A 15by 15-cm supersonic wind tunnel application of a one-dimensional laser beam scanning approach to shock sensing is presented. The measurement system design allowed easy switching between a focused beam and a laser sheet mode for comparison purposes. The scanning results were compared to images from the tunnel Schlieren imaging system. The tests revealed detectable changes in the laser beam i...

The layout of beam delivery and/or beam forming optical systems is a recurring task in development and application of laser systems and necessarily requires adequate simulation tools. Accurate and precise simulation of the propagation of laser beams through optical systems, with the aim of predicting the beam profile at desired locations, is challenging. It requires detailed characterization of...

In the laser deposition of single crystal and directionally-solidified superalloys, it is desired to form laser deposits with high volume fractions of columnar grains by suppressing the columnar-to-equiaxed transition efficiently. In this paper, the influence of beam profile (circular and square shapes) and cooling conditions (natural cooling and forced cooling) on the geometric morphology and ...

Applications based on the propagation of high power laser radiation through the atmosphere are limited in range and effect, due to weather dependent beam wandering, beam deterioration, and scattering processes. Security and defense related application examples are countermeasures against hostile projectiles and the powering of satellites and aircrafts. For an examination of the correlations bet...

The modulation response, relative intensity noise (RIN) and frequency noise (FN) characteristics of quantum dot (QD) lasers are investigated theoretically in the presence of an external optical beam. Using small signal analysis of the rate equations for carriers and photons, it is demonstrated that by injecting excess carriers into the QDs excited state through optical pumping, the modulation r...

In this paper, we present a high accuracy laser range finder and velocimeter using ultra-fast time-to-digital converter (TDC). The system operation is based on the measuring the round-trip time of a narrow laser pulse. A low-dark current high-speed PIN photodiode is used to detect the triggered laser beam and to produce start signal. The pulsed laser diode generates 45W optical power at 30ns du...

This study aimed to evaluate Laser-cutting process of Mild Steel St37 sheets with two different thicknesses. In order to evaluate the quality of cutting edge and the depth of the area affected by the heat, several tests were conducted to determine the effect of parameters such as Laser power, Laser beam movement speed and pressure of axillary gas on the quality of cutting edge and the depth of ...

The NASA Lewis Research Center has designed and fabricated a closed-cycle, continuous wave (CW), carbon dioxide (COj) high-power laser to support research for the indentlflcatlon 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 el...

Micro-channels are made over the Ag+/Na+ ion-exchanged soda-lime glass surface by interaction of an intense Ar+ laser beam and the silver ions inside the glass matrix. The Ar+ laser beam reduces the Ag+ ions inside the matrix. The Ag+ atoms aggregate into silver nano-clusters around the interaction area, inside the glass matrix. Aggregation of the silver atoms and the thermal effects of the int...