JPH1197778A - Laser device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily and highly precisely adjust an optical axis by moving a total reflection mirror between the optical part adjusting position on the optical axis of a laser beam and a position for laser device driving, which is detached from the optical axis of the laser beam, and providing a beam damper absorbing reflected light. SOLUTION: A laser device 11 is provided with a laser generation part 12, the total reflection mirror 13 held by a mirror holding part 15 and the beam damper 14. The laser generation part 12, the total reflection mirror 13 and the beam damper 14 are usually installed on a fixed board. The total reflection mirror 13 can move and it is arranged on the optical axis of the laser beam 16 outputted from the laser generation part 12 at the time of adjusting the optical parts and the like. At the time of actually using it, it is arranged away from the optical axis of the laser beam 16. The beam damper 14 is arranged on the optical axis of the laser beam 16 reflected on the total reflection mirror namely, reflected light 17. Thus, reflected light 17 is absorbed by the beam damper 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a laser device, and more particularly, to a laser device having a member for adjusting an optical axis.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to use a laser beam output from a laser device, it is usually necessary to install various optical components at an output portion of the laser device and adjust their arrangement and the like. However, when the intensity of the laser beam reaches several tens of watts or more, if the adjustment is insufficient and the laser beam is not properly applied to the optical component, the optical component is damaged by the application of the laser beam to the holder or the like holding the optical component. Could be done.

In order to solve such a problem, a laser device shown in FIG. 3 has been conventionally used. In FIG. 3, a laser device 31 includes a laser generator 32, a guide light laser generator 33, and mirrors 35 and 36 that guide the guide light 34 output from the guide light laser generator to the laser device 31.
It is composed of The guide light laser generator 33 includes:
Normally, a He-Ne laser or the like is used, and the guide light laser generator 33 outputs a guide light 34 having a much lower intensity than the laser light 37 output from the laser generator 32. The guide light 34 output from the laser generator for guide light is mirrors 35 and 36 so that the optical axis matches the laser light 37 output from the laser generator 32.
And so on.

According to the laser apparatus 31, the guide light 34 is output from the guide light laser generator 33 in a state where the laser light 37 is stopped from being generated in the laser generator 32. Can be adjusted safely.

However, such a laser device 31
In the case where a laser beam having a long gain length, in particular, a vertically excited gas laser beam is used, the guide light 34 and the laser generator 3
It is necessary to align the optical axis with the laser beam 37 output from the laser beam 2, that is, to perform a preliminary adjustment, and this preliminary adjustment is very difficult.

Further, depending on the type of the laser light 37 output from the laser generator 32, a temperature gradient is easily generated between the transmitting part and the non-transmitting part in the glass component through which the laser light 37 passes, and the thermal lens effect is generated. May occur. In such a case, the optical axis of the guide light 34 adjusted while the laser generator 32 is stopped does not coincide with the optical axis of the laser light 37 output from the laser generator 32. Therefore,
The conventional laser device 31 cannot adjust the optical axis with high accuracy.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and has as its object to provide a laser device capable of easily and accurately adjusting an optical axis. I do.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a laser generator for outputting laser light, a total reflection mirror for separating laser light from the laser generator into reflected light and transmitted light for optical component adjustment, Means for moving the reflection mirror between an optical component adjustment position on the optical axis of the laser light and a laser device driving position remote from the optical axis of the laser light, switching means, and a beam damper for absorbing the reflected light. A laser device is provided.

According to the present invention, in the above laser device, the total reflection mirror transmits a part of the laser light without scattering. The present invention is characterized in that, in the above laser device, the intensity of the transmitted light is 10% or less of the intensity of the laser light output from the laser generator.

According to the present invention, in the above laser device, the total reflection mirror may be provided on a back surface of a surface reflecting the laser light.
It is characterized by comprising a coating for reducing the intensity without scattering the transmitted light.

The present invention is characterized in that in the above-mentioned laser device, there is provided an optical element for correcting a beam position shifted by refraction by transmitting through the total reflection mirror.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a laser device according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. In FIG.
1 schematically shows a laser device according to the present invention. In this figure, a laser device 11 includes a laser generator 12, a total reflection mirror 13 held by a mirror holder 15, and a beam damper 14.

The laser generator 12 and the total reflection mirror 1
3 and the beam damper 14 are usually installed on a surface plate. The total reflection mirror 13 is movable, and is arranged on the optical axis of the laser beam 16 output from the laser generator 12 when adjusting optical components and the like. Is arranged away from the optical axis. Beam damper 1
4 may be fixed in position or movable.

The total reflection mirror 13 has a reflection surface of the laser light 1.
The optical axis No. 6 is arranged so as to form an angle of more than 0 ° and less than 90 °, preferably 45 ° or less with respect to the optical axis. Also,
The beam damper 14 is arranged on the optical axis of the laser light 16 reflected by the total reflection mirror 13, that is, the reflected light 17. Therefore, the reflected light 17 is absorbed by the beam damper 14.

The laser beam 16 output from the laser generator 12 is not particularly limited, but is preferably a laser beam in a visible light region such as a copper vapor laser, a gold vapor laser, and a dye laser. When the laser beam 16 is a laser beam in the visible light region, adjustment of the arrangement of optical components and the like can be easily performed.

The total reflection mirror 13 has a slight light transmittance. Therefore, the laser light 16 output from the laser generator 12 is reflected by the total reflection mirror 13.
The light is separated into reflected light 17 and transmitted light 18 having low intensity.

The transmitted light 18 is used to adjust the arrangement of various optical components with respect to the optical axis of the laser light 16. Therefore, according to the laser device 11 of the present invention,
It is not necessary to use a guide light laser generator for outputting guide light for adjustment in adjusting the arrangement of the optical components, etc., so that the optical axis of the guide light matches the optical axis of the laser light 16 actually used. There is no need for preliminary adjustment. In addition, since the adjustment of the arrangement of the optical components and the like is performed by reducing the intensity of the laser light 16 actually used without using the guide light, the problem of the deviation of the optical axis due to the presence or absence of the thermal lens effect does not occur. Therefore, it is possible to easily and accurately adjust the optical axis.

In order to adjust the optical axis with higher precision, it is preferable to provide a beam position correcting optical element 19 to correct the optical axis of the transmitted light 18. Since the above-mentioned total reflection mirror 13 has a certain thickness, the laser beam 16 is refracted when entering and exiting the total reflection mirror 13 and is emitted as transmitted light 18. As a result, an optical axis shift occurs between the laser light 16 and the transmitted light 18. At this time, there is no deviation in the traveling direction between the laser light 16 and the transmitted light 18.

On the other hand, the beam position correcting optical element 1
By providing 9, such a shift of the optical axis between the laser light 16 and the transmitted light 18 is corrected, so that the optical axis can be adjusted with higher accuracy.

The beam position correcting optical element 19 is not particularly limited as long as the optical axis of the transmitted light 18 can coincide with the optical axis of the laser light 16. For example, the beam position correcting optical element 19 is made of the same material as the total reflection mirror 13,
It can be composed of thickness. When such a beam position correcting optical element 19 is used, its main surface is arranged so as to be symmetrical with respect to a plane perpendicular to the optical axis of the laser beam 16 with the main surface of the total reflection mirror 13. Transmitted light 1
The optical axis of 8 can easily and accurately coincide with the optical axis of the laser beam 16.

As described above, according to the laser device 11 of the present invention, the adjustment of the optical axis is performed by using the laser light 16 of reduced intensity, that is, the transmitted light 18. Therefore, the intensity of the transmitted light 18 needs to be reduced to such an extent that the above adjustment can be performed safely and with high accuracy. The intensity of the transmitted light 18 depends on the intensity of the laser light 16, but generally,
It is preferably 10% or less of the intensity of the laser beam 16, and most preferably, the intensity of the transmitted light is set to such an extent as not to harm the human body.

The intensity of the transmitted light 18 can be adjusted by controlling the reflectance of the total reflection mirror 13 on the mirror surface. In order to obtain the intensity of the transmitted light 18 suitable for performing the above adjustment, the reflectance of the total reflection mirror 13 should be 99.5% or more.
It is preferable to be about 99.9%.

In addition to this method, the intensity of the transmitted light 18 is adjusted by coating the back surface of the reflection surface of the total reflection mirror 13 and further reflecting or absorbing a part of the laser light 16 transmitted through the mirror surface. can do. Examples of the coating include a metal coating and a dielectric coating. The intensity of the transmitted light 18 can be controlled by the material used for coating and the thickness of the coating. The intensity of the transmitted light 18 reduced by the coating varies depending on the material and thickness used, but is 1% to 10% as compared with the case where no coating is provided.
To a degree.

It is preferable that the coating does not scatter the transmitted light 18. It is preferable that the back surface of the reflection surface of the total reflection mirror 13 be non-scattering with respect to the laser beam. In a normally used total reflection mirror, the back surface of the reflection surface is processed into a frosted glass shape, and is processed so that transmitted light is scattered. However, in the laser device 11 of the present invention, since the above adjustment is performed using the transmitted light 18, when the transmitted light 18 is scattered, the above adjustment becomes difficult.

As described above, the total reflection mirror 13 is irradiated with the intense laser light 16, and a small part thereof is transmitted light 18.
And the rest of the light is reflected as reflected light 17. That is, the reflected light 17 has almost the same intensity as the laser light 16, and therefore, may possibly damage the laser device 11 and is dangerous.

The laser device 11 of the present invention is provided with the beam damper 14 for absorbing the reflected light 17 as described above. Generally, most laser devices are provided with a beam shielding device, that is, a shutter, which can be freely opened and closed for safety reasons, thereby controlling the output of laser light to the outside of the laser device. . As the beam damper 14 of the laser device 11 of the present invention, a light receiving unit (beam damper) provided on the inner wall of the shutter for absorbing laser light output from the laser generator can be used.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a beam damper used in the laser device 11 of the present invention. In this figure, the surface of the beam damper 14 that receives the reflected light 17 has a central portion 21 formed in a conical shape and an outer peripheral portion 22 formed in a cylindrical shape in order to increase the absorption efficiency of the reflected light 17. On the back side of the surface of the beam damper 14 that receives the reflected light 17, a flow path 23 for flowing cooling water is provided in order to prevent an excessive rise in temperature due to absorption of the reflected light 17. I have.

The beam damper 14 is usually made of a metal that has been subjected to a process of absorbing laser light. The shape of the beam damper 14 is not particularly limited as long as it can efficiently absorb the reflected light 17, but the beam damper 1 shown in FIG.
4, the reflected light 17 can be absorbed with particularly high efficiency.

That is, when the beam damper 14 has such a shape, the reflected light 17 radiated to the central portion 21 of the beam damper 14 is partially absorbed by the surface to be irradiated, and the rest is reflected to the outer wall 22. Irradiated. Similarly, a part of the outer wall 22 is absorbed, and the rest is reflected to form the central portion 21.
Irradiated to Thus, the central portion 21 and the outer wall 22
The reflected light 17 is almost completely absorbed by the beam damper 14 by repeating the absorption and reflection at.

In the beam damper 14 shown in FIG.
Although a flow path 23 for flowing cooling water is provided in order to prevent an excessive temperature rise, other cooling means may be used as long as the temperature rise can be prevented. Further, depending on the intensity of the reflected light 17, the cooling means may not be provided.

As described above, the laser device 11 of the present invention is provided with the beam damper 14 for absorbing the reflected light 17. Therefore, there is no possibility that the members constituting the laser device 11 are damaged by the reflected light 17.

[0032]

As described above, the laser apparatus of the present invention comprises a total reflection mirror for separating laser light from a laser generator into reflected light and transmitted light for optical component adjustment, and a total reflection mirror comprising: A means for moving and switching between an optical component adjustment position on the optical axis of light and a laser device driving position remote from the optical axis of laser light, and a beam damper for absorbing reflected light are provided. It is possible to use a part of the laser light actually used, that is, the transmitted light for optical component adjustment, to adjust the arrangement of the optical components, and to adjust the optical axis easily and with high precision.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view schematically showing a laser device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a beam damper used in the laser device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a conventional laser device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Laser apparatus 12 ... Laser generation part 13 ... Total reflection mirror 14 ... Beam damper 15 ... Mirror holding part 16 ... Laser light 17 ... Reflected light 18 ... Transmitted light 19 ... Beam position correction optical element 21 ... Central part 22 ... Outer part 23 ... Flow path 31 ... Laser device 32 ... Laser generator 33 ... Laser generator for guide light 34 ... Guide light 35,36 ... Mirror 37 ... Laser light

Claims (5)

[Claims] A laser generating unit that outputs laser light; a total reflection mirror that separates the laser light from the laser generation into reflected light and transmitted light for adjusting an optical component; A laser comprising: means for moving and switching between an on-axis optical component adjusting position and a laser device driving position distant from the optical axis of the laser light; and a beam damper for absorbing the reflected light. apparatus. 2. The laser device according to claim 1, wherein the total reflection mirror transmits a part of the laser light without scattering. 3. The laser device according to claim 1, wherein the intensity of the transmitted light is 10% or less of the intensity of the laser light output from the laser generator. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the total reflection mirror does not scatter the transmitted light on the back surface of the surface reflecting the laser light.
The laser device according to claim 1, further comprising a coating for reducing strength. 5. An optical device according to claim 1, further comprising an optical element for correcting a beam position shifted by refraction by transmitting through the total reflection mirror.
The laser device according to Item.