Laser Systems Engineering

Level: Introductory Length: 7 hours Format: In-Person Lecture Intended Audience: Intended for engineers (laser, systems, optical, mechanical, and electrical), scientists, technicians, and managers who are developing, specifying, or purchasing laser systems. Description: While there are a number of courses on laser design, this course emphasizes a systems-level overview of the design and engineering of systems which incorporate lasers. Starting with a summary of the various types of lasers and their selection, it reviews common laser specifications (peak power, spatial coherence, etc.), Gaussian beam characteristics and propagation, laser system optics, beam control and scanning, radiometry and power budgets, detectors specific to laser systems, and the integration of these topics for developing a complete laser system. The emphasis is on real-world design problems, as well as the commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components used to solve them. Learning Outcomes: This course will enable you to: - describe laser types, properties, and selection, including semiconductor, solid-state, fiber, and gas lasers - identify laser specifications such as average power, peak power, linewidth, pulse repetition frequency, etc. that are unique to specific applications such as manufacturing, biomedical systems, laser radar, laser communications, laser displays, and directed energy - quantify Gaussian beam characteristics, propagation, and imaging; compare beam quality metrics [M2, beam-parameter product (BPP), and Strehl ratio] - select laser system optics (windows, focusing lenses, beam expanders, collimators, beam shapers and homogenizers) and identify critical specifications for their use, including beam truncation, aberrations, surface figure, surface roughness, surface quality, material absorption, backreflections, coatings, and laser damage threshold (LDT) - distinguish between hardware elements available for beam control, including galvonometers, polygon scanners, MEMs scanners, and f-theta lenses - develop power budgets and radiometric estimates of performance for point and extended objects; estimate signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for active imaging, laser ranging, and biomedical systems - select detectors appropriate for laser systems, including PIN photodiodes, avalanche photodiodes (APDs), and photomultiplier tubes (PMTs); estimate the performance limitations of noise sources (detector, speckle, etc.) and their effects on sensitivity and SNR Instructor(s): Keith J. Kasunic has more than 30 years of experience developing optical, electro-optical, infrared, and laser systems. He holds a Ph.D. in Optical Sciences from the University of Arizona, an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. He has worked for or been a consultant to a number of organizations, including Lockheed Martin, Ball Aerospace, Sandia National Labs, and Nortel Networks. He is currently the Technical Director of Optical Systems Group, LLC. He is also the author of three textbooks [Optical Systems Engineering (McGraw-Hill, 2011), Optomechanical Systems Engineering (John Wiley, 2015), and Laser Systems Engineering (SPIE Press, 2016)], an Adjunct Prof. at Univ. of North Carolina – Charlotte, an Affiliate Instructor with Georgia Tech’s SENSIAC, and an Instructor for the Optical Engineering Certificate Program at Univ. of California – Irvine. Event: SPIE Photonics West 2017 Course Held: 31 January 2017