermal lensing, cavities operated as telescopic systems (C = 0) or self-imaging systems (B = 0) are most appropriate for achieving self-mode locking, with nonlinear mode selection accomplished through saturation of the spatially varying laser gain. We identify conditions for which self-mode locking can be produced by variable-reflectivity output couplers with either maximum or minimum reflectivity at the center of the coupler. We use our model to estimate the nonlinear gain produced in laser cavities equipped with such output couplers. We identify a cavity configuration for which nonlinear lensing can simultaneously produce mode locking and correction of beam ellipticity at the output coupler.

Sensitivity of a Three-Mirror Cavity to Thermal and Nonlinear Lensing: Gaussian-Beam Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anctil, Geneviève; McCarthy, Nathalie; Piché, Michel

2000-12-01

We consider a compact three-mirror cavity consisting of a flat output coupler, a curved folding mirror, and an active medium with one facet cut at the Brewster angle and the other facet coated for unit reflectivity. We examine the sensitivity to thermal lensing and to self-focusing in the active medium of the Gaussian beam that is circulating in that cavity. We use a simple thin-lens model; the astigmatism of the beam that is circulating in the cavity and the nonlinear coupling between the field distributions along the two orthogonal axes are taken into account. We find configurations in which beam ellipticity is compensated for at either end of the cavity in the presence of thermal lensing. We have derived an analytical criterion that predicts the sensitivity of the beam size to nonlinear lensing. The ability of the cavity to favor self-mode locking is found to be sensitive to the strength of thermal lensing. In the absence of thermal lensing, cavities operated as telescopic systems ( C 0 ) or self-imaging systems ( B 0 ) are most appropriate for achieving self-mode locking, with nonlinear mode selection accomplished through saturation of the spatially varying laser gain. We identify conditions for which self-mode locking can be produced by variable-reflectivity output couplers with either maximum or minimum reflectivity at the center of the coupler. We use our model to estimate the nonlinear gain produced in laser cavities equipped with such output couplers. We identify a cavity configuration for which nonlinear lensing can simultaneously produce mode locking and correction of beam ellipticity at the output coupler.

Microwave Power Combiners for Signals of Arbitrary Amplitude

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Conroy, Bruce; Hoppe, Daniel

2009-01-01

Schemes for combining power from coherent microwave sources of arbitrary (unequal or equal) amplitude have been proposed. Most prior microwave-power-combining schemes are limited to sources of equal amplitude. The basic principle of the schemes now proposed is to use quasi-optical components to manipulate the polarizations and phases of two arbitrary-amplitude input signals in such a way as to combine them into one output signal having a specified, fixed polarization. To combine power from more than two sources, one could use multiple powercombining stages based on this principle, feeding the outputs of lower-power stages as inputs to higher-power stages. Quasi-optical components suitable for implementing these schemes include grids of parallel wires, vane polarizers, and a variety of waveguide structures. For the sake of brevity, the remainder of this article illustrates the basic principle by focusing on one scheme in which a wire grid and two vane polarizers would be used. Wire grids are the key quasi-optical elements in many prior equal-power combiners. In somewhat oversimplified terms, a wire grid reflects an incident beam having an electric field parallel to the wires and passes an incident beam having an electric field perpendicular to the wires. In a typical prior equal-power combining scheme, one provides for two properly phased, equal-amplitude signals having mutually perpendicular linear polarizations to impinge from two mutually perpendicular directions on a wire grid in a plane oriented at an angle of 45 with respect to both beam axes. The wires in the grid are oriented to pass one of the incident beams straight through onto the output path and to reflect the other incident beam onto the output path along with the first-mentioned beam.

Poster — Thur Eve — 49: Unexpected Output Drops: Pitted Blackholes in Tungsten

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hudson, A; Pierce, G; University of Calgary, Department of Oncology, Calgary AB

2014-08-15

During the daily measurement of radiation output of a 6 MV beam on a Varian Trilogy Linear Accelerator the output dropped below 2% and initiated a call to action by physics to determine the cause. Over the course of weeks the cause of the issue was diagnosed to be a defect in the target, resulting in a drop in output and an asymmetry of the beam. Steps were taken to return the machine to clinical service while parts were on order while ensuring the safety of patient treatment. The machine target was replaced and the machine continues to operate asmore » expected. A drop in output is usually a rarity and a defect in the target is possibly more rare. This experience demonstrated the importance of routine QC measurement, recording and analyzing daily output and symmetry values. In addition, this event showcased the importance of a multi-disciplinary approach in a high-pressure situation to effectively troubleshoot unique events to ensure consistence, safety patient treatment.« less

Pulse stretcher

DOEpatents

Horton, James A.

1994-01-01

Apparatus (20) for increasing the length of a laser pulse to reduce its peak power without substantial loss in the average power of the pulse. The apparatus (20) uses a White cell (10) having a plurality of optical delay paths (18a-18d) of successively increasing number of passes between the field mirror (13) and the objective mirrors (11 and 12). A pulse (26) from a laser (27) travels through a multi-leg reflective path (28) between a beam splitter (21) and a totally reflective mirror (24) to the laser output (37). The laser pulse (26) is also simultaneously injected through the beam splitter (21) to the input mirrors (14a-14d) of the optical delay paths (18a-18d). The pulses from the output mirrors (16a-16d) of the optical delay paths (18a-18d) go simultaneously to the laser output (37) and to the input mirrors ( 14b-14d) of the longer optical delay paths. The beam splitter (21) is 50% reflective and 50% transmissive to provide equal attenuation of all of the pulses at the laser output (37).

Different Solutions for the Generator-accelerator Module

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Savin, E. A.; Matsievskiy, S. V.; Sobenin, N. P.; Zavadtsev, A. A.; Zavadtsev, D. A.

The most important part of the particle accelerators [1] - is the power generator together with the whole feeding system [2]. All types of generators, such as klystrons, magnetrons, solid state generators cover their own field of power and pulse length values. For the last couple of year the Inductive Output Tubes (IOT) becomes very popular because of their comparative construction simplicity: it represents the klystron output cavity with the grid modulated electron beam injected in it. Now such IOTs are used with the superconductive particle accelerators at 700 MHz operating frequency with around 1MW output power. Higher frequencies problem - is the inability to apply high frequency modulated voltage to the grid. Thus we need to figure out some kind of RF gun. But this article is about the first steps of the geometry and beam dynamics simulation in the six beam S-band IOT, which will be used with the compact biperiodic accelerating structure.

Low-Loss Coupling of Quantum Cascade Lasers into Hollow-Core Waveguides with Single-Mode Output in the 3.7-7.6 μm Spectral Range.

PubMed

Patimisco, Pietro; Sampaolo, Angelo; Mihai, Laura; Giglio, Marilena; Kriesel, Jason; Sporea, Dan; Scamarcio, Gaetano; Tittel, Frank K; Spagnolo, Vincenzo

2016-04-13

We demonstrated low-loss and single-mode laser beam delivery through hollow-core waveguides (HCWs) operating in the 3.7-7.6 μm spectral range. The employed HCWs have a circular cross section with a bore diameter of 200 μm and metallic/dielectric internal coatings deposited inside a glass capillary tube. The internal coatings have been produced to enhance the spectral response of the HCWs in the range 3.5-12 µm. We demonstrated Gaussian-like outputs throughout the 4.5-7.6 µm spectral range. A quasi single-mode output beam with only small beam distortions was achieved when the wavelength was reduced to 3.7 μm. With a 15-cm-long HCW and optimized coupling conditions, we measured coupling efficiencies of >88% and transmission losses of <1 dB in the investigated infrared spectral range.

Development of a 402.5 MHz 140 kW Inductive Output Tube

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

R. Lawrence Ives; Michael Read, Robert Jackson

2012-05-09

This report contains the results of Phase I of an SBIR to develop a Pulsed Inductive Output Tube (IOT) with 140 kW at 400 MHz for powering H-proton beams. A number of sources, including single beam and multiple beam klystrons, can provide this power, but the IOT provides higher efficiency. Efficiencies exceeding 70% are routinely achieved. The gain is typically limited to approximately 24 dB; however, the availability of highly efficient, solid state drivers reduces the significance of this limitation, particularly at lower frequencies. This program initially focused on developing a 402 MHz IOT; however, the DOE requirement for thismore » device was terminated during the program. The SBIR effort was refocused on improving the IOT design codes to more accurately simulate the time dependent behavior of the input cavity, electron gun, output cavity, and collector. Significant improvement was achieved in modeling capability and simulation accuracy.« less

Energy harvesting by dynamic unstability and internal resonance for piezoelectric beam

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lan, Chunbo; Qin, Weiyang, E-mail: 353481781@qq.com; Deng, Wangzheng

We investigated the energy harvesting of a vertical beam with tip mass under vertical excitations. We applied dynamic unstability and internal resonance to improve the efficiency of harvesting. The experiments of harmonic excitation were carried out. Results show that for the beam there exist internal resonances in the dynamically unstable and the buckling bistable cases. The dynamic unstability is a determinant for strong internal resonance or mode coupling, which can be used to create a large output from piezoelectric patches. Then, the experiments of stochastic excitation were carried out. Results prove that the internal resonance or mode coupling can transfermore » the excitation energy to the low order modes, mainly the first and the second one. This can bring about a large output voltage. For a stochastic excitation, it is proved that there is an optimal weight of tip mass for realizing internal resonance and producing large outputs.« less

Apparatus for laser assisted thin film deposition

DOEpatents

Warner, B.E.; McLean, W. II

1996-02-13

A pulsed laser deposition apparatus uses fiber optics to deliver visible output beams. One or more optical fibers are coupled to one or more laser sources, and delivers visible output beams to a single chamber, to multiple targets in the chamber or to multiple chambers. The laser can run uninterrupted if one of the deposition chambers ceases to operate because other chambers can continue their laser deposition processes. The laser source can be positioned at a remote location relative to the deposition chamber. The use of fiber optics permits multi-plexing. A pulsed visible laser beam is directed at a generally non-perpendicular angle upon the target in the chamber, generating a plume of ions and energetic neutral species. A portion of the plume is deposited on a substrate as a thin film. A pulsed visible output beam with a high pulse repetition frequency is used. The high pulse repetition frequency is greater than 500 Hz, and more preferably, greater than about 1000 Hz. Diamond-like-carbon (DLC) is one of the thin films produced using the apparatus. 9 figs.

Apparatus for laser assisted thin film deposition

DOEpatents

Warner, Bruce E.; McLean, II, William

1996-01-01

A pulsed laser deposition apparatus uses fiber optics to deliver visible output beams. One or more optical fibers are coupled to one or more laser sources, and delivers visible output beams to a single chamber, to multiple targets in the chamber or to multiple chambers. The laser can run uninterrupted if one of the deposition chambers ceases to operate because other chambers can continue their laser deposition processes. The laser source can be positioned at a remote location relative to the deposition chamber. The use of fiber optics permits multi-plexing. A pulsed visible laser beam is directed at a generally non-perpendicular angle upon the target in the chamber, generating a plume of ions and energetic neutral species. A portion of the plume is deposited on a substrate as a thin film. A pulsed visible output beam with a high pulse repetition frequency is used. The high pulse repetition frequency is greater than 500 Hz, and more preferably, greater than about 1000 Hz. Diamond-like-carbon (DLC) is one of the thin films produced using the apparatus.

A piezoelectric energy harvester for broadband rotational excitation using buckled beam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Zhengqiu; Kitio Kwuimy, C. A.; Wang, Zhiguo; Huang, Wenbin

2018-01-01

This paper proposes a rotational energy harvester using a piezoelectric bistable buckled beam to harvest low-speed rotational energy. The proposed harvester consists of a piezoelectric buckled beam with a center magnet, and a rotary magnet pair with opposite magnetic poles mounted on a revolving host. The magnetic plucking is used to harvest the angular kinetic energy of the host. The nonlinear snap-through mechanism is utilized to improve the vibration displacement and output voltage of the piezoelectric layer over a wide rotation frequency range. Theoretical simulation and experimental results show that the proposed energy harvester can yield a stable average output power ranging between 6.91-48.01 μW over a rotation frequency range of 1-14 Hz across a resistance load of 110 kΩ. Furthermore, dual attraction magnets were employed to overcome the suppression phenomenon at higher frequencies, which yields a broadband and flat frequency response over 6-14 Hz with the output power reaching 42.19-65.44 μW, demonstrating the great potential of the bistable buckled beam for wideband rotation motion energy harvesting.

Quality assurance in proton beam therapy using a plastic scintillator and a commercially available digital camera.

PubMed

Almurayshid, Mansour; Helo, Yusuf; Kacperek, Andrzej; Griffiths, Jennifer; Hebden, Jem; Gibson, Adam

2017-09-01

In this article, we evaluate a plastic scintillation detector system for quality assurance in proton therapy using a BC-408 plastic scintillator, a commercial camera, and a computer. The basic characteristics of the system were assessed in a series of proton irradiations. The reproducibility and response to changes of dose, dose-rate, and proton energy were determined. Photographs of the scintillation light distributions were acquired, and compared with Geant4 Monte Carlo simulations and with depth-dose curves measured with an ionization chamber. A quenching effect was observed at the Bragg peak of the 60 MeV proton beam where less light was produced than expected. We developed an approach using Birks equation to correct for this quenching. We simulated the linear energy transfer (LET) as a function of depth in Geant4 and found Birks constant by comparing the calculated LET and measured scintillation light distribution. We then used the derived value of Birks constant to correct the measured scintillation light distribution for quenching using Geant4. The corrected light output from the scintillator increased linearly with dose. The system is stable and offers short-term reproducibility to within 0.80%. No dose rate dependency was observed in this work. This approach offers an effective way to correct for quenching, and could provide a method for rapid, convenient, routine quality assurance for clinical proton beams. Furthermore, the system has the advantage of providing 2D visualization of individual radiation fields, with potential application for quality assurance of complex, time-varying fields. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

[Combined CO2 and Nd-YAG laser in neurosurgical practice. A 1st experience apropos of 40 intracranial procedures].

PubMed

Roux, F X; Leriche, B; Cioloca, C; Devaux, B; Turak, B; Nohra, G

1992-01-01

The authors present their experience concerning the use of Combolaser (Lasermatic, Finland), in neurosurgery. This laser-unit combines two wavelengths (CO2 and 1.06 Nd-YAG) which are emitted simultaneously and coaxially. During the last 12 months, 40 patients harbouring an intracranial tumor were operated upon with such a combolaser unit: 8 infra-tentorial, 32 supra-tentorial, 17 were meningiomas. The mean output power used during the procedures was 3-5 w for both CO2 and Nd-YAG beams. The authors discuss the advantages and inconveniences of such a laser; and they compare it with the other laser-units they have been using for the last 10 years: CO2-Laser, 1.06 Nd-YAG and 1.32 Nd-YAG laser. The main inconvenience of this unit is linked to the utilization of the articulated arm which conducts the CO2 laser beam. This drawback should be avoided or limited by the use of a fiber microguide, which will conduct both CO2 and Nd-YAG beams simultaneously. The principal contribution of a combined-laser unit is the quality of the haemostasis associated to a very good vaporization and cutting effect. When both wavelengths are synchronized, the combined laser beams penetrate into the nervous parenchyma more deeply than the only CO2 laser beam would with the same parameters. The vaporization effect is identical to that obtained with the isolated CO2 laser; the quality of haemostasis is limited to the effects of the Nd-YAG laser. Another advantage must be emphasized: the possibility of utilizing separately the CO2 laser and the 1.06 Nd-YAG.

Solar cell anomaly detection method and apparatus

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, Emmett L. (Inventor); Shumka, Alex (Inventor); Gauthier, Michael K. (Inventor)

1981-01-01

A method is provided for detecting cracks and other imperfections in a solar cell, which includes scanning a narrow light beam back and forth across the cell in a raster pattern, while monitoring the electrical output of the cell to find locations where the electrical output varies significantly. The electrical output can be monitored on a television type screen containing a raster pattern with each point on the screen corresponding to a point on the solar cell surface, and with the brightness of each point on the screen corresponding to the electrical output from the cell which was produced when the light beam was at the corresponding point on the cell. The technique can be utilized to scan a large array of interconnected solar cells, to determine which ones are defective.

Refined beam measurements on the SNS H- injector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, B. X.; Welton, R. F.; Murray, S. N.; Pennisi, T. R.; Santana, M.; Stinson, C. M.; Stockli, M. P.

2017-08-01

The H- injector for the SNS RFQ accelerator consists of an RF-driven, Cs-enhanced H- ion source and a compact, two-lens electrostatic LEBT. The LEBT output and the RFQ input beam current are measured by deflecting the beam on to an annular plate at the RFQ entrance. Our method and procedure have recently been refined to improve the measurement reliability and accuracy. The new measurements suggest that earlier measurements tended to underestimate the currents by 0-2 mA, but essentially confirm H- beam currents of 50-60 mA being injected into the RFQ. Emittance measurements conducted on a test stand featuring essentially the same H- injector setup show that the normalized rms emittance with 0.5% threshold (99% inclusion of the total beam) is in a range of 0.25-0.4 mm.mrad for a 50-60 mA beam. The RFQ output current is monitored with a BCM toroid. Measurements as well as simulations with the PARMTEQ code indicate an underperforming transmission of the RFQ since around 2012.

Optical trapping using cascade conical refraction of light.

PubMed

O'Dwyer, D P; Ballantine, K E; Phelan, C F; Lunney, J G; Donegan, J F

2012-09-10

Cascade conical refraction occurs when a beam of light travels through two or more biaxial crystals arranged in series. The output beam can be altered by varying the relative azimuthal orientation of the two biaxial crystals. For two identical crystals, in general the output beam comprises a ring beam with a spot at its centre. The relative intensities of the spot and ring can be controlled by varying the azimuthal angle between the refracted cones formed in each crystal. We have used this beam arrangement to trap one microsphere within the central spot and a second microsphere on the ring. Using linearly polarized light, we can rotate the microsphere on the ring with respect to the central sphere. Finally, using a half wave-plate between the two crystals, we can create a unique beam profile that has two intensity peaks on the ring, and thereby trap two microspheres on diametrically opposite points on the ring and rotate them around the central sphere. Such a versatile optical trap should find application in optical trapping setups.

Dynamic light scattering homodyne probe

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meyer, William V. (Inventor); Cannell, David S. (Inventor); Smart, Anthony E. (Inventor)

2002-01-01

An optical probe for analyzing a sample illuminated by a laser includes an input optical fiber operably connectable to the laser where the input optical fiber has an entrance end and an exit end. The probe also includes a first beam splitter where the first beam splitter is adapted to transmit an alignment portion of a light beam from the input fiber exit end and to reflect a homodyning portion of the light beam from the input fiber. The probe also includes a lens between the input fiber exit end and the first beam splitter and a first and a second output optical fiber, each having an entrance end and an exit end, each exit end being operably connectable to respective optical detectors. The probe also includes a second beam splitter which is adapted to reflect at least a portion of the reflected homodyning portion into the output fiber entrance ends and to transmit light from the laser scattered by the sample into the entrance ends.

Highly-efficient multi-watt Yb:CaLnAlO4 microchip lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loiko, Pavel; Serres, Josep Maria; Mateos, Xavier; Xu, Xiaodong; Xu, Jun; Yumashev, Konstantin; Griebner, Uwe; Petrov, Valentin; Aguiló, Magdalena; Díaz, Francesc; Major, Arkady

2017-02-01

Tetragonal rare-earth calcium aluminates, CaLnAlO4 where Ln = Gd or Y (CALGO and CALYO, respectively), are attractive laser crystal hosts due to their locally disordered structure and high thermal conductivity. In the present work, we report on highly-efficient power-scalable microchip lasers based on 8 at.% Yb:CALGO and 3 at.% Yb:CALYO crystals grown by the Czochralski method. Pumped by an InGaAs laser diode at 978 nm, the 6 mm-long Yb:CALGO microchip laser generated 7.79 W at 1057-1065 nm with a slope efficiency of η = 84% (with respect to the absorbed pump power) and an optical-to-optical efficiency of ηopt = 49%. The 3 mm-long Yb:CALYO microchip laser generated 5.06 W at 1048-1056 nm corresponding to η = 91% and ηopt = 32%. Both lasers produced linearly polarized output (σ- polarization) with an almost circular beam profile and beam quality factors M2 x,y <1.1. The output performance of the developed lasers was modeled yielding a loss coefficient as low as 0.004-0.007 cm-1. The results indicate that the Yb3+- doped calcium aluminates are very promising candidates for high-peak-power passively Q-switched microchip lasers.

Design of photonic crystal surface emitting lasers with indium-tin-oxide top claddings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Shen-Che; Hong, Kuo-Bin; Chiu, Han-Lun; Lan, Shao-Wun; Chang, Tsu-Chi; Li, Heng; Lu, Tien-Chang

2018-02-01

Electrically pumped GaAs-based photonic crystal surface emitting lasers were fabricated using a simple fabrication process by directly capping the indium-tin-oxide transparent conducting thin film as the top cladding layer upon a photonic crystal layer. Optimization of the separate-confinement heterostructures of a laser structure is crucial to improving characteristics by providing advantageous optical confinements. The turn-on voltage, series resistance, threshold current, and slope efficiency of the laser with a 100 × 100 μm2 photonic crystal area operated at room temperature were 1.3 V, 1.5 Ω, 121 mA, and 0.2 W/A, respectively. Furthermore, we demonstrated a single-lobed lasing wavelength of 928.6 nm at 200 mA and a wavelength redshift rate of 0.05 nm/K in temperature-dependent measurements. The device exhibited the maximum output power of approximately 400 mW at an injection current of 2 A; moreover, divergence angles of less than 1° for the unpolarized circular-shaped laser beam were measured at various injection currents. Overall, the low threshold current, excellent beam quality, small divergence, high output power, and high-operating-temperature (up to 343 K) of our devices indicate that they can potentially fill the requirements for next-generation light sources and optoelectronic devices.

Experimental investigation of a diode-pumped powerful continuous-wave dual-wavelength Nd:YAG laser at 946 and 938.6 nm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, F.; Yu, X.; Yan, R. P.; Li, X. D.; Li, D. J.; Yang, G. L.; Xie, J. J.; Guo, J.

2013-05-01

In this paper, a diode-pumped high-power continuous-wave (cw) dual-wavelength Nd:YAG laser at 946 and 938.6 nm is reported. By using an end-pumped structure, comparative experiments indicate that a 5 mm-length Nd:YAG crystal with a Nd3+-doping concentration of 0.3 at.% is favorable for high-power laser operation, and the optimal transmissivity of the output coupler is 9%. As a result, a maximum output power of 17.2 W for a dual-wavelength laser at 946 and 938.6 nm is obtained at an incident pump power of 75.9 W, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 26.5%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest output power of a quasi-three-level dual-wavelength laser using a conventional Nd:YAG crystal achieved to date. By using a traveling knife-edge method, the beam quality factor and far-field divergence angle at 17 W power level are estimated to be 4.0 and 6.13 mrad, respectively.

1.5  kW efficient CW Nd:YAG planar waveguide MOPA laser.

PubMed

Wang, Juntao; Wu, Zhenhai; Su, Hua; Zhou, Tangjian; Lei, Jun; Lv, Wenqiang; He, Jing; Xu, Liu; Chen, Yuejian; Wang, Dan; Tong, Lixin; Hu, Hao; Gao, Qingsong; Tang, Chun

2017-08-15

In this Letter, we report a 1064 nm continuous wave Nd:YAG planar waveguide laser with an output power of 1544 W based on the structure of the master oscillator power amplification. A fiber laser is used as the master oscillator, and diode laser arrays are used as the pump source of the waveguide laser amplifier. The dimension of the waveguide is 1  mm (T)×10  mm (W)×60  mm (L), and the dual end oblique pumping is adopted with different angles. After a single-pass amplification, the power is scaled from 323 to 1544 W with the pump power of 2480 W, leading to an optical-to-optical efficiency of 49%. At the maximum output, the beam quality M 2 are measured to be 2.8 and 7.0 in the guided direction and the unguided direction, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest output power of a Nd:YAG planar waveguide laser to date.

Optical Measurement of Mass Flow of a Two-Phase Fluid

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wiley, John; Pedersen, Kevin; Koman, Valentin; Gregory, Don

2008-01-01

An optoelectronic system utilizes wavelength-dependent scattering of light for measuring the density and mass flow of a two-phase fluid in a pipe. The apparatus was invented for original use in measuring the mass flow of a two-phase cryogenic fluid (e.g., liquid hydrogen containing bubbles of hydrogen gas), but underlying principles of operation can readily be adapted to non-cryogenic two-phase fluids. The system (see figure) includes a laser module, which contains two or more laser diodes, each operating at a different wavelength. The laser module also contains beam splitters that combine the beams at the various wavelengths so as to produce two output beams, each containing all of the wavelengths. One of the multiwavelength output beams is sent, via a multimode fiberoptic cable, to a transmitting optical coupler. The other multiwavelength output beam is sent, via another multimode fiber-optic cable, to a reference detector module, wherein fiber-optic splitters split the light into several multiwavelength beams, each going to a photodiode having a spectral response that is known and that differs from the spectral responses of the other photodiodes. The outputs of these photodiodes are digitized and fed to a processor, which executes an algorithm that utilizes the known spectral responses to convert the photodiode outputs to obtain reference laser-power levels for the various wavelengths. The transmitting optical coupler is mounted in (and sealed to) a hole in the pipe and is oriented at a slant with respect to the axis of the pipe. The transmitting optical coupler contains a collimating lens and a cylindrical lens that form the light emerging from the end of the fiber-optic cable into a fan-shaped beam in a meridional plane of the pipe. Receiving optical couplers similar to the transmitting optical couplers are mounted in the same meridional plane at various longitudinal positions on the opposite side of the pipe, approximately facing the transmitting optical coupler along the same slant. Light collected by each receiving optical coupler is sent, via a multimode fiber-optic cable, to a detector module similar to the reference detector module. The outputs of the photodiodes in each detector module are digitized and processed, similarly to those of the reference detector module, to obtain indications of the amounts of light of each wavelength scattered to the corresponding receiving position. The value for each wavelength at each position is also normalized to the reference laser-power level for that wavelength. From these normalized values, the density and the mass flow rate of the fluid are estimated.

The output power improvement and durability with different shape of MEMS piezoelectric energy harvester

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, C. T.; Fu, Y. H.; Tang, W. H.; Lin, S. C.; Wu, W. J.

2018-03-01

MEMS piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH) has been widely designed in cantilever beam style because of ease of fabrication and effective to generate large strain and output power. There are already several studies on tapered beam shapes to improve the overall performance of energy harvested. In this paper, we investigate cantilever beam type PEH in rectangular, trapezoidal and triangle shapes, and the devices are limited to the area smaller than 1cm × 1 cm for better flexibility in applications. The power output and the life time of each shape of devices are fabricated and characterized. The output power are tested with optimal resistance loads, and the output power are 145.3 μW, 125.3 μW and 107.8 μW for triangle, trapezoidal and rectangular shapes of devices respectively under excitation of 0.5g acceleration vibration level in the resonant frequency of the transducer. The tip displacements of the 3 devices are 3.05 mm, 2.66 mm, and 2.44 mm for triangular, trapezoidal and rectangular shape devices, respectively. To study the lifetime and durability issue, triangular and rectangular devices are excited under 0.2g to 1g for 24 hours. The resonant frequency shifting, tip displacement and open circuit voltage changing are monitored will be detailed in the paper.

Gyrotron whispering gallery mode coupler with a mode conversion reflector for exciting a circular symmetric uniform phase RF beam in a corrugated waveguide

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Neilson, Jeffrey M.

A cylindrical waveguide with a mode converter transforms a whispering gallery mode from a gyrotron cylindrical waveguide with a helical cut launch edge to a quasi-Gaussian beam suitable for conveyance through a corrugated waveguide. This quasi-Gaussian beam is radiated away from the waveguide using a spiral cut launch edge, which is in close proximity to a first mode converting reflector. The first mode converting reflector is coupled to a second mode converting reflector which provides an output free-space HE11 mode wave suitable for direct coupling into a corrugated waveguide. The radiated beam produced at the output of the second modemore » converting reflector is substantially circular.« less

Effects of Geometric Azimuthal Asymmetries of the PPM Stack on Electron Beam Characteristics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kory, Carol L.

2000-01-01

The effects of geometric azimuthally asymmetric properties of a periodic permanent magnet (PPM) focusing stack on electron beam characteristics obtained using a fully three dimensional (3D) particle-in-cell (PIC) code will be presented. The simulation model, using MAFIA (Solution of MAxwell's equations by the Finite-Integration-Algorithm), incorporates 3D behavior of the beam immersed in static fields calculated directly from the exact geometry and material properties of the 3D magnetic focusing structure. The Hughes 8916H, 18-40 GHz helical TWT for the millimeter-wave power module (MMPM) was used as a prototype. Firstly, the effects of C-magnets used at the input and output of the TWT to allow for coupling of the RF signal into and out of the tube are considered. The 8916H input and output C-magnets differ because coaxial couplers are used at the input and waveguide couplers are used at the output The repositioning of the beam from its central axis due to the inclusion of the output C-magnet was found to be most significant. The modeled output C-magnet and its orientation in the Cartesian coordinate system is shown, and a two-dimensional beam profile including the output C-magnet is also shown. A table presents the shift of the beam center off the central axis relative to the average radius of the beam at the longitudinal points A, B and C designated on an enclosed figure. Secondly, the addition of shunts, or rectangular iron pieces applied manually by a skilled technician in order to improve beam transmission, is considered. The shunts are applied to the top of the tube; thus, azimuthal symmetry of the focusing stack is interrupted. Although shunts are typically added during RF focusing, they are also typically added at the input section of the tube where RF forces are minimal, making an electron optics analysis meaningful. Because several shunts are usually applied to one pole piece, the simulations have been simplified by modeling a half washer with the same radius and longitudinal length as a shunt over the entire x, positive-y half of the transverse plane. A modeled pole piece and shunt as described are shown. Lastly, in order to study the effects of magnet misalignments, a magnet in the PPM stack was arbitrarily chosen and adjusted so that its central axis was shifted both 0.7 percent and 1.0 percent of the magnet outer diameter in the positive-y direction. In practice, positioning the magnets so that their central axis is accurately aligned with the central axis of the tube is challenging. Thus, it is a strong possibility that one or more magnets will be misaligned relative to the tube central axis.

Compact high-pulse-energy ultraviolet laser source for ozone lidar measurements.

PubMed

Elsayed, Khaled A; DeYoung, Russell J; Petway, Larry B; Edwards, William C; Barnes, James C; Elsayed-Ali, Hani E

2003-11-20

An all solid-state Ti:sapphire laser differential absorption lidar transmitter was developed. This all-solid-state laser provides a compact, robust, and highly reliable laser transmitter for potential application in differential absorption lidar measurements of atmospheric ozone. Two compact, high-energy-pulsed, and injection-seeded Ti:sapphire lasers operating at a pulse repetition frequency of 30 Hz and wavelengths of 867 and 900 nm, with M2 of 1.3, have been experimentally demonstrated and their properties compared with model results. The output pulse energy was 115 mJ at 867 nm and 105 mJ at 900 nm, with a slope efficiency of 40% and 32%, respectively. At these energies, the beam quality was good enough so that we were able to achieve 30 mJ of ultraviolet laser output at 289 and 300 nm after frequency tripling with two lithium triborate nonlinear crystals.

AlGaAs heterojunction lasers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goldstein, B.; Pultz, G. N.; Carlin, D. B.; Slavin, S. E.; Ettenberg, M.

1988-01-01

The characterization of 8300 A lasers was broadened, especially in the area of beam quality. Modulation rates up to 2 Gbit/sec at output powers of 20 mW were observed, waveform fidelity was fully adequate for low BER data transmission, and wavefront measurements showed that phase aberrations were less than lamda/50. Also, individually addressable arrays of up to ten contiguous diode lasers were fabricated and tested. Each laser operates at powers up to 30 mW CW in single spatial mode. Shifting the operating wavelength of the basic CSP laser from 8300 A to 8650 A was accomplished by the addition of Si to the active region. Output power has reached 100 mW single mode, with excellent far field wave front properties. Operating life is currently approx. 1000 hrs at 35 mW CW. In addition, laser reliability, for operation at both 8300 A and 8650 A, has profited significantly from several developments in the processing procedures.

Long-pulse-width narrow-bandwidth solid state laser

DOEpatents

Dane, C. Brent; Hackel, Lloyd A.

1997-01-01

A long pulse laser system emits 500-1000 ns quasi-rectangular pulses at 527 nm with near diffraction-limited divergence and near transform-limited bandwidth. The system consists of one or more flashlamp-pumped Nd:glass zig-zag amplifiers, a very low threshold stimulated-Brillouin-scattering (SBS) phase conjugator system, and a free-running single frequency Nd:YLF master oscillator. Completely passive polarization switching provides eight amplifier gain passes. Multiple frequency output can be generated by using SBS cells having different pressures of a gaseous SBS medium or different SBS materials. This long pulse, low divergence, narrow-bandwidth, multi-frequency output laser system is ideally suited for use as an illuminator for long range speckle imaging applications. Because of its high average power and high beam quality, this system has application in any process which would benefit from a long pulse format, including material processing and medical applications.

Long-pulse-width narrow-bandwidth solid state laser

DOEpatents

Dane, C.B.; Hackel, L.A.

1997-11-18

A long pulse laser system emits 500-1000 ns quasi-rectangular pulses at 527 nm with near diffraction-limited divergence and near transform-limited bandwidth. The system consists of one or more flashlamp-pumped Nd:glass zig-zag amplifiers, a very low threshold stimulated-Brillouin-scattering (SBS) phase conjugator system, and a free-running single frequency Nd:YLF master oscillator. Completely passive polarization switching provides eight amplifier gain passes. Multiple frequency output can be generated by using SBS cells having different pressures of a gaseous SBS medium or different SBS materials. This long pulse, low divergence, narrow-bandwidth, multi-frequency output laser system is ideally suited for use as an illuminator for long range speckle imaging applications. Because of its high average power and high beam quality, this system has application in any process which would benefit from a long pulse format, including material processing and medical applications. 5 figs.

An investigation of accelerator head scatter and output factor in air.

PubMed

Ding, George X

2004-09-01

Our purpose in this study was to investigate whether the Monte Carlo simulation can accurately predict output factors in air. Secondary goals were to study the head scatter components and investigate the collimator exchange effect. The Monte Carlo code, BEAMnrc, was used in the study. Photon beams of 6 and 18 MV were from a Varian Clinac 2100EX accelerator and the measurements were performed using an ionization chamber in a mini-phantom. The Monte Carlo calculated in air output factors was within 1% of measured values. The simulation provided information of the origin and the magnitude of the collimator exchange effect. It was shown that the collimator backscatter to the beam monitor chamber played a significant role in the beam output factors. However the magnitude of the scattered dose contributions from the collimator at the isocenter is negligible. The maximum scattered dose contribution from the collimators was about 0.15% and 0.4% of the total dose at the isocenter for a 6 and 18 MV beam, respectively. The scattered dose contributions from the flattening filter at the isocenter were about 0.9-3% and 0.2-6% of the total dose for field sizes of 4x4 cm2-40x40 cm2 for the 6 and 18 MV beam, respectively. The study suggests that measurements of head scatter factors be done at large depth well beyond the depth of electron contamination. The insight information may have some implications for developing generalized empirical models to calculate the head scatter.

Continuous-Wave Operation of a Frequency-Tunable 460-GHz Second-Harmonic Gyrotron for Enhanced Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

PubMed Central

Torrezan, Antonio C.; Han, Seong-Tae; Mastovsky, Ivan; Shapiro, Michael A.; Sirigiri, Jagadishwar R.; Temkin, Richard J.; Griffin, Robert G.; Barnes, Alexander B.

2012-01-01

The design, operation, and characterization of a continuous-wave (CW) tunable second-harmonic 460-GHz gyrotron are reported. The gyrotron is intended to be used as a submillimeter-wave source for 700-MHz nuclear magnetic resonance experiments with sensitivity enhanced by dynamic nuclear polarization. The gyrotron operates in the whispering-gallery mode TE11,2 and has generated 16 W of output power with a 13-kV 100-mA electron beam. The start oscillation current measured over a range of magnetic field values is in good agreement with theoretical start currents obtained from linear theory for successive high-order axial modes TE11,2,q. The minimum start current is 27 mA. Power and frequency tuning measurements as a function of the electron cyclotron frequency have also been carried out. A smooth frequency tuning range of 1 GHz was obtained for the operating second-harmonic mode either by magnetic field tuning or beam voltage tuning. Long-term CW operation was evaluated during an uninterrupted period of 48 h, where the gyrotron output power and frequency were kept stable to within ±0.7% and ±6 ppm, respectively, by a computerized control system. Proper operation of an internal quasi-optical mode converter implemented to transform the operating whispering-gallery mode to a Gaussian-like beam was also verified. Based on the images of the gyrotron output beam taken with a pyroelectric camera, the Gaussian-like mode content of the output beam was computed to be 92% with an ellipticity of 12%. PMID:23761938

Continuous-Wave Operation of a Frequency-Tunable 460-GHz Second-Harmonic Gyrotron for Enhanced Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

PubMed Central

Torrezan, Antonio C.; Han, Seong-Tae; Mastovsky, Ivan; Shapiro, Michael A.; Sirigiri, Jagadishwar R.; Temkin, Richard J.; Barnes, Alexander B.; Griffin, Robert G.

2011-01-01

The design, operation, and characterization of a continuous-wave (CW) tunable second-harmonic 460-GHz gyrotron are reported. The gyrotron is intended to be used as a submillimeter-wave source for 700-MHz nuclear magnetic resonance experiments with sensitivity enhanced by dynamic nuclear polarization. The gyrotron operates in the whispering-gallery mode TE11,2 and has generated 16 W of output power with a 13-kV 100-mA electron beam. The start oscillation current measured over a range of magnetic field values is in good agreement with theoretical start currents obtained from linear theory for successive high-order axial modes TE11,2,q. The minimum start current is 27 mA. Power and frequency tuning measurements as a function of the electron cyclotron frequency have also been carried out. A smooth frequency tuning range of 1 GHz was obtained for the operating second-harmonic mode either by magnetic field tuning or beam voltage tuning. Long-term CW operation was evaluated during an uninterrupted period of 48 h, where the gyrotron output power and frequency were kept stable to within ±0.7% and ±6 ppm, respectively, by a computerized control system. Proper operation of an internal quasi-optical mode converter implemented to transform the operating whispering-gallery mode to a Gaussian-like beam was also verified. Based on the images of the gyrotron output beam taken with a pyroelectric camera, the Gaussian-like mode content of the output beam was computed to be 92% with an ellipticity of 12%. PMID:21243088

Infrared trace element detection system

DOEpatents

Bien, F.; Bernstein, L.S.; Matthew, M.W.

1988-11-15

An infrared trace element detection system includes an optical cell into which the sample fluid to be examined is introduced and removed. Also introduced into the optical cell is a sample beam of infrared radiation in a first wavelength band which is significantly absorbed by the trace element and a second wavelength band which is not significantly absorbed by the trace element for passage through the optical cell through the sample fluid. The output intensities of the sample beam of radiation are selectively detected in the first and second wavelength bands. The intensities of a reference beam of the radiation are similarly detected in the first and second wavelength bands. The sensed output intensity of the sample beam in one of the first and second wavelength bands is normalized with respect to the other and similarly, the intensity of the reference beam of radiation in one of the first and second wavelength bands is normalized with respect to the other. The normalized sample beam intensity and normalized reference beam intensity are then compared to provide a signal from which the amount of trace element in the sample fluid can be determined. 11 figs.

Infrared trace element detection system

DOEpatents

Bien, Fritz; Bernstein, Lawrence S.; Matthew, Michael W.

1988-01-01

An infrared trace element detection system including an optical cell into which the sample fluid to be examined is introduced and removed. Also introduced into the optical cell is a sample beam of infrared radiation in a first wavelength band which is significantly absorbed by the trace element and a second wavelength band which is not significantly absorbed by the trace element for passage through the optical cell through the sample fluid. The output intensities of the sample beam of radiation are selectively detected in the first and second wavelength bands. The intensities of a reference beam of the radiation are similarly detected in the first and second wavelength bands. The sensed output intensity of the sample beam in one of the first and second wavelength bands is normalized with respect to the other and similarly, the intensity of the reference beam of radiation in one of the first and second wavelength bands is normalized with respect to the other. The normalized sample beam intensity and normalized reference beam intensity are then compared to provide a signal from which the amount of trace element in the sample fluid can be determined.

High power diode laser Master Oscillator-Power Amplifier (MOPA)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Andrews, John R.; Mouroulis, P.; Wicks, G.

1994-01-01

High power multiple quantum well AlGaAs diode laser master oscillator - power amplifier (MOPA) systems were examined both experimentally and theoretically. For two pass operation, it was found that powers in excess of 0.3 W per 100 micrometers of facet length were achievable while maintaining diffraction-limited beam quality. Internal electrical-to-optical conversion efficiencies as high as 25 percent were observed at an internal amplifier gain of 9 dB. Theoretical modeling of multiple quantum well amplifiers was done using appropriate rate equations and a heuristic model of the carrier density dependent gain. The model gave a qualitative agreement with the experimental results. In addition, the model allowed exploration of a wider design space for the amplifiers. The model predicted that internal electrical-to-optical conversion efficiencies in excess of 50 percent should be achievable with careful system design. The model predicted that no global optimum design exists, but gain, efficiency, and optical confinement (coupling efficiency) can be mutually adjusted to meet a specific system requirement. A three quantum well, low optical confinement amplifier was fabricated using molecular beam epitaxial growth. Coherent beam combining of two high power amplifiers injected from a common master oscillator was also examined. Coherent beam combining with an efficiency of 93 percent resulted in a single beam having diffraction-limited characteristics. This beam combining efficiency is a world record result for such a system. Interferometric observations of the output of the amplifier indicated that spatial mode matching was a significant factor in the less than perfect beam combining. Finally, the system issues of arrays of amplifiers in a coherent beam combining system were investigated. Based upon experimentally observed parameters coherent beam combining could result in a megawatt-scale coherent beam with a 10 percent electrical-to-optical conversion efficiency.

125-mJ diode-pumped injection-seeded Ho:Tm:YLF laser.

PubMed

Yu, J; Singh, U N; Barnes, N P; Petros, M

1998-05-15

We describe a diode-pumped, room-temperature Ho:Tm:YLF power oscillator with an optical-to-optical efficiency of 0.03. A Q -switched output energy of as much as 125 mJ at 6 Hz with a pulse width of 170 ns was obtained. Single-frequency, nearly transform-limited operation of the laser was achieved by injection seeding. Laser performance as a function of laser rod temperature and pump intensity was also investigated. The high power and high beam quality of this laser make it well suited for use as a coherent wind lidar transmitter on a space platform.

Sodium D2 resonance radiation in single-pass sum-frequency generation with actively mode-locked Nd:YAG lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saito, Norihito; Akagawa, Kazuyuki; Ito, Mayumi; Takazawa, Akira; Hayano, Yutaka; Saito, Yoshihiko; Ito, Meguru; Takami, Hideki; Iye, Masanori; Wada, Satoshi

2007-07-01

We report on a sodium D2 resonance coherent light source achieved in single-pass sum-frequency generation in periodically poled MgO-doped stoichiometric lithium tantalate with actively mode-locked Nd:YAG lasers. Mode-locked pulses at 1064 and 1319 nm are synchronized with a time resolution of 37 ps with the phase adjustment of the radio frequencies fed to acousto-optic mode lockers. An output power of 4.6 W at 589.1586 nm is obtained, and beam quality near the diffraction limit is also achieved in a simple design.

Sodium D2 resonance radiation in single-pass sum-frequency generation with actively mode-locked Nd:YAG lasers.

PubMed

Saito, Norihito; Akagawa, Kazuyuki; Ito, Mayumi; Takazawa, Akira; Hayano, Yutaka; Saito, Yoshihiko; Ito, Meguru; Takami, Hideki; Iye, Masanori; Wada, Satoshi

2007-07-15

We report on a sodium D(2) resonance coherent light source achieved in single-pass sum-frequency generation in periodically poled MgO-doped stoichiometric lithium tantalate with actively mode-locked Nd:YAG lasers. Mode-locked pulses at 1064 and 1319 nm are synchronized with a time resolution of 37 ps with the phase adjustment of the radio frequencies fed to acousto-optic mode lockers. An output power of 4.6 W at 589.1586 nm is obtained, and beam quality near the diffraction limit is also achieved in a simple design.

Semiconductor light sources for near- and mid-infrared spectral ranges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karachinsky, L. Ya; Babichev, A. V.; Gladyshev, A. G.; Denisov, D. V.; Filimonov, A. V.; Novikov, I. I.; Egorov, A. Yu

2017-11-01

1550 nm band wafer-fused vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) and 5-10 μm band multi-stages quantum-cascade lasers (QCL) grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) were fabricated and studied. VCSELs show high output optical power up to 6 mW in single-mode regime (SMSR > 40 dB) and open-eye diagrams at 30 Gbps of standard NRZ at 20°C. QCL heterostructures show high structural quality (fluctuations of composition and thickness < 1%). 20-μm-stripe width QCLs mounted on copper heatsinks show lasing at ∼ 6, 7.5 and 9 μm.

Characteristics and performance of a two-lens slit spatial filter for high power lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiong, Han; Gao, Fan; Zhang, Xiang; Zhuang, Zhenwu; Zhao, Jianjun; Yuan, Xiao

2017-05-01

The characteristics of a two-lens slit spatial filtering system on image relay and spatial filtering are discussed with detailed theoretical calculation and numerical simulation. The slit spatial filter can be used as the cavity spatial filter in large laser systems, such as National Ignition Facility, which can significantly decrease the focal intensity in cavity spatial filter and suppress or even avoid the pinhole (slit) closure while keeping the output power and beam quality. Additionally, the overall length of the cavity spatial filter can be greatly reduced with the use of the two-lens slit spatial filter.

Neodymium-doped phosphate fiber lasers with an all-solid microstructured inner cladding.

PubMed

Zhang, Guang; Zhou, Qinling; Yu, Chunlei; Hu, Lili; Chen, Danping

2012-06-15

We report on high-power fiber lasers based on index-guiding, all-solid neodymium-doped (Nd-doped) phosphate photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with a hexagonal-shaped inner cladding. The optimum fiber laser with a 36 cm length active fiber, generated up to 7.92 W output power at 1053 nm, which benefited from a high absorption coefficient for pump power due to its noncircular inner cladding. The guiding properties of the all-solid PCF were also investigated. A stable mode with a donut-shaped profile and a power-dependent laser beam quality have been observed experimentally and analyzed.

Large optics for the National Ignition Facility

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Baisden, P.

2015-01-12

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) laser with its 192 independent laser beams is not only the world’s largest laser, it is also the largest optical system ever built. With its 192 independent laser beams, the NIF requires a total of 7648 large-aperture (meter-sized) optics. One of the many challenges in designing and building NIF has been to carry out the research and development on optical materials, optics design, and optics manufacturing and metrology technologies needed to achieve NIF’s high output energies and precision beam quality. This paper describes the multiyear, multi-supplier, development effort that was undertaken to develop the advancedmore » optical materials, coatings, fabrication technologies, and associated process improvements necessary to manufacture the wide range of NIF optics. The optics include neodymium-doped phosphate glass laser amplifiers; fused silica lenses, windows, and phase plates; mirrors and polarizers with multi-layer, high-reflectivity dielectric coatings deposited on BK7 substrates; and potassium di-hydrogen phosphate crystal optics for fast optical switches, frequency conversion, and polarization rotation. Also included is a discussion of optical specifications and custom metrology and quality-assurance tools designed, built, and fielded at supplier sites to verify compliance with the stringent NIF specifications. In addition, a brief description of the ongoing program to improve the operational lifetime (i.e., damage resistance) of optics exposed to high fluence in the 351-nm (3ω) is provided.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Saleh, Z; Tang, X; Song, Y

Purpose: To investigate the long term stability and viability of using EPID-based daily output QA via in-house and vendor driven protocol, to replace conventional QA tools and improve QA efficiency. Methods: Two Varian TrueBeam machines (TB1&TB2) equipped with electronic portal imaging devices (EPID) were employed in this study. Both machines were calibrated per TG-51 and used clinically since Oct 2014. Daily output measurement for 6/15 MV beams were obtained using SunNuclear DailyQA3 device as part of morning QA. In addition, in-house protocol was implemented for EPID output measurement (10×10 cm fields, 100 MU, 100cm SID, output defined over an ROImore » of 2×2 cm around central axis). Moreover, the Varian Machine Performance Check (MPC) was used on both machines to measure machine output. The EPID and DailyQA3 based measurements of the relative machine output were compared and cross-correlated with monthly machine output as measured by an A12 Exradin 0.65cc Ion Chamber (IC) serving as ground truth. The results were correlated using Pearson test. Results: The correlations among DailyQA3, in-house EPID and Varian MPC output measurements, with the IC for 6/15 MV were similar for TB1 (0.83–0.95) and TB2 (0.55–0.67). The machine output for the 6/15MV beams on both machines showed a similar trend, namely an increase over time as indicated by all measurements, requiring a machine recalibration after 6 months. This drift is due to a known issue with pressurized monitor chamber which tends to leak over time. MPC failed occasionally but passed when repeated. Conclusion: The results indicate that the use of EPID for daily output measurements has the potential to become a viable and efficient tool for daily routine LINAC QA, thus eliminating weather (T,P) and human setup variability and increasing efficiency of the QA process.« less

System analysis of wavelength beam combining of high-power diode lasers for photoacoustic endoscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leggio, Luca; Gallego, Daniel C.; Gawali, Sandeep B.; Sánchez, Miguel; Rodriguez, Sergio; Osiński, Marek; Sacher, Joachim; Carpintero, Guillermo; Lamela, Horacio

2016-04-01

This paper, originally published on 27 April 2016, was replaced with a corrected/revised version on 8 June 2016. If you downloaded the original PDF but are unable to access the revision, please contact SPIE Digital Library Customer Service for assistance. The purpose of wavelength-beam combining (WBC) is to improve the output power of a multi-wavelength laser system while maintaining the quality of the combined beam. This technique has been primarily proposed for industrial applications, such as metal cutting and soldering, which require optical peak power between kilowatts and megawatts. In order to replace the bulkier solid-state lasers, we propose to use the WBC technique for photoacoustic (PA) applications, where a multi-wavelength focused beam with optical peak power between hundreds of watts up to several kilowatts is necessary to penetrate deeply into biological tissues. In this work we present an analytical study about the coupling of light beams emitted by diode laser bars at 808 nm, 880 nm, 910 nm, 940 nm, and 980 nm into a < 600-μm core-diameter optical fiber for PA endoscopy. In order to achieve an efficient coupling it is necessary to collimate the beams in both fast and slow axes by means of cylindrical lenses and to use partial reflection mirrors at 45° tilt. We show an example of beam collimation using cylindrical lenses in both fast and slow axes. In a real PA scenario, the resulting beam should have a sufficient peak power to generate significant PA signals from a turbid tissue>.

Negative ion-driven associated particle neutron generator

DOE PAGES

Antolak, A. J.; Leung, K. N.; Morse, D. H.; ...

2015-10-09

We describe an associated particle neutron generator that employs a negative ion source to produce high neutron flux from a small source size. Furthermore, negative ions produced in an rf-driven plasma source are extracted through a small aperture to form a beam which bombards a positively biased, high voltage target electrode. Electrons co-extracted with the negative ions are removed by a permanent magnet electron filter. The use of negative ions enables high neutron output (100% atomic ion beam), high quality imaging (small neutron source size), and reliable operation (no high voltage breakdowns). Finally, the neutron generator can operate in eithermore » pulsed or continuous-wave (cw) mode and has been demonstrated to produce 10 6 D-D n/s (equivalent to similar to 10 8 D-T n/s) from a 1 mm-diameter neutron source size to facilitate high fidelity associated particle imaging.« less

Laser beam shaping design based on micromirror array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fang, Han; Su, Bida; Liu, Jiaguo; Fan, Xiaoli; Jing, Wang

2017-10-01

In the practical application of the laser, it is necessary to use the laser beam shaping technology to shape the output beam of laser device to the uniform light intensity distribution. The shaping divergent optical system of compound eye integrator way is composed of beam expanding mirror group and lens array. Its working principle is to expand the output laser to a certain size of caliber, and then divide the beam with lens array into multiple sub beam, where the lens unit of lens array can control the divergence angle of sub beam through the design of focal length, with mutual superposition of the sub beam in far field, to make up for the nonuniformity of beam, so that the radiant exitance on the radiated surface may become uniform. In this paper, we use a reflective microlens array to realize the laser beam shaping. By through of the practical optical path model established, the ray tracing is carried out and the simulation results for single-mode Gaussian beam with noise circumstance is provided. The analysis results show that the laser beam shaping under different inputs can be effectively realized by use of microlens array. All the energy is within the signal window, with a high energy efficiency of more than 90%; The measured surface has a better uniformity, and the uniformity is better than 99.5% at 150m.

Increasing relative nonclassicality quantified by standard entanglement potentials by dissipation and unbalanced beam splitting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miranowicz, Adam; Bartkiewicz, Karol; Lambert, Neill; Chen, Yueh-Nan; Nori, Franco

2015-12-01

If a single-mode nonclassical light is combined with the vacuum on a beam splitter, then the output state is entangled. As proposed in [Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 173602 (2005), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.173602], by measuring this output-state entanglement for a balanced lossless beam splitter, one can quantify the input-state nonclassicality. These measures of nonclassicality (referred to as entanglement potentials) can be based, in principle, on various entanglement measures, leading to the negativity (NP) and concurrence (CP) potentials, and the potential for the relative entropy of entanglement (REEP). We search for the maximal relative nonclassicality, which can be achieved by comparing two entanglement measures for (i) arbitrary two-qubit states and (ii) those which can be generated from a photon-number qubit via a balanced lossless beam splitter, where the qubit basis states are the vacuum and single-photon states. Surprisingly, we find that the maximal relative nonclassicality, measured by the REEP for a given value of the NP, can be increased (if NP <0.527 ) by using either a tunable beam splitter or by amplitude damping of the output state of the balanced beam splitter. We also show that the maximal relative nonclassicality, measured by the NP for a given value of the REEP, can be increased by phase damping (dephasing). Note that the entanglement itself is not increased by these losses (since they act locally), but the possible ratios of different measures are affected. Moreover, we show that partially dephased states can be more nonclassical than both pure states and completely dephased states, by comparing the NP for a given value of the REEP. Thus, one can conclude that not all standard entanglement measures can be used as entanglement potentials. Alternatively, one can infer that a single balanced lossless beam splitter is not always transferring the whole nonclassicality of its input state into the entanglement of its output modes. The application of a lossy beam splitter can solve this problem, at least for the cases analyzed in this paper.

A comparison of TPS and different measurement techniques in small-field electron beams.

PubMed

Donmez Kesen, Nazmiye; Cakir, Aydin; Okutan, Murat; Bilge, Hatice

2015-01-01

In recent years, small-field electron beams have been used for the treatment of superficial lesions, which requires small circular fields. However, when using very small electron fields, some significant dosimetric problems may occur. In this study, dose distributions and outputs of circular fields with dimensions of 5cm and smaller, for nominal energies of 6, 9, and 15MeV from the Siemens ONCOR Linac, were measured and compared with data from a treatment planning system using the pencil-beam algorithm in electron beam calculations. All dose distribution measurements were performed using the Gafchromic EBT film; these measurements were compared with data that were obtained from the Computerized Medical Systems (CMS) XiO treatment planning system (TPS), using the gamma-index method in the PTW VeriSoft software program. Output measurements were performed using the Gafchromic EBT film, an Advanced Markus ion chamber, and thermoluminescent dosimetry (TLD). Although the pencil-beam algorithm is used to model electron beams in many clinics, there is no substantial amount of detailed information in the literature about its use. As the field size decreased, the point of maximum dose moved closer to the surface. Output factors were consistent; differences from the values obtained from the TPS were, at maximum, 42% for 6 and 15MeV and 32% for 9MeV. When the dose distributions from the TPS were compared with the measurements from the Gafchromic EBT films, it was observed that the results were consistent for 2-cm diameter and larger fields, but the outputs for fields of 1-cm diameter and smaller were not consistent. In CMS XiO TPS, calculated using the pencil-beam algorithm, the dose distributions of electron treatment fields that were created with circular cutout of a 1-cm diameter were not appropriate for patient treatment and the pencil-beam algorithm is not convenient for monitor unit (MU) calculations in electron dosimetry. Copyright © 2015 American Association of Medical Dosimetrists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

High performance terahertz metasurface quantum-cascade VECSEL with an intra-cryostat cavity

DOE PAGES

Xu, Luyao; Curwen, Christopher A.; Reno, John L.; ...

2017-09-04

A terahertz quantum-cascade (QC) vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting-laser (VECSEL) is demonstrated with over 5 mW power in continuous-wave and single-mode operation above 77 K, in combination with a near-Gaussian beam pattern with full-width half-max divergence as narrow as ~5° × 5°, with no evidence of thermal lensing. This is realized by creating an intra-cryostat VECSEL cavity to reduce the cavity loss and designing an active focusing metasurface reflector with low power dissipation for efficient heat removal. Compared with a conventional quantumcascade laser based on a metal-metal waveguide, the intra-cryostat QC-VECSEL exhibits significant improvements in both output power level and beam pattern. Also,more » the intra-cryostat configuration newly allows evaluation of QC-VECSEL operation vs. temperature, showing a maximum pulsed mode operating temperature of 129 K. While the threshold current density in the QC-VECSEL is worse in comparison to a conventional edge-emitting metal-metal waveguide QClaser, the beam quality, slope efficiency, maximum power, and thermal resistance are all significantly improved.« less

Visual Analysis of the Daily QA Results of Photon and Electron Beams of a Trilogy Linac over a Five-year Period

PubMed Central

Chan, Maria F.; Li, Qiongge; Tang, Xiaoli; Li, Xiang; Li, Jingdong; Tang, Grace; Hunt, Margie A.; Deasy, Joseph O.

2016-01-01

Data visualization technique was applied to analyze the daily QA results of photon and electron beams. Special attention was paid to any trend the beams might display. A Varian Trilogy Linac equipped with dual photon energies and five electron energies was commissioned in early 2010. Daily Linac QA tests including the output constancy, beam flatness and symmetry (radial and transverse directions) were performed with an ionization chamber array device (QA BeamChecker Plus, Standard Imaging). The data of five years were collected and analyzed. For each energy, the measured data were exported and processed for visual trending using an in-house Matlab program. These daily data were cross-correlated with the monthly QA and annual QA results, as well as the preventive maintenance records. Majority of the output were within 1% of variation, with a consistent positive/upward drift for all seven energies (~+0.25% per month). The baseline of daily device is reset annually right after the TG-51 calibration. This results in a sudden drop of the output. On the other hand, the large amount of data using the same baseline exhibits a sinusoidal behavior (cycle = 12 months; amplitude = 0.8%, 0.5% for photons, electrons, respectively) on symmetry and flatness when normalization of baselines is accounted for. The well known phenomenon of new Linac output drift was clearly displayed. This output drift was a result of the air leakage of the over-pressurized sealed monitor chambers for the specific vendor. Data visualization is a new trend in the era of big data in radiation oncology research. It allows the data to be displayed visually and therefore more intuitive. Based on the visual display from the past, the physicist might predict the trend of the Linac and take actions proactively. It also makes comparisons, alerts failures, and potentially identifies causalities. PMID:27547595

Wavelength-versatile optical vortex lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Omatsu, Takashige; Miyamoto, Katsuhiko; Lee, Andrew J.

2017-12-01

The unique properties of optical vortex beams, in particular their spiral wavefront, have resulted in the emergence of a wide range of unique applications for this type of laser output. These applications include optical tweezing, free space optical communications, microfabrication, environmental optics, and astrophysics. However, much like the laser in its infancy, the adaptation of this type of laser output requires a diversity of wavelengths. We report on recent progress on development of optical vortex laser sources and in particular, focus on their wavelength extension, where nonlinear optical processes have been used to generate vortex laser beams with wavelengths which span the ultraviolet to infrared. We show that nonlinear optical conversion can be used to not only diversify the output wavelength of these sources, but can be used to uniquely engineer the wavefront and spatial properties of the laser output.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Toufexis, Filippos; Tantawi, Sami G.; Jensen, Aaron

Here, we report the experimental demonstration of a 5th harmonic mm-wave frequency multiplying vacuum electronic device, which uses an over-moded spherical sector output cavity. In this device, a pencil electron beam is helically deflected in a transverse deflecting cavity before entering the output cavity. No magnetic field is required to focus or guide the beam. We built and tested a proof-of-principle device with an output frequency of 57.12 GHz. The measured peak power was 52.67 W at the 5th harmonic of the drive frequency. Power at the 4th, 6th, and 7th harmonics was 33.28 dB lower than that at themore » 5th harmonic.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Volotskova, O; Xu, A; Jozsef, G

Purpose: To investigate the response and dose rate dependence of a scintillation detector over a wide energy range. Methods: The energy dependence of W1 scintillation detector was tested with: 1) 50–225 keV beams generated by an animal irradiator, 2) a Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion Co-60 source, 3) 6MV, 6FFF, 10FFF and 15MV photon beams, and 4) 6–20MeV electron beams from a linac. Calibrated linac beams were used to deliver 100 cGy to the detector at dmax in water under reference conditions. The gamma-knife measurement was performed in solid water (100 cGy with 16mm collimator). The low energy beams were calibratedmore » with an ion chamber in air (TG-61), and the scintillation detector was placed at the same location as the ionization chamber during calibration. For the linac photon and electron beams, dose rate dependence was tested for 100–2400 and 100–800 MU/min. Results: The scintillation detector demonstrated strong energy dependence in the range of 50–225keV. The measured values were lower than the delivered dose and increased as the energy increased. Therapeutic photon beams showed energy independence with variations less than 1%. Therapeutic electron beams displayed the same sensitivity of ∼2–3% at their corresponding dmax depths. The change in dose-rate of photon and electron beams within the therapeutic energy range did not affect detector output (<0.5%). Measurements acquired with the gamma knife showed that the output data agreed with the delivered dose up to 3%. Conclusion: W1 scintillation detector output has a strong energy dependence in the diagnostic and orthovoltage energy range. Therapeutic photon beams exhibited energy independence with no observable dose-rate dependence. This study may aid in the implementation of a scintillation detector in QA programs by providing energy calibration factors.« less

A grid amplifier

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, Moonil; Weikle, Robert M., II; Hacker, Jonathan B.; Delisio, Michael P.; Rutledge, David B.; Rosenberg, James J.; Smith, R. P.

1991-01-01

A 50-MESFET grid amplifier is reported that has a gain of 11 dB at 3.3 GHz. The grid isolates the input from the output by using vertical polarization for the input beam and horizontal polarization for the transmitted output beam. The grid unit cell is a two-MESFET differential amplifier. A simple calibration procedure allows the gain to be calculated from a relative power measurement. This grid is a hybrid circuit, but the structure is suitable for fabrication as a monolithic wafer-scale integrated circuit, particularly at millimeter wavelengths.

Study on initiative vibration absorbing technology of optics in strong disturbed environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, Si-nan; Xiong, Mu-di; Zou, Xiao-jie

2007-12-01

Strong disturbed environment is apt to cause irregular vibration, which seriously affects optical collimation. To improve the performance of laser beam, three-point dynamic vibration absorbing method is proposed, and laser beam initiative vibration absorbing system is designed. The maladjustment signal is detected by position sensitive device (PSD), three groups of PZT are driven to adjust optical element in real-time, so the performance of output-beam is improved. The coupling model of the system is presented. Multivariable adaptive closed-loop decoupling arithmetic is used to design three-input-three-output decoupling controller, so that high precision dynamic adjusting is realized. Experiments indicate that the system has good shock absorbing efficiency.

High efficiency laser spectrum conditioner

DOEpatents

Greiner, Norman R.

1980-01-01

A high efficiency laser spectrum conditioner for generating a collinear parallel output beam containing a predetermined set of frequencies from a multifrequency laser. A diffraction grating and spherical mirror are used in combination, to disperse the various frequencies of the input laser beam and direct these frequencies along various parallel lines spatially separated from one another to an apertured mask. Selection of the desired frequencies is accomplished by placement of apertures at locations on the mask where the desired frequencies intersect the mask. A recollimated parallel output beam with the desired set of frequencies is subsequently generated utilizing a mirror and grating matched and geometrically aligned in the same manner as the input grating and mirror.

Compact particle accelerator

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Elizondo-Decanini, Juan M.

2017-08-29

A compact particle accelerator having an input portion configured to receive power to produce particles for acceleration, where the input portion includes a switch, is provided. In a general embodiment, a vacuum tube receives particles produced from the input portion at a first end, and a plurality of wafer stacks are positioned serially along the vacuum tube. Each of the plurality of wafer stacks include a dielectric and metal-oxide pair, wherein each of the plurality of wafer stacks further accelerate the particles in the vacuum tube. A beam shaper coupled to a second end of the vacuum tube shapes themore » particles accelerated by the plurality of wafer stacks into a beam and an output portion outputs the beam.« less

High power infrared super-Gaussian beams: generation, propagation, and application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

du Preez, Neil C.; Forbes, Andrew; Botha, Lourens R.

2008-10-01

In this paper we present the design of a CO2 laser resonator that produces as the stable transverse mode a super-Gaussian laser beam. The resonator makes use of an intra-cavity diffractive mirror and a flat output coupler, generating the desired intensity profile at the output coupler with a flat wavefront. We consider the modal build-up in such a resonator and show that such a resonator mode has the ability to extract more energy from the cavity that a standard cavity single mode beam (e.g., Gaussian mode cavity). We demonstrate the design experimentally on a high average power TEA CO2 laser for paint stripping applications.

Dynamics identification of a piezoelectric vibrational energy harvester by image analysis with a high speed camera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolszczak, Piotr; Łygas, Krystian; Litak, Grzegorz

2018-07-01

This study investigates dynamic responses of a nonlinear vibration energy harvester. The nonlinear mechanical resonator consists of a flexible beam moving like an inverted pendulum between amplitude limiters. It is coupled with a piezoelectric converter, and excited kinematically. Consequently, the mechanical energy input is converted into the electrical power output on the loading resistor included in an electric circuit attached to the piezoelectric electrodes. The curvature of beam mode shapes as well as deflection of the whole beam are examined using a high speed camera. The visual identification results are compared with the voltage output generated by the piezoelectric element for corresponding frequency sweeps and analyzed by the Hilbert transform.

Coupler for coupling gyrotron whispering gallery mode RF into HE11 waveguide

DOEpatents

Neilson, Jeffrey M

2015-02-24

A cylindrical waveguide with a mode converter transforms a whispering gallery mode from a gyrotron cylindrical waveguide with a helical cut launch edge to a quasi-Gaussian beam suitable for conveyance through a corrugated waveguide. This quasi-Gaussian beam is radiated away from the waveguide using a spiral cut launch edge, which is in close proximity to a first mode converting reflector. The first mode converting reflector is coupled to a second mode converting reflector which provides an output free-space HE11 mode wave suitable for direct coupling into a corrugated waveguide. The radiated beam produced at the output of the second mode converting reflector is substantially circular.

Frequency doubled high-power disk lasers in pulsed and continuous-wave operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weiler, Sascha; Hangst, Alexander; Stolzenburg, Christian; Zawischa, Ivo; Sutter, Dirk; Killi, Alexander; Kalfhues, Steffen; Kriegshaeuser, Uwe; Holzer, Marco; Havrilla, David

2012-03-01

The disk laser with multi-kW output power in infrared cw operation is widely used in today's manufacturing, primarily in the automotive industry. The disk technology combines high power (average and/or peak power), excellent beam quality, high efficiency and high reliability with low investment and operating costs. Additionally, the disk laser is ideally suited for frequency conversion due to its polarized output with negligible depolarization losses. Laser light in the green spectral range (~515 nm) can be created with a nonlinear crystal. Pulsed disk lasers with green output of well above 50 W (extracavity doubling) in the ps regime and several hundreds of Watts in the ns regime with intracavity doubling are already commercially available whereas intracavity doubled disk lasers in continuous wave operation with greater than 250 W output are in test phase. In both operating modes (pulsed and cw) the frequency doubled disk laser offers advantages in existing and new applications. Copper welding for example is said to show much higher process reliability with green laser light due to its higher absorption in comparison to the infrared. This improvement has the potential to be very beneficial for the automotive industry's move to electrical vehicles which requires reliable high-volume welding of copper as a major task for electro motors, batteries, etc.

Single mode low-NA step index Yb-doped fiber design for output powers beyond 4kW (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beier, Franz; Proske, Fritz; Hupel, Christian; Kuhn, Stefan; Hein, Sigrun; Sattler, Bettina; Nold, Johannes; Haarlammert, Nicoletta; Schreiber, Thomas; Eberhardt, Ramona; Tünnermann, Andreas

2017-03-01

Fiber amplifiers are representing one of the most promising solid state laser concepts, due to the compact setup size, a simple thermal management and furthermore excellent beam quality. In this contribution, we report on the latest results from a low-NA, large mode area single mode fiber with a single mode output power beyond 4 kW without any indication of mode instabilities or nonlinear effects and high slope efficiency. Furthermore, we quantify the influence of the bending diameter of our manufactured low NA fiber on the average core loss by an OFDR measurement and determine the optimal bending diameter in comparison to a second fiber with a slightly changed NA. The fibers used in the experiments were fabricated by MCVD technology combined with the solution doping technique. The investigation indicates the limitation of the step index fiber design and its influence on the use in high power fiber amplifiers. We demonstrate, that even a slightly change in the core NA crucially influences the minimum bending diameter of the fiber and has to be taken into account in applications. The measured output power represents to the best of our knowledge the highest single mode output power of an amplifier fiber ever reported on.

The study of laser beam riding guided system based on 980nm diode laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qu, Zhou; Xu, Haifeng; Sui, Xin; Yang, Kun

2015-10-01

With the development of science and technology, precision-strike weapons has been considered to be important for winning victory in military field. Laser guidance is a major method to execute precision-strike in modern warfare. At present, the problems of primary stage of Laser guidance has been solved with endeavors of countries. Several technical aspects of laser-beam riding guided system have been mature, such as atmosphere penetration of laser beam, clutter inhibition on ground, laser irradiator, encoding and decoding of laser beam. Further, laser beam quality, equal output power and atmospheric transmission properties are qualified for warfare situation. Riding guidance instrument is a crucial element of Laser-beam riding guided system, and is also a vital element of airborne, vehicle-mounted and individual weapon. The optical system mainly consist of sighting module and laser-beam guided module. Photoelectric detector is the most important sensing device of seeker, and also the key to acquire the coordinate information of target space. Currently, in consideration of the 1.06 u m of wavelength applied in all the semi-active laser guided weapons systems, lithium drifting silicon photodiode which is sensitive to 1.06 u m of wavelength is used in photoelectric detector. Compared to Solid and gas laser, diode laser has many merits such as small volume, simple construction, light weight, long life, low lost and easy modulation. This article introduced the composition and operating principle of Laser-beam riding guided system based on 980 nm diode laser, and made a analysis of key technology; for instance, laser irradiator, modulating disk of component, laser zooming system. Through the use of laser diode, Laser-beam riding guided system is likely to have smaller shape and very light.

Laser beam riding guided system principle and design research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qu, Zhou; Jin, Yi; Xu, Zhou; Xing, Hao

2016-01-01

With the development of science and technology, precision-strike weapons has been considered to be important for winning victory in military field. Laser guidance is a major method to execute precision-strike in modern warfare. At present, the problems of primary stage of Laser guidance has been solved with endeavors of countries. Several technical aspects of laser-beam riding guided system have been mature, such as atmosphere penetration of laser beam, clutter inhibition on ground, laser irradiator, encoding and decoding of laser beam. Further, laser beam quality, equal output power and atmospheric transmission properties are qualified for warfare situation. Riding guidance instrument is a crucial element of Laser-beam riding guided system, and is also a vital element of airborne, vehicle-mounted and individual weapon. The optical system mainly consist of sighting module and laser-beam guided module. Photoelectric detector is the most important sensing device of seeker, and also the key to acquire the coordinate information of target space. Currently, in consideration of the 1.06 u m of wavelength applied in all the semi-active laser guided weapons systems, lithium drifting silicon photodiode which is sensitive to 1.06 u m of wavelength is used in photoelectric detector. Compared to Solid and gas laser, diode laser has many merits such as small volume, simple construction, light weight, long life, low lost and easy modulation. This article introduced the composition and operating principle of Laser-beam riding guided system based on 980 nm diode laser, and made a analysis of key technology; for instance, laser irradiator, modulating disk of component, laser zooming system. Through the use of laser diode, Laser-beam riding guided system is likely to have smaller shape and very light.

Monte Carlo based electron treatment planning and cutout output factor calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitrou, Ellis

Electron radiotherapy (RT) offers a number of advantages over photons. The high surface dose, combined with a rapid dose fall-off beyond the target volume presents a net increase in tumor control probability and decreases the normal tissue complication for superficial tumors. Electron treatments are normally delivered clinically without previously calculated dose distributions due to the complexity of the electron transport involved and greater error in planning accuracy. This research uses Monte Carlo (MC) methods to model clinical electron beams in order to accurately calculate electron beam dose distributions in patients as well as calculate cutout output factors, reducing the need for a clinical measurement. The present work is incorporated into a research MC calculation system: McGill Monte Carlo Treatment Planning (MMCTP) system. Measurements of PDDs, profiles and output factors in addition to 2D GAFCHROMICRTM EBT2 film measurements in heterogeneous phantoms were obtained to commission the electron beam model. The use of MC for electron TP will provide more accurate treatments and yield greater knowledge of the electron dose distribution within the patient. The calculation of output factors could invoke a clinical time saving of up to 1 hour per patient.

Wedge cutting of mild steel by CO 2 laser and cut-quality assessment in relation to normal cutting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yilbas, B. S.; Karatas, C.; Uslan, I.; Keles, O.; Usta, Y.; Yilbas, Z.; Ahsan, M.

2008-10-01

In some applications, laser cutting of wedge surfaces cannot be avoided in sheet metal processing and the quality of the end product defines the applicability of the laser-cutting process in such situations. In the present study, CO 2 laser cutting of the wedge surfaces as well as normal surfaces (normal to laser beam axis) is considered and the end product quality is assessed using the international standards for thermal cutting. The cut surfaces are examined by the optical microscopy and geometric features of the cut edges such as out of flatness and dross height are measured from the micrographs. A neural network is introduced to classify the striation patterns of the cut surfaces. It is found that the dross height and out of flatness are influenced significantly by the laser output power, particularly for wedge-cutting situation. Moreover, the cut quality improves at certain value of the laser power intensity.

Variable energy constant current accelerator structure

DOEpatents

Anderson, Oscar A.

1990-01-01

A variable energy, constant current ion beam accelerator structure is disclosed comprising an ion source capable of providing the desired ions, a pre-accelerator for establishing an initial energy level, a matching/pumping module having means for focusing means for maintaining the beam current, and at least one main accelerator module for continuing beam focus, with means capable of variably imparting acceleration to the beam so that a constant beam output current is maintained independent of the variable output energy. In a preferred embodiment, quadrupole electrodes are provided in both the matching/pumping module and the one or more accelerator modules, and are formed using four opposing cylinder electrodes which extend parallel to the beam axis and are spaced around the beam at 90.degree. intervals with opposing electrodes maintained at the same potential. Adjacent cylinder electrodes of the quadrupole structure are maintained at different potentials to thereby reshape the cross section of the charged particle beam to an ellipse in cross section at the mid point along each quadrupole electrode unit in the accelerator modules. The beam is maintained in focus by alternating the major axis of the ellipse along the x and y axis respectively at adjacent quadrupoles. In another embodiment, electrostatic ring electrodes may be utilized instead of the quadrupole electrodes.

Low Beam Voltage, 10 MW, L-Band Cluster Klystron

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Teryaev, V.; /Novosibirsk, IYF; Yakovlev, V.P.

2009-05-01

Conceptual design of a multi-beam klystron (MBK) for possible ILC and Project X applications is presented. The chief distinction between this MBK design and existing 10-MW MBK's is the low operating voltage of 60 kV. There are at least four compelling reasons that justify development at this time of a low-voltage MBK, namely (1) no pulse transformer; (2) no oil tank for high-voltage components and for the tube socket; (3) no high-voltage cables; and (4) modulator would be a compact 60-kV IGBT switching circuit. The proposed klystron consists of four clusters containing six beams each. The tube has common inputmore » and output cavities for all 24 beams, and individual gain cavities for each cluster. A closely related optional configuration, also for a 10 MW tube, would involve four totally independent cavity clusters with four independent input cavities and four 2.5 MW output ports, all within a common magnetic circuit. This option has appeal because the output waveguides would not require a controlled atmosphere, and because it would be easier to achieve phase and amplitude stability as required in individual SC accelerator cavities.« less

Scavenging energy from human limb motions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, Kangqi; Yu, Bo; Tang, Lihua

2017-04-01

This paper proposes a nonlinear piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH) to scavenge energy from human limb motions. The proposed PEH is composed of a ferromagnetic ball, a sleeve, and two piezoelectric cantilever beams each with a magnetic tip mass. The ball is used to sense the swing motions of human limbs and excite the beams to vibrate. The two beams, which are sensitive to the excitation along the radialis or tibial axis, generate electrical outputs. Theoretical and experimental studies are carried out to examine the performance of the proposed PEH when it is fixed at the wrist, thigh and ankle of a male who travels at constant velocities of 2 km/h, 4 km/h, 6 km/h, and 8 km/h on a treadmill. The results indicate that the low-frequency swing motions of human limbs are converted to higher-frequency vibrations of piezoelectric beams. During each gait cycle, different excitations produced by human limbs can be superposed and multiple peaks in the voltage output can be generated by the proposed PEH. Moreover, the voltage outputs of the PEH increase monotonously with the walking speed, and the maximum effective voltage is obtained when the PEH is mounted at the ankle under the walking speed of 8 km/h.

Multipurpose neutron generators based on the radio frequency quadrupole linear accelerator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamm, Robert W.

2000-12-01

Neutron generators based on the Radio Frequency Quadrupole accelerator are now used for a variety of applications. These compact linear accelerators can produce from 108 to more than 1013 neutrons/second using either proton or deuteron beams to bombard beryllium targets. They exhibit long lifetimes at full output, as there is little target or beam degradation. Since they do not use radioactive materials, licensing requirements are less stringent than for isotopic sources or tritium sealed tube generators. The light weight and compact size of these robust systems make them transportable. The low divergence output beam from the RFQ also allows use of a remote target, which can reduce the seize of the shielding and moderator. The RFQ linac can be designed with a wide range of output beam energy and used with other targets such as lithium and deuterium to produce a neutron spectrum tailored to a specific application. These pulsed systems are well-suited for applications requiring a high peak neutron flux, including activation analysis of very short-lived reaction products. They can replace conventional sources in non-destructive testing applications such as thermal or fast neutron radiography, and can also be used for cancer therapy.

A high efficiency Ku-band radial line relativistic klystron amplifier

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dang, Fangchao; Zhang, Xiaoping, E-mail: zhangxiaoping@nudt.edu.cn; Zhong, Huihuang

2016-07-15

To achieve the gigawatt-level microwave amplification output at Ku-band, a radial-line relativistic klystron amplifier is proposed and investigated in this paper. Different from the annular electron beam in conventional axial relativistic klystron amplifiers, a radial-radiated electron beam is employed in this proposed klystron. Owing to its radially spreading speciality, the electron density and space charge effect are markedly weakened during the propagation in the radial line drift tube. Additionally, the power capacity, especially in the output cavity, is enhanced significantly because of its large volume, which is profitable for the long pulse operation. Particle-in-cell simulation results demonstrate that a highmore » power microwave with the power of 3 GW and the frequency of 14.25 GHz is generated with a 500 kV, 12 kA electron beam excitation and the 30 kW radio-frequency signal injection. The power conversion efficiency is 50%, and the gain is about 50 dB. Meanwhile, there is insignificant electron beam self-excitation in the proposed structure by the adoption of two transverse electromagnetic reflectors. The relative phase difference between the injected signals and output microwaves keeps stable after the amplifier saturates.« less

The Laser Guide Star System for Adaptive Optics at Subaru Telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayano, Y.; Saito, Y.; Ito, M.; Saito, N.; Akagawa, K.; Takazawa, A.; Ito, M.; Wada, S.; Takami, H.; Iye, M.

We report on the current status of developing the new laser guide star (LGS) system for the Subaru adaptive optics (AO) system. We have three major subsystems: the laser unit, the relay optical fiber and the laser launching telescope. A 4W-class all-solid-state 589nm laser has been developed as a light source for sodium laser guide star. We use two mode-locked Nd:YAG lasers operated at the wavelength of 1064nm and 1319nm to generate sum-frequency conversion into 589nm. The side-LD pumped configuration is used for the mode-locked Nd:YAG lasers. We have carefully considered the thermal lens effect in the cavity to achieve a high beam quality with TEM00; M2 = 1.06. The mode-locked frequency is selected at 143 MHz. We obtained the output powers of 16.5 W and 5.0 W at 1064nm and 1319 nm. Sum frequency generated by mixing two synchronized Nd:YAG mode-locked pulsed beams is precisely tuned to the sodium D2 line by thermal control of the etalon in the 1064nm Nd:YAG laser by observing the maximum fluorescence intensity of heated sodium vapor cell. The maximum output power at 589.159 nm reaches to 4.6 W using a PPMgOSLT crystal as a nonlinear optical crystal. And the output power can be maintained within a stability of +/- 1.2% for more than 3 days without optical damage. We developed a single-mode photonic crystal fiber (PCF) to relay the laser beam from laser clean room, in which the laser unit is located on the Nasmyth platform, to the laser launching telescope mounted behind the secondary mirror of Subaru Telescope. The photonic crystal fiber has solid pure silica core with the mode field diameter of 14 micron, which is relatively larger than that of the conventional step-index type single mode fiber. The length of the PCF is 35m and transmission loss due to the pure silica is 10dB/km at 589nm, which means PCF transmits 92% of the laser beam. We have preliminary achieved 75% throughput in total. Small mode-locked pulse width in time allows us to transmit the high-power laser beam with no suffer from the non-linear scatter effect, i.e. stimulated Brillouin scatter, in the PCF. The laser launching telescope (LLT) has an output clear aperture as 50 cm. It is classical Cassegrain type optical configuration with tertiary mirror to insert the laser beam from the side. The wavefront error is designed to be 60 to 70nm. The LLT is a copy product what European Southern Observatory has been designed for the laser guide star system at Very Large Telescope. We succeeded to launch the laser beam to the sky on October 12, 2006. After several tests on the sky, we succeeded to get an image of the laser guide star with the size of more than 10 arc second. The larger size of the laser guide star is caused by the large optical aberration on the primary mirror of LLT due to the heat stress generated at the trigonal support points. We are making a plan to repair this problem during June and the second laser launching test will start around this summer.

RF beam center location method and apparatus for power transmission system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dickinson, R. M. (Inventor)

1978-01-01

The receiving element in wireless power transmission systems intercepts the greatest possible portion of the transmitted energy beam. Summing the output energy of all receivers in a planar array makes it possible to determine the location of the center of energy of the incident beam on a receiving array of antenna elements so that the incident beam is in the microwave region.

TH-B-BRC-00: How to Identify and Resolve Potential Clinical Errors Before They Impact Patients Treatment: Lessons Learned

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

2016-06-15

Radiation treatment consists of a chain of events influenced by the quality of machine operation, beam data commissioning, machine calibration, patient specific data, simulation, treatment planning, imaging and treatment delivery. There is always a chance that the clinical medical physicist may make or fail to detect an error in one of the events that may impact on the patient’s treatment. In the clinical scenario, errors may be systematic and, without peer review, may have a low detectability because they are not part of routine QA procedures. During treatment, there might be errors on machine that needs attention. External reviews ofmore » some of the treatment delivery components by independent reviewers, like IROC, can detect errors, but may not be timely. The goal of this session is to help junior clinical physicists identify potential errors as well as the approach of quality assurance to perform a root cause analysis to find and eliminate an error and to continually monitor for errors. A compilation of potential errors will be presented by examples of the thought process required to spot the error and determine the root cause. Examples may include unusual machine operation, erratic electrometer reading, consistent lower electron output, variation in photon output, body parts inadvertently left in beam, unusual treatment plan, poor normalization, hot spots etc. Awareness of the possibility and detection of error in any link of the treatment process chain will help improve the safe and accurate delivery of radiation to patients. Four experts will discuss how to identify errors in four areas of clinical treatment. D. Followill, NIH grant CA 180803.« less

TH-B-BRC-01: How to Identify and Resolve Potential Clinical Errors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Das, I.

2016-06-15

Radiation treatment consists of a chain of events influenced by the quality of machine operation, beam data commissioning, machine calibration, patient specific data, simulation, treatment planning, imaging and treatment delivery. There is always a chance that the clinical medical physicist may make or fail to detect an error in one of the events that may impact on the patient’s treatment. In the clinical scenario, errors may be systematic and, without peer review, may have a low detectability because they are not part of routine QA procedures. During treatment, there might be errors on machine that needs attention. External reviews ofmore » some of the treatment delivery components by independent reviewers, like IROC, can detect errors, but may not be timely. The goal of this session is to help junior clinical physicists identify potential errors as well as the approach of quality assurance to perform a root cause analysis to find and eliminate an error and to continually monitor for errors. A compilation of potential errors will be presented by examples of the thought process required to spot the error and determine the root cause. Examples may include unusual machine operation, erratic electrometer reading, consistent lower electron output, variation in photon output, body parts inadvertently left in beam, unusual treatment plan, poor normalization, hot spots etc. Awareness of the possibility and detection of error in any link of the treatment process chain will help improve the safe and accurate delivery of radiation to patients. Four experts will discuss how to identify errors in four areas of clinical treatment. D. Followill, NIH grant CA 180803.« less

SU-F-T-485: Independent Remote Audits for TG51 NonCompliant Photon Beams Performed by the IROC Houston QA Center

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alvarez, P; Molineu, A; Lowenstein, J

Purpose: IROC-H conducts external audits for output check verification of photon and electron beams. Many of these beams can meet the geometric requirements of the TG 51 calibration protocol. For those photon beams that are non TG 51 compliant like Elekta GammaKnife, Accuray CyberKnife and TomoTherapy, IROC-H has specific audit tools to monitor the reference calibration. Methods: IROC-H used its TLD and OSLD remote monitoring systems to verify the output of machines with TG 51 non compliant beams. Acrylic OSLD miniphantoms are used for the CyberKnife. Special TLD phantoms are used for TomoTherapy and GammaKnife machines to accommodate the specificmore » geometry of each machine. These remote audit tools are sent to institutions to be irradiated and returned to IROC-H for analysis. Results: The average IROC-H/institution ratios for 480 GammaKnife, 660 CyberKnife and 907 rotational TomoTherapy beams are 1.000±0.021, 1.008±0.019, 0.974±0.023, respectively. In the particular case of TomoTherapy, the overall ratio is 0.977±0.022 for HD units. The standard deviations of all results are consistent with values determined for TG 51 compliant photon beams. These ratios have shown some changes compared to values presented in 2008. The GammaKnife results were corrected by an experimentally determined scatter factor of 1.025 in 2013. The TomoTherapy helical beam results are now from a rotational beam whereas in 2008 the results were from a static beam. The decision to change modality was based on recommendations from the users. Conclusion: External audits of beam outputs is a valuable tool to confirm the calibrations of photon beams regardless of whether the machine is TG 51 or TG 51 non compliant. The difference found for TomoTherapy units is under investigation. This investigation was supported by IROC grant CA180803 awarded by the NCI.« less

Evaluation of an empirical monitor output estimation in carbon ion radiotherapy.

PubMed

Matsumura, Akihiko; Yusa, Ken; Kanai, Tatsuaki; Mizota, Manabu; Ohno, Tatsuya; Nakano, Takashi

2015-09-01

A conventional broad beam method is applied to carbon ion radiotherapy at Gunma University Heavy Ion Medical Center. According to this method, accelerated carbon ions are scattered by various beam line devices to form 3D dose distribution. The physical dose per monitor unit (d/MU) at the isocenter, therefore, depends on beam line parameters and should be calibrated by a measurement in clinical practice. This study aims to develop a calculation algorithm for d/MU using beam line parameters. Two major factors, the range shifter dependence and the field aperture effect, are measured via PinPoint chamber in a water phantom, which is an identical setup as that used for monitor calibration in clinical practice. An empirical monitor calibration method based on measurement results is developed using a simple algorithm utilizing a linear function and a double Gaussian pencil beam distribution to express the range shifter dependence and the field aperture effect. The range shifter dependence and the field aperture effect are evaluated to have errors of 0.2% and 0.5%, respectively. The proposed method has successfully estimated d/MU with a difference of less than 1% with respect to the measurement results. Taking the measurement deviation of about 0.3% into account, this result is sufficiently accurate for clinical applications. An empirical procedure to estimate d/MU with a simple algorithm is established in this research. This procedure allows them to use the beam time for more treatments, quality assurances, and other research endeavors.

A dual-mode operation overmoded coaxial millimeter-wave generator with high power capacity and pure transverse electric and magnetic mode output

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, Zhen; Zhang, Jun; Zhong, Huihuang

2016-04-01

An overmoded coaxial millimeter-wave generator with high power capacity and pure transverse electric and magnetic (TEM) mode output is designed and presented, by using a kind of coaxial slow wave structure (SWS) with large transversal dimension and small distance between inner and outer conductors. The generator works in dual-mode operation mechanism. The electron beam synchronously interacts with 7π/8 mode of quasi-TEM, at the meanwhile exchanges energy with 3π/8 mode of TM01. The existence of TM01 mode, which is traveling wave, not only increases the beam-wave interaction efficiency but also improves the extraction efficiency. The large transversal dimension of coaxial SWS makes its power capacity higher than that of other reported millimeter-wave devices and the small distance between inner and outer conductors allows only two azimuthally symmetric modes to coexist. The converter after the SWS guarantees the mode purity of output power. Particle-in-cell simulation shows that when the diode voltage is 400 kV and beam current is 3.8 kA, the generation of microwave at 32.26 GHz with an output power of 611 MW and a conversion efficiency of 40% is obtained. The power percentage carried by TEM mode reaches 99.7% in the output power.

A dual-mode operation overmoded coaxial millimeter-wave generator with high power capacity and pure transverse electric and magnetic mode output

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bai, Zhen; Zhang, Jun, E-mail: zhangjun@nudt.edu.cn; Zhong, Huihuang

2016-04-15

An overmoded coaxial millimeter-wave generator with high power capacity and pure transverse electric and magnetic (TEM) mode output is designed and presented, by using a kind of coaxial slow wave structure (SWS) with large transversal dimension and small distance between inner and outer conductors. The generator works in dual-mode operation mechanism. The electron beam synchronously interacts with 7π/8 mode of quasi-TEM, at the meanwhile exchanges energy with 3π/8 mode of TM{sub 01}. The existence of TM{sub 01} mode, which is traveling wave, not only increases the beam-wave interaction efficiency but also improves the extraction efficiency. The large transversal dimension ofmore » coaxial SWS makes its power capacity higher than that of other reported millimeter-wave devices and the small distance between inner and outer conductors allows only two azimuthally symmetric modes to coexist. The converter after the SWS guarantees the mode purity of output power. Particle-in-cell simulation shows that when the diode voltage is 400 kV and beam current is 3.8 kA, the generation of microwave at 32.26 GHz with an output power of 611 MW and a conversion efficiency of 40% is obtained. The power percentage carried by TEM mode reaches 99.7% in the output power.« less

Low-Loss Coupling of Quantum Cascade Lasers into Hollow-Core Waveguides with Single-Mode Output in the 3.7–7.6 μm Spectral Range

PubMed Central

Patimisco, Pietro; Sampaolo, Angelo; Mihai, Laura; Giglio, Marilena; Kriesel, Jason; Sporea, Dan; Scamarcio, Gaetano; Tittel, Frank K.; Spagnolo, Vincenzo

2016-01-01

We demonstrated low-loss and single-mode laser beam delivery through hollow-core waveguides (HCWs) operating in the 3.7–7.6 μm spectral range. The employed HCWs have a circular cross section with a bore diameter of 200 μm and metallic/dielectric internal coatings deposited inside a glass capillary tube. The internal coatings have been produced to enhance the spectral response of the HCWs in the range 3.5–12 µm. We demonstrated Gaussian-like outputs throughout the 4.5–7.6 µm spectral range. A quasi single-mode output beam with only small beam distortions was achieved when the wavelength was reduced to 3.7 μm. With a 15-cm-long HCW and optimized coupling conditions, we measured coupling efficiencies of >88% and transmission losses of <1 dB in the investigated infrared spectral range. PMID:27089343

CO.sub.2 optically pumped distributed feedback diode laser

DOEpatents

Rockwood, Stephen D.

1980-01-01

A diode laser optically pumped by a CO.sub.2 coherent source. Interference fringes generated by feeding the optical pumping beam against a second beam, periodically alter the reflectivity of the diode medium allowing frequency variation of the output signal by varying the impingent angle of the CO.sub.2 laser beams.

Studies on system and measuring method of far-field beam divergency in near field by Ronchi ruling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Chenbo; Yang, Li; Ma, Wenli; Yan, Peiying; Fan, Tianquan; He, Shangfeng

1996-10-01

Up to now, as large as seven times of Rayleigh-range or more is needed in measuring the far-field Gaussian beam divergency. This method is very inconvenient for the determination of the output beam divergency of the industrial product such as He-Ne lasers and the measuring unit will occupy a large space. The measurement and the measuring accuracy will be greatly influenced by the environment. Application of the Ronchi ruling to the measurement of far-field divergency of Gaussian beam in near-field is analyzed in the paper. The theoretical research and the experiments show that this measuring method is convenient in industrial application. The measuring system consists of a precision mechanical unit which scans Gaussian beam with a microdisplaced Ronchi ruling, a signal sampling system, a single-chip microcomputer data processing system and an electronic unit with microprinter output. The characteristics of the system is stable and the repeatability errors of the system are low. The spot size and far-field divergency of visible Gaussian laser beam can be measured with the system.

Investigation of pump-to-seed beam matching on output features of Rb and Cs vapor laser amplifiers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Binglin; Huang, Jinghua; Xu, Xingqi; Xia, Chunsheng; Pan, Bailiang

2018-05-01

Taking into account the beam radii of pump light and seed laser along the entire length of the cell and their intensities in the cross section, a physical model with ordinary differential equation methods for alkali vapor amplifiers is established. Applied to the reported optically pumped Rb and diode-pumped Cs vapor amplifiers, the model shows good agreement between the calculated and measured dependence of amplified power on the seed power. A larger width of the spontaneous emission region as compared to the widths of pump absorption and laser emission regions, which will result in very high energy losses, is observed in the cell. Influence of pump and seed beam waists on output performance is calculated, showing that the pump and seed beam should match each other not only in shape but also in size, thus an optimal combination of beam radii is very important for efficient operation of alkali vapor amplifiers.

Modelling and analysis of piezoelectric cantilever energy harvester for different proof mass and material proportion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shashank, R.; Harisha, S. K., Dr; Abhishek, M. C.

2018-02-01

Energy harvesting using ambient energy sources is one of the fast growing trends in the world, research and development in the area of energy harvesting is moving progressively to get maximum power output from the existing resources. The ambient sources of energy available in the nature are solar energy, wind energy, thermal energy, vibrational energy etc. out of these methods energy harvesting by vibrational energy sources gain more importance due to its nature of not getting influenced by any environmental parameters and its free availability at anytime and anywhere. The project mainly deals with validating the values of voltage and electrical power output of experimentally conducted energy harvester, varying the parameters of the energy harvester and analyse the effect of the parameters on the performance of the energy harvester and compare the results. The cantilever beam was designed, analysed and simulated using COMSOL multi-physics software. The energy harvester gives an electrical output voltage of the 2.75 volts at a natural frequency of 37.2 Hz and an electrical power of 29μW. Decreasing the percentage of the piezoelectric material and simultaneously increasing the percentage of polymer material (so that total percentage of proportion remains same) increases the electrical voltage and decreases the natural frequency of the beam linearly upto 3.9V and 28.847 Hz till the percentage proportion of the beam was 24% piezoelectric beam and 76% polymer beam when the percentage proportion increased to 26% and 74% natural frequency goes on decreases further but voltage suddenly drops to 2.8V. The voltage generated by energy harvester increases proportionally and reaches 3.7V until weight of the proof mass reaches 4 grams and further increase in the weight of the proof mass decreases the voltage generated by energy harvester. Thus the investigation conveys that the weight of the proof mass and the length of the cantilever beam should be optimised to obtain maximum output efficiency of energy harvester.

A new scintillator detector system for the quality assurance of 60Co and high-energy therapy machines.

PubMed

Beddar, A S

1994-02-01

A new single-channel detector system has been developed to perform routine quality assurance of 60Co and high-energy therapy machines. This detector is composed of an orange plastic scintillator, optically coupled to a radiation-resistant polycarbonate light pipe and a shielded silicon photodiode imbedded in a hollow solid water phantom block. No temperature and pressure corrections are required. Stability results were consistent with standard deviations fluctuating from 0.03% up to 0.09% for 60Co and from 0.05% up to 0.18% for other high energies. This device provides a quick, easy and reliable beam output check remotely, using an automatic reset based on a radiation triggering system device, storing multiple sequential readings. The reproducibility of this detector was checked on a daily and weekly basis at different energies (60Co, 6 MV and 18 MV x-rays and 6, 9, 12, 16 and 20 MeV electron beams). These results were found to be consistent with those obtained using an ion chamber. Other characteristics of this detector, including the consequences of the radiation-induced light in the light pipe (stem effect) and the radiation damage on this system are briefly discussed.

Angular dependence of the nanoDot OSL dosimeter.

PubMed

Kerns, James R; Kry, Stephen F; Sahoo, Narayan; Followill, David S; Ibbott, Geoffrey S

2011-07-01

Optically stimulated luminescent detectors (OSLDs) are quickly gaining popularity as passive dosimeters, with applications in medicine for linac output calibration verification, brachytherapy source verification, treatment plan quality assurance, and clinical dose measurements. With such wide applications, these dosimeters must be characterized for numerous factors affecting their response. The most abundant commercial OSLD is the InLight/OSL system from Landauer, Inc. The purpose of this study was to examine the angular dependence of the nanoDot dosimeter, which is part of the InLight system. Relative dosimeter response data were taken at several angles in 6 and 18 MV photon beams, as well as a clinical proton beam. These measurements were done within a phantom at a depth beyond the build-up region. To verify the observed angular dependence, additional measurements were conducted as well as Monte Carlo simulations in MCNPX. When irradiated with the incident photon beams parallel to the plane of the dosimeter, the nanoDot response was 4% lower at 6 MV and 3% lower at 18 MV than the response when irradiated with the incident beam normal to the plane of the dosimeter. Monte Carlo simulations at 6 MV showed similar results to the experimental values. Examination of the results in Monte Carlo suggests the cause as partial volume irradiation. In a clinical proton beam, no angular dependence was found. A nontrivial angular response of this OSLD was observed in photon beams. This factor may need to be accounted for when evaluating doses from photon beams incident from a variety of directions.

Angular dependence of the nanoDot OSL dosimeter

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kerns, James R.; Kry, Stephen F.; Sahoo, Narayan

Purpose: Optically stimulated luminescent detectors (OSLDs) are quickly gaining popularity as passive dosimeters, with applications in medicine for linac output calibration verification, brachytherapy source verification, treatment plan quality assurance, and clinical dose measurements. With such wide applications, these dosimeters must be characterized for numerous factors affecting their response. The most abundant commercial OSLD is the InLight/OSL system from Landauer, Inc. The purpose of this study was to examine the angular dependence of the nanoDot dosimeter, which is part of the InLight system. Methods: Relative dosimeter response data were taken at several angles in 6 and 18 MV photon beams, asmore » well as a clinical proton beam. These measurements were done within a phantom at a depth beyond the build-up region. To verify the observed angular dependence, additional measurements were conducted as well as Monte Carlo simulations in MCNPX. Results: When irradiated with the incident photon beams parallel to the plane of the dosimeter, the nanoDot response was 4% lower at 6 MV and 3% lower at 18 MV than the response when irradiated with the incident beam normal to the plane of the dosimeter. Monte Carlo simulations at 6 MV showed similar results to the experimental values. Examination of the results in Monte Carlo suggests the cause as partial volume irradiation. In a clinical proton beam, no angular dependence was found. Conclusions: A nontrivial angular response of this OSLD was observed in photon beams. This factor may need to be accounted for when evaluating doses from photon beams incident from a variety of directions.« less

Angular dependence of the nanoDot OSL dosimeter

PubMed Central

Kerns, James R.; Kry, Stephen F.; Sahoo, Narayan; Followill, David S.; Ibbott, Geoffrey S.

2011-01-01

Purpose: Optically stimulated luminescent detectors (OSLDs) are quickly gaining popularity as passive dosimeters, with applications in medicine for linac output calibration verification, brachytherapy source verification, treatment plan quality assurance, and clinical dose measurements. With such wide applications, these dosimeters must be characterized for numerous factors affecting their response. The most abundant commercial OSLD is the InLight∕OSL system from Landauer, Inc. The purpose of this study was to examine the angular dependence of the nanoDot dosimeter, which is part of the InLight system.Methods: Relative dosimeter response data were taken at several angles in 6 and 18 MV photon beams, as well as a clinical proton beam. These measurements were done within a phantom at a depth beyond the build-up region. To verify the observed angular dependence, additional measurements were conducted as well as Monte Carlo simulations in MCNPX.Results: When irradiated with the incident photon beams parallel to the plane of the dosimeter, the nanoDot response was 4% lower at 6 MV and 3% lower at 18 MV than the response when irradiated with the incident beam normal to the plane of the dosimeter. Monte Carlo simulations at 6 MV showed similar results to the experimental values. Examination of the results in Monte Carlo suggests the cause as partial volume irradiation. In a clinical proton beam, no angular dependence was found.Conclusions: A nontrivial angular response of this OSLD was observed in photon beams. This factor may need to be accounted for when evaluating doses from photon beams incident from a variety of directions. PMID:21858992

Automatic low-order aberration compensator for solid-state slab lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Xin; Dong, Lizhi; Lai, Boheng; Yang, Ping; Kong, Qingfeng; Yang, Kangjian; Liu, Yong; Tang, Guomao; Xu, Bing

2016-09-01

Slab geometry is a promising architecture for power scaling of solid-state lasers. By propagating the laser beams along zigzag path in the gain medium, the thermal effects can be well compensated. However, in the non-zigzag direction, the thermal effects are not compensated. Among the overall aberrations in the slab lasers, the major contributors are two low-order aberrations: astigmatism and defocus, which can range up to over 100 microns (peak to valley), leading to detracted beam quality. Another problem with slab lasers is that the output beams are generally in a rectangular aperture with high aspect ratio (normally 1:10), where square beams are favorable for many applications. In order to solve these problems, we propose an automatic low-order aberration compensation system. This system is composed of three lenses fixed on a motorized rail, one is a spherical lens and the others are cylindrical lenses. Astigmatism and defocus can be compensated by merely adjusting the distances between the lenses. Two wave-front sensors are employed in this compensation system, one is used for detecting the initial parameters of the beams, and the other one is used for detecting the remaining aberrations after correction. The adjustments of the three lenses are directly calculated based on beam parameters using ray tracing method. The initial size of the beam is 3.2mm by 26mm, and peak to valley(PV) value of the wave-front is 33.07λ(λ=1064nm). After correction, the dimension becomes 40mm by 40mm, and peak to valley (PV) value of the wave-front is less than 2 microns.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yang, K; Yu, Z; Chen, H

Purpose: To implement VMAT in RayStation with the Elekta Synergy linac with the new Agility MLC, and to utilize the same vendor softwares to determine the optimum Elekta VMAT machine parameters in RayStation for accurate modeling and robust delivery. Methods: iCOMCat is utilized to create various beam patterns with user defined dose rate, gantry, MLC and jaw speed for each control point. The accuracy and stability of the output and beam profile are qualified for each isolated functional component of VMAT delivery using ion chamber and Profiler2 with isocentric mounting fixture. Service graphing on linac console is used to verifymore » the mechanical motion accuracy. The determined optimum Elekta VMAT machine parameters were configured in RayStation v4.5.1. To evaluate the system overall performance, TG-119 test cases and nine retrospective VMAT patients were planned on RayStation, and validated using both ArcCHECK (with plug and ion chamber) and MapCHECK2. Results: Machine output and profile varies <0.3% when only variable is dose rate (35MU/min-600MU/min). <0.9% output and <0.3% profile variation are observed with additional gantry motion (0.53deg/s–5.8deg/s both directions). The output and profile variation are still <1% with additional slow leaf motion (<1.5cm/s both direction). However, the profile becomes less symmetric, and >1.5% output and 7% profile deviation is seen with >2.5cm/s leaf motion. All clinical cases achieved comparable plan quality as treated IMRT plans. The gamma passing rate is 99.5±0.5% on ArcCheck (<3% iso center dose deviation) and 99.1±0.8% on MapCheck2 using 3%/3mm gamma (10% lower threshold). Mechanical motion accuracy in all VMAT deliveries is <1°/1mm. Conclusion: Accurate RayStation modeling and robust VMAT delivery is achievable on Elekta Agility for <2.5cm/s leaf motion and full range of dose rate and gantry speed determined by the same vendor softwares. Our TG-119 and patient results have provided us with the confidence to use VMAT clinically.« less

SEE Transient Response of Crane Interpoint Single Output Point of Load DC-DC Converters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sanders, Anthony B.; Chen, Dakai; Kim, Hak S.; Phan, Anthony M.

2011-01-01

This study was undertaken to determine the single event effect and transient susceptibility of the Crane Interpoint Maximum Flexible Power (MFP) Single Output Point of Load DC/DC Converters for transient interruptions in the output signal and for destructive and non destructive events induced by exposing it to a heavy ion beam..

Experimental demonstration of a 5th harmonic mm-wave frequency multiplying vacuum tube

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toufexis, Filippos; Tantawi, Sami G.; Jensen, Aaron; Dolgashev, Valery A.; Haase, Andrew; Fazio, Michael V.; Borchard, Philipp

2017-06-01

We report the experimental demonstration of a 5th harmonic mm-wave frequency multiplying vacuum electronic device, which uses an over-moded spherical sector output cavity. In this device, a pencil electron beam is helically deflected in a transverse deflecting cavity before entering the output cavity. No magnetic field is required to focus or guide the beam. We built and tested a proof-of-principle device with an output frequency of 57.12 GHz. The measured peak power was 52.67 W at the 5th harmonic of the drive frequency. Power at the 4th, 6th, and 7th harmonics was 33.28 dB lower than that at the 5th harmonic.

Experimental demonstration of a 5th harmonic mm-wave frequency multiplying vacuum tube

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Toufexis, Filippos; Tantawi, Sami G.; Jensen, Aaron

Here, we report the experimental demonstration of a 5th harmonic mm-wave frequency multiplying vacuum electronic device, which uses an over-moded spherical sector output cavity. In this device, a pencil electron beam is helically deflected in a transverse deflecting cavity before entering the output cavity. No magnetic field is required to focus or guide the beam. We built and tested a proof-of-principle device with an output frequency of 57.12 GHz. The measured peak power was 52.67 W at the 5th harmonic of the drive frequency. Power at the 4th, 6th, and 7th harmonics was 33.28 dB lower than that at themore » 5th harmonic.« less

Experimental demonstration of a 5th harmonic mm-wave frequency multiplying vacuum tube

DOE PAGES

Toufexis, Filippos; Tantawi, Sami G.; Jensen, Aaron; ...

2017-06-26

Here, we report the experimental demonstration of a 5th harmonic mm-wave frequency multiplying vacuum electronic device, which uses an over-moded spherical sector output cavity. In this device, a pencil electron beam is helically deflected in a transverse deflecting cavity before entering the output cavity. No magnetic field is required to focus or guide the beam. We built and tested a proof-of-principle device with an output frequency of 57.12 GHz. The measured peak power was 52.67 W at the 5th harmonic of the drive frequency. Power at the 4th, 6th, and 7th harmonics was 33.28 dB lower than that at themore » 5th harmonic.« less

Development of an ultrasmall C-band linear accelerator guide for a four-dimensional image-guided radiotherapy system with a gimbaled x-ray head.

PubMed

Kamino, Yuichiro; Miura, Sadao; Kokubo, Masaki; Yamashita, Ichiro; Hirai, Etsuro; Hiraoka, Masahiro; Ishikawa, Junzo

2007-05-01

We are developing a four-dimensional image-guided radiotherapy system with a gimbaled x-ray head. It is capable of pursuing irradiation and delivering irradiation precisely with the help of an agile moving x-ray head on the gimbals. Requirements for the accelerator guide were established, system design was developed, and detailed design was conducted. An accelerator guide was manufactured and basic beam performance and leakage radiation from the accelerator guide were evaluated at a low pulse repetition rate. The accelerator guide including the electron gun is 38 cm long and weighs about 10 kg. The length of the accelerating structure is 24.4 cm. The accelerating structure is a standing wave type and is composed of the axial-coupled injector section and the side-coupled acceleration cavity section. The injector section is composed of one prebuncher cavity, one buncher cavity, one side-coupled half cavity, and two axial coupling cavities. The acceleration cavity section is composed of eight side-coupled nose reentrant cavities and eight coupling cavities. The electron gun is a diode-type gun with a cerium hexaboride (CeB6) direct heating cathode. The accelerator guide can be operated without any magnetic focusing device. Output beam current was 75 mA with a transmission efficiency of 58%, and the average energy was 5.24 MeV. Beam energy was distributed from 4.95 to 5.6 MeV. The beam profile, measured 88 mm from the beam output hole on the axis of the accelerator guide, was 0.7 mm X 0.9 mm full width at half maximum (FWHM) width. The beam loading line was 5.925 (MeV)-Ib (mA) X 0.00808 (MeV/mA), where Ib is output beam current. The maximum radiation leakage of the accelerator guide at 100 cm from the axis of the accelerator guide was calculated as 0.33 cGy/min at the rated x-ray output of 500 cGy/min from the measured value. This leakage requires no radiation shielding for the accelerator guide itself per IEC 60601-2-1.

Direct emission of chirality controllable femtosecond LG01 vortex beam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, S.; Zhang, S.; Yang, H.; Xie, J.; Jiang, S.; Feng, G.; Zhou, S.

2018-05-01

Direct emission of a chirality controllable ultrafast LG01 mode vortex optical beam from a conventional z-type cavity design SESAM (SEmiconductor Saturable Absorber Mirror) mode locked LD pumped Yb:Phosphate laser has been demonstrated. A clean 360 fs vortex beam of ˜45.7 mW output power has been achieved. A radial shear interferometer has been built to determine the phase singularity and the wavefront helicity of the ultrafast output laser. Theoretically, it is found that the LG01 vortex beam is obtained via the combination effect of diagonal HG10 mode generation by off-axis pumping and the controllable Gouy phase difference between HG10 and HG01 modes in the sagittal and tangential planes. The chirality of the LG01 mode can be manipulated by the pump position to the original point of the laser cavity optical axis.

Study on W-band sheet-beam traveling-wave tube based on flat-roofed sine waveguide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fang, Shuanzhu; Xu, Jin; Jiang, Xuebing; Lei, Xia; Wu, Gangxiong; Li, Qian; Ding, Chong; Yu, Xiang; Wang, Wenxiang; Gong, Yubin; Wei, Yanyu

2018-05-01

A W-band sheet electron beam (SEB) traveling-wave tube (TWT) based on flat-roofed sine waveguide slow-wave structure (FRSWG-SWS) is proposed. The sine wave of the metal grating is replaced by a flat-roofed sine wave around the electron beam tunnel. The slow-wave characteristics including the dispersion properties and interaction impedance have been investigated by using the eigenmode solver in the 3-D electromagnetic simulation software Ansoft HFSS. Through calculations, the FRSWG SWS possesses the larger average interaction impedance than the conventional sine waveguide (SWG) SWS in the frequency range of 86-110 GHz. The beam-wave interaction was studied and particle-in-cell simulation results show that the SEB TWT can produce output power over 120 W within the bandwidth ranging from 90 to 100 GHz, and the maximum output power is 226 W at typical frequency 94 GHz, corresponding electron efficiency of 5.89%.

Control of Laser Plasma Based Accelerators up to 1 GeV

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nakamura, Kei

2007-12-01

This dissertation documents the development of a broadband electron spectrometer (ESM) for GeV class Laser Wakefield Accelerators (LWFA), the production of high quality GeV electron beams (e-beams) for the first time in a LWFA by using a capillary discharge guide (CDG), and a statistical analysis of CDG-LWFAs. An ESM specialized for CDG-LWFAs with an unprecedented wide momentum acceptance, from 0.01 to 1.1 GeV in a single shot, has been developed. Simultaneous measurement of e-beam spectra and output laser properties as well as a large angular acceptance (> ± 10 mrad) were realized by employing a slitless scheme. A scintillating screenmore » (LANEX Fast back, LANEX-FB)--camera system allowed faster than 1 Hz operation and evaluation of the spatial properties of e-beams. The design provided sufficient resolution for the whole range of the ESM (below 5% for beams with 2 mrad divergence). The calibration between light yield from LANEX-FB and total charge, and a study on the electron energy dependence (0.071 to 1.23 GeV) of LANEX-FB were performed at the Advanced light source (ALS), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). Using this calibration data, the developed ESM provided a charge measurement as well. The production of high quality electron beams up to 1 GeV from a centimeter-scale accelerator was demonstrated. The experiment used a 310 μm diameter gas-filled capillary discharge waveguide that channeled relativistically-intense laser pulses (42 TW, 4.5 x 10 18 W/cm 2) over 3.3 centimeters of sufficiently low density (≃ 4.3 x 10 18/cm 3) plasma. Also demonstrated was stable self-injection and acceleration at a beam energy of ≃ 0.5 GeV by using a 225 μm diameter capillary. Relativistically-intense laser pulses (12 TW, 1.3 x 10 18W/cm 2) were guided over 3.3 centimeters of low density (≃ 3.5 x 10 18/cm 3) plasma in this experiment. A statistical analysis of the CDG-LWFAs performance was carried out. By taking advantage of the high repetition rate experimental system, several thousands of shots were taken in a broad range of the laser and plasma parameters. An analysis program was developed to sort and select the data by specified parameters, and then to evaluate performance statistically. The analysis suggested that the generation of GeV-level beams comes from a highly unstable and regime. By having the plasma density slightly above the threshold density for self injection, (1) the longest dephasing length possible was provided, which led to the generation of high energy e-beams, and (2) the number of electrons injected into the wakefield was kept small, which led to the generation of high quality (low energy spread) e-beams by minimizing the beam loading effect on the wake. The analysis of the stable half-GeV beam regime showed the requirements for stable self injection and acceleration. A small change of discharge delay t dsc, and input energy E in, significantly affected performance. The statistical analysis provided information for future optimization, and suggested possible schemes for improvement of the stability and higher quality beam generation. A CDG-LWFA is envisioned as a construction block for the next generation accelerator, enabling significant cost and size reductions.« less

TH-E-BRE-09: TrueBeam Monte Carlo Absolute Dose Calculations Using Monitor Chamber Backscatter Simulations and Linac-Logged Target Current

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

A, Popescu I; Lobo, J; Sawkey, D

2014-06-15

Purpose: To simulate and measure radiation backscattered into the monitor chamber of a TrueBeam linac; establish a rigorous framework for absolute dose calculations for TrueBeam Monte Carlo (MC) simulations through a novel approach, taking into account the backscattered radiation and the actual machine output during beam delivery; improve agreement between measured and simulated relative output factors. Methods: The ‘monitor backscatter factor’ is an essential ingredient of a well-established MC absolute dose formalism (the MC equivalent of the TG-51 protocol). This quantity was determined for the 6 MV, 6X FFF, and 10X FFF beams by two independent Methods: (1) MC simulationsmore » in the monitor chamber of the TrueBeam linac; (2) linac-generated beam record data for target current, logged for each beam delivery. Upper head MC simulations used a freelyavailable manufacturer-provided interface to a cloud-based platform, allowing use of the same head model as that used to generate the publicly-available TrueBeam phase spaces, without revealing the upper head design. The MC absolute dose formalism was expanded to allow direct use of target current data. Results: The relation between backscatter, number of electrons incident on the target for one monitor unit, and MC absolute dose was analyzed for open fields, as well as a jaw-tracking VMAT plan. The agreement between the two methods was better than 0.15%. It was demonstrated that the agreement between measured and simulated relative output factors improves across all field sizes when backscatter is taken into account. Conclusion: For the first time, simulated monitor chamber dose and measured target current for an actual TrueBeam linac were incorporated in the MC absolute dose formalism. In conjunction with the use of MC inputs generated from post-delivery trajectory-log files, the present method allows accurate MC dose calculations, without resorting to any of the simplifying assumptions previously made in the TrueBeam MC literature. This work has been partially funded by Varian Medical Systems.« less

Coherence and dimensionality of intense spatiospectral twin beams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peřina, Jan

2015-07-01

Spatiospectral properties of twin beams at their transition from low to high intensities are analyzed in parametric and paraxial approximations using decomposition into paired spatial and spectral modes. Intensity auto- and cross-correlation functions are determined and compared in the spectral and temporal domains as well as the transverse wave-vector and crystal output planes. Whereas the spectral, temporal, and transverse wave-vector coherence increases with the increasing pump intensity, coherence in the crystal output plane is almost independent of the pump intensity owing to the mode structure in this plane. The corresponding auto- and cross-correlation functions approach each other for larger pump intensities. The entanglement dimensionality of a twin beam is determined with a comparison of several approaches.

Adiabatic/diabatic polarization beam splitter

DOEpatents

DeRose, Christopher; Cai, Hong

2017-09-12

The various presented herein relate to an on-chip polarization beam splitter (PBS), which is adiabatic for the transverse magnetic (TM) mode and diabatic for the transverse electric (TE) mode. The PBS comprises a through waveguide and a cross waveguide, wherein an electromagnetic beam comprising TE mode and TM mode components is applied to an input port of the through waveguide. The PBS can be utilized to separate the TE mode component from the TM mode component, wherein the TE mode component exits the PBS via an output port of the through waveguide, and the TM mode component exits the PBS via an output port of the cross waveguide. The PBS has a structure that is tolerant to manufacturing variations and exhibits high polarization extinction ratios over a wide bandwidth.

Noise characteristics of a plasma relativistic microwave amplifier

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Strelkov, P. S., E-mail: strelkov@fpl.gpi.ru; Ivanov, I. E.; Shumeiko, D. V.

2016-07-15

Reasons for the occurrence of microwave noise at the output of a plasma relativistic amplifier have been analyzed. It is found that, in the absence of an input signal, the emission spectrum of the plasma relativistic microwave amplifier is similar to that of an electron beam in vacuum. It is concluded that microwave noise at the output of the amplifier appears as a result of amplification of the intrinsic noise of the electron beam. The emission characteristics of a relativistic electron beam formed in a magnetically insulated diode with an explosive emission cathode in vacuum have been studied experimentally formore » the first time. An important point is that, in this case, there is no virtual cathode in the drift space.« less