Variable Beam Characteristics Fiber Perturbation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current fiber-coupled laser systems require complex and costly mechanisms to adjust beam characteristics, often relying on free-space optics, which increases cost, complexity, and reduces reliability, failing to provide optimal performance for various materials processing tasks.
Innovation Solution
A fiber-based system with variable beam characteristics is achieved through a first and second length of fiber with different refractive index profiles, where perturbations modify the beam to adjust its propagation path, allowing for controllable intensity distributions without the need for free-space optics, using perturbation devices like voice coils or piezoelectric elements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If free-space optics or complex add-on mechanisms are used to vary beam characteristics, then beam adjustability is improved, but device complexity and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functions (beam shaping, beam scanning, intensity modulation) into a single integrated photonic device structure. The photonic device includes waveguides, gratings, and resonant cavities that work together within one compact component to achieve variable beam characteristics without requiring separate free-space optics for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical adjustment mechanisms (such as movable lenses, mirrors, and galvanometers) with a static photonic device that achieves beam characteristic variation through optical field control. The grating structure and resonant cavities manipulate light paths and intensities without mechanical movement, eliminating the complexity of motorized components.
2Adaptability or versatility
If free-space optics are used to adjust beam characteristics, then beam flexibility is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to additional components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates beam shaping, scanning, and modulation functions into a single photonic device with waveguides and gratings, eliminating multiple separate optical components that would each represent potential failure points. This consolidation improves reliability while maintaining flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
By replacing mechanical adjustment systems with a static photonic structure that uses optical field manipulation, the patent eliminates moving parts and mechanical wear, thereby significantly improving system reliability while preserving beam characteristic flexibility.
3Adaptability or versatility
If zoom lenses or motorized lenses are used to vary beam characteristics, then beam adjustability is improved, but cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces expensive motorized zoom lenses with a static photonic device using waveguides and grating structures. The beam characteristic variation is achieved through optical path control within the photonic integrated circuit, eliminating the need for costly motorized mechanical components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses grating structures to create multiple virtual images or beam paths from a single physical structure. The grating couples light between waveguides and free space, effectively copying the beam function across multiple output paths without requiring multiple physical lenses or optical elements.
4Measurement precision
If complex add-on mechanisms are used for beam characterization, then measurement capability is improved, but loss of energy increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines beam delivery and beam measurement functions within the same photonic device structure. Waveguides and gratings serve dual purposes for both transmitting the beam and characterizing its properties, eliminating the need for separate measurement optics that would cause additional energy loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The grating structure acts as an intermediary that couples light between waveguides and free-space regions, enabling both beam delivery and characterization functions. The grating efficiently transfers optical energy between different optical domains without significant loss, serving as a mediator for both transmission and measurement.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution enables flexible adjustment of beam characteristics, reducing costs and complexity while maintaining optimal performance for diverse materials processing tasks by conserving and modifying beam characteristics within the fiber structure, enhancing processing efficiency and reliability.
Implementation Method 1
a first length of fiber having a first refractive index profile (RIP) for propagation of an optical beam, the first RIP enabling, in response to an applied perturbation, modification of the optical beam to form an adjusted optical beam that is movable to propagate along different propagation paths
Implementation Method 2
a second length of fiber coupled to the first length of fiber and having a second RIP, different from the first RIP, defining the set of confinement regions in which different members the set occupy different positions to provide different intensity distributions at an output end
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are an optical beam delivery device, systems, and methods for sequentially adjusting, with respect to members of a set of confinement regions, a propagation path for establishing a controllable, temporally apparent intensity distribution. The disclosed techniques entail applying to a variable beam characteristics (VBC) fiber different states perturbation to change the propagation path and the members of the set of confinement regions through which a confined portion of an adjusted optical beam propagates, thereby establishing at an output end of the VBC fiber the controllable, temporally apparent intensity distribution.