Laser Heads

Author: the photonics expert Dr. Rüdiger Paschotta (RP)

Definition: assemblies containing a mounted gain medium and means for pumping and cooling, or the complete optical parts of a laser, or assemblies for directing a laser beam to a workpiece

Alternative terms: pump chambers, processing heads

Category: article belongs to category laser devices and laser physics laser devices and laser physics

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DOI: 10.61835/hkb Cite the article: BibTex plain text HTML Link to this page! LinkedIn

The term laser head is used with completely different meanings:

It can be a gain module (or laser module, pump chamber), i.e., an assembly containing a mounted gain medium, usually together with other parts for pumping and possibly cooling the medium. For optical pumping, a laser head can contain arc lamps or flash lamps, laser diodes, or a connection to a fiber-coupled pump source. A complete laser is obtained by placing a laser head in a laser resonator (see Figure 1). Laser heads (without resonators) can often be purchased separately, so that different kinds of laser resonators can be built, depending on the specific demands.

simple laser resonator — Figure 1: A simple continuous-wave laser consists only of a diode-pumped laser head and two mirrors around it. Source: Cutting Edge Optronics.

A laser head may also be an assembly containing the complete optical setup (with the laser resonator), possibly excluding the power supply and fiber-coupled pump diodes, which are then in one or two separate housings.
In laser-based manufacturing, such as laser cutting, welding or soldering, a laser head can be the assembly from which the laser beam exits toward the workpiece. A laser cutting head (or other laser processing head) may not contain the laser source, but the focusing optics, a protection glass, and also additional facilities e.g. to direct a gas flow to the cutting zone. The light may enter the laser head via a high power optical fiber cable. See the article on laser processing heads for more details.

More to Learn

Laser processing heads

Suppliers

The RP Photonics Buyer's Guide contains 22 suppliers for laser heads. Among them:

QPC Lasers

QPC Lasers manufactures fiber-coupled diode laser modules with the highest powers and brightness in the industry at wavelengths ranging from 780 to 2000 nm.

Products range from sub-watt single-mode PM fiber coupled diodes for LIDAR and communications to multi-mode fiber-coupled modules with outputs in the hundreds of watts for medical, materials processing and pumping applications. Option features include Brightlock monolithically spectrally stabilized diodes for unmatched linewidth and spectral control.

Megawatt Lasers

MegaWatt Lasers Inc. specializes in producing flash lamp pumped solid-state lasers and pump cavities. Our pump cavities employ the highest reflectivity diffuse reflectors in the industry. We can provide a wide array of standard sized pump cavities, and can assist in the design of a custom cavities for specialized applications.

Geola

The central piece of Diode-Pumped Solid-State (DPSS) lasers or laser amplifiers are laser gain modules. Geola Digital can provide such gain modules based on Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) pumping engine technology. They provide a uniform gain distribution, high pumping efficiency and a long lifetime. We have both water-cooled and passively cooled gain modules. Typical air-cooled DPSS gain modules are applicable for Nd:YAG master oscillator or Nd:YAG laser amplifiers.

Customized laser gain modules can be also designed and provided on request.

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